Daily Zohar # 5251 – Beresheet – The sons of God

Hebrew translation:

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Zohar Beresheet
Continued from previous DZ
#465
Rabbi Chiya said, The sons of Cain were the sons of God, for when Sam-el came upon Eve he cast his filth into her, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. And his form was not like the rest of the children of man, because he was an offspring from an angel.
And all those who come from the side of Cain were called only “בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים” “sons of God,” because their appearance was like the angels who are called Elohim.
Notes:
Cain’s form was unlike that of an ordinary human because he came from Sam-el. Therefore his descendants were called “sons of God,” for they resembled the angels who are called Elohim.

#466
Rabbi Yehuda said, And even the Nephilim, who are the sons of Aza and Azael and Naamah, are also called sons of God. “הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים” “they were the mighty ones” (Genesis 6:4), which the verse says points to a limitation: only they were the mighty ones, and not the first Nephilim who were in the earth. This is because they were sixty, according to the count above; that is, corresponding to the six extremities (ו” ק, 6 קצוות), which are Chessed -Gevurah -Tiferet -Netzach -Hod -Yessod of Zeir Anpin. He learns an equal decree, for here it is written “they were the mighty ones,” and there, with King Solomon, who is Zeir Anpin, it is written “שִׁשִּׁים גִּבֹּרִים” “sixty mighty ones…” (Song of Songs 3:7). Just as there they are sixty, so here they are sixty. But the first ones are drawn from above, from the six extremities (ו” ק).
Rabbi Yossi said, “הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וְגַם אַחֲרֵי־כֵן אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם” “It was then, and later too, that the Nephilim appeared on earth—when divine beings cohabited with the human women, who bore them offspring. Such were the heroes of old, the men of the name.” (Genesis 6:4) — “of the world” exactly. “Of the world” is exact, to exclude the first Nephilim, who are Aza and Azael, who were above the world. “World” means the Nukva of Zeir Anpin. And the verse informs us that these Nephilim were fixed into the chariot of Zeir Anpin and Nukva, and became part of Nukva, who is called World. He asks, What is the “name” that the verse says, “men of the name”? And he says, This is the world that we said; that is the Nukva. “Men of the name” is exact, to learn an equal decree (גזירה שוה). “Name,” “name”: it is written here “men of the name,” and it is written there, “when he blasphemes the Name,” and likewise it is written “and he blasphemed the Name” (Leviticus 24:16). Just as there it is the Nukva, so here it is the Nukva.
Notes:
The later Nephilim, the sons of Aza, Azael, and Naamah, are also called sons of God. They number sixty, corresponding to the six extremities of Zeir Anpin. Unlike Aza and Azael, who were above the world, these were fixed into the chariot of the Nukva, who is called both “world” and “Name.”

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