As we begin the present study, we feel the need to say a few things concerning Holy Scripture.
The more one studies Scripture, together with its interpretations and translations, the more one realizes that it contains passages that are difficult to interpret, enigmatic, and literally mysterious—veritable stumbling blocks for interpreters. This is so because Scripture is at once simple and profound, easy and difficult. It resembles the sea, which has a surface upon which one may swim with ease, but also depths into which only skilled divers are able to descend. Superficial and ignorant people, such as most heretics happen to be, are the only ones who imagine that Scripture is an easy book and that anyone is capable of interpreting it.
There is a passage in Scripture, Galatians 3:20, for which more than four hundred interpretations have been proposed. What the Apostle Peter said concerning Paul's epistles—that they contain “some things hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16)—applies more generally to Holy Scripture as a whole. The Fathers likewise acknowledge that Scripture contains difficult passages and that it is an abyss of questions. For this reason, while the Fathers are in agreement concerning the doctrines of the faith, they differ, to a greater or lesser degree, in their interpretation of many passages. Their interpretations are pious, though not all are equally successful. The Fathers—and especially Saint John Chrysostom, the prince of interpreters—correctly interpreted the greater part of Scripture. They left a portion uninterpreted, however, so that lovers of God's sacred text might continue to enjoy the labor of inquiry and the discovery of divine meanings until the Second Coming. Holy Scripture is an inexhaustible mine.
The difficulty involved in interpreting Scripture is due to many causes.
The Old Testament, for the most part, was written in Hebrew. Hebrew, however, is a comparatively poor language; it does not possess the abundance of vocabulary found in Greek. Consequently, a single Hebrew word may carry a considerable range of meanings, as we discovered in the course of our study of the word adam. In addition to the usual meanings attributed to it—for example, “man,” “Adam,” and “human race”—we have demonstrated, or rather we maintain, that it has also acquired the meaning of “the tribe of Adam” or “the people of Adam.”
Because certain Hebrew words may carry such a wide range of meanings, it is often difficult to determine which of those meanings is intended in a particular instance. Worse still, all the possible meanings of a given word may not even be known. Furthermore, our knowledge of Hebrew idioms remains incomplete.
We are also of the opinion that the difficulty involved in understanding the Bible is intentional. We believe that God deliberately caused the sacred authors to formulate His holy text in such a way that it would not be readily understood by everyone in every respect. This was done so that Scripture might not be treated with contempt, but rather humble the human intellect, which is naturally inclined toward pride; so that those who are well-disposed and worthy of the truth might be compelled to seek divine illumination in order to discover it, to investigate, to exercise themselves through inquiry, and thereby to benefit spiritually. Furthermore, this serves to glorify the uneducated authors of Holy Scripture—the farmers, shepherds, and fishermen—because through their writings they confound the wise of the earth and of the ages, leaving them bewildered.
Needless to say, Holy Scripture is also difficult to understand in many respects because it contains lofty spiritual meanings inaccessible to the carnal-minded but accessible to the spiritual. “Interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people,” as the Apostle says (1 Corinthians 2:13).
Because the interpretations and translations that had been proposed for the enigmatic passage Genesis 6:1–4 were not satisfactory to us, we devoted ourselves to research in search of a satisfactory explanation of this section. The investigation proved arduous. We wrestled with the passages of this mysterious text, and they, in turn, wrestled with us. We consulted the most authoritative Hebrew lexicons in order to determine the meanings of words in the Masoretic Text, yet even in the lexicons we did not find all the meanings necessary to resolve the interpretive difficulties. As we have already noted, Scripture possesses a language of its own. The meanings of certain words we derived from Scripture itself, as was the case with the Hebrew word adam, a key term which, in our judgment, resolves many difficult questions, especially in the Book of Genesis and particularly in its opening chapters.
These are questions to which we have already begun to devote our attention, and which we hope, if the Lord permits, will see the light of publication in the future. We do not conceal the fact that the publication of our subsequent study will depend upon the criticism received by the present work. We say publication, not composition, since the writing itself has already been completed.
We should also note that many times—both in the present study and in the next, a large portion of which has already been written—we first suspected the correct meaning of a word, phrase, or passage and only afterward discovered the arguments by which our intuition was justified.
Certainly, we do not claim to be infallible. No individual possesses infallibility; only the Church does, for she is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Nevertheless, we are convinced that in the present study we offer a serious and original interpretation of the mysterious passage Genesis 6:1–4. Moreover, it is not pride but faith and gratitude toward the Lord for one to say that he has discovered something in Scripture, just as another discovers something in nature. “Do not quench the Spirit,” says the Apostle (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
In order to demonstrate His surpassing love, God honors even the least of men. He granted even to me, the least of all, the grace to uncover something from the hidden treasure of His revelation.
During the reading of the present study, one should keep the texts of Holy Scripture before one's eyes, so that the passages to which we refer may be readily consulted. For the Old Testament, we make use of the Septuagint translation according to the edition published by Zoe; at times, however, we have also consulted the two-volume critical edition of Alfred Rahlfs, Septuaginta id est Vetus Testamentum Graece iuxta LXX interpretes (Stuttgart, 1952), as well as the Hebrew, or Masoretic, text, and especially its interlinear English translation (The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, ed. John R. Kohlenberger III, 1987).
For the New Testament, we make use of the ecclesiastical text, that is, the text of the Church's tradition, because the ecclesiastical text is more reliable and does not possess the eccentricities and objectionable features of the so-called “critical text.” The Church is not only the guardian and guarantor of the Faith, but also of Holy Scripture itself (1 Timothy 3:15). Whenever we make use of another text, we indicate this explicitly.
In addition to the bibliography, both foreign and domestic, which we consulted and have cited, we ought to mention three particular works that were of considerable assistance in the composition of the present study. In the order in which they have been listed, these are:
- DAMIANOS DOIKOS, The “Sons of God,” the “Daughters of Men,” and the “Giants” According to Genesis 6:1–4.
- NIKOLAOS BRATSIOTIS, Anthropology of the Old Testament (Athens, 1989).
- STERGIOS SAKKOS, Commentary on the Epistle of Jude (Thessaloniki, 1970).
From these works we have drawn a great deal of material.
Conscious that the present study constitutes a revolution not only in the interpretation of the mysterious passage Genesis 6:1–4, but also in the interpretation of the entire Book of Genesis, especially its opening chapters (owing to the original interpretation we assign to the key Hebrew word adam, which, in our view, is capable of resolving numerous anthropological problems encountered at the beginning of Genesis, and which we shall attempt to address in our subsequent study), we submit this work to the judgment of those who judge without superficiality and to the love of those who love Jesus Christ, His sacred text, and those zealous investigators of divine revelation.
Whatever is correct in this study should be attributed to God, who granted the intellect and who “opens the mind to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Whatever is mistaken should be attributed to human imperfection. Perfection belongs to the state of perfection itself (1 Corinthians 13:9–10). We pray that this interpretive effort may become an occasion for a better investigation, interpretation, and translation of God's sacred text, and especially of the mysterious passage Genesis 6:1–4.
(In the present preface we have included a substantial portion of the corresponding preface by our teacher, Nikolaos Sotiropoulos, the revolutionary interpreter of Scripture, found in the first volume of his unique work Interpretation of Difficult Passages of Scripture, because it expresses our own views in every respect.)
Some readers, while studying the present work, may perhaps consider that the new interpretations we offer concerning the enigmatic passage Genesis 6:1–4 (and not only this passage) constitute a lack of reverence toward the Fathers. Therefore, from the outset, we must state that irreverence toward the Fathers and a departure from Orthodoxy would consist not simply in formulating a new interpretation, but in formulating an interpretation contrary to the faith of the Fathers and the dogmas of the Church.
Such an interpretation we have never proposed, nor have we ever entertained the slightest thought of deviating from the boundaries of Orthodoxy. All the interpretations we advance remain within the Patristic and Orthodox spirit, and none of them undermines the faith of the Fathers. Our interpretations differ from Patristic interpretations in certain respects, but not with regard to the faith itself. Moreover, Patristic interpretations of difficult Scriptural passages often differ among themselves. One Father interprets a difficult passage in one manner, while another Father interprets it differently. Indeed, the same Father may interpret the same difficult passage one way at one time and differently at another, revising his earlier interpretation.
We may further say that during the course of the present study, the implications of the interpretation we propose for other related subjects surprised us, since they provided the causes and proofs for a multitude of Patristic statements which had previously seemed to us unexplained and enigmatic. These matters, however, lie beyond the scope of the present study.
The investigation of God's Book and the effort to achieve a better understanding of its difficult passages not only does not dishonor the Fathers, but even causes them joy and gladness in heaven.
Finally, we extend our warmest thanks from this place to our relatives and chosen friends for their invaluable moral support throughout the long course of the research and development of the present work, and until its completion, insofar as the Lord grants it. We likewise express our gratitude to all who, in whatever way, contributed to the completion of this study, and especially to those closest to us, who bore the consequences of our prolonged isolation during the writing process.
“Grace unto them and peace be multiplied,” through the intercessions of Moses, the servant of the Lord (Numbers 12:7).
Written on the eleventh day,
in the month of April,
on the glorious day
of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the year of salvation 1999.
The least in Christ Jesus our God,
who trampled down death by death,
GEORGIOS P. TSIBIRIDIS
