The sixth chapter of Genesis begins with a puzzling episode in which “sons of gods” (to render the phrase literally) mate with human women to produce a race of giants. At this point, God announces that the human lifespan will henceforth be capped at 120 years. Benjamin Sommer notes that legends of deities begetting quasi-divine offspring with mortal consorts were common in ancient Near Eastern and Greek myth, but seem out of place in the monotheistic Torah. Yet the tale of the giants may not be so anomalous after all:

In Greek and Mesopotamian literature, gods become mortals, and humans divine—all of which points to a fundamental similarity between humanity and divinity in these ancient texts. The very core of polytheism is not simply that there are many gods but that gods and humans are made of the same stuff. Conversely, the Bible does not claim that God is the only heavenly being; after all, there are angels.

The core of biblical monotheism, as the German-Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen and the great Israeli biblical scholar Yehezkel Kaufmann showed, is something else: that God is unique. Even as Scripture demands that human beings attempt to imitate God, it also stresses they need to realize they will never fully succeed in doing so. It is for this reason that the book of Genesis includes this brief and surprising tale. . . .

It was hard for ancient people to admit it, and it’s even harder for moderns, but the Torah teaches that humanity has limits, and it’s not our role to play God.

In 2003, the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, spooked by the American display of might in Iraq, decided to destroy or surrender his entire nuclear program. Informed observers have suggested that the deal he made with the U.S. should serve as a model for any agreement with Iran. Robert Joseph provides some useful background:

Gaddafi had convinced himself that Libya would be next on the U.S. target list after Iraq. There was no reason or need to threaten Libya with bombing as Gaddafi was quick to tell almost every visitor that he did not want to be Saddam Hussein. The images of Saddam being pulled from his spider hole . . . played on his mind.

President Bush’s goal was to have Libya serve as an alternative model to Iraq. Instead of war, proliferators would give up their nuclear programs in exchange for relief from economic and political sanctions.

Any outcome that permits Iran to enrich uranium at any level will fail the one standard that President Trump has established: Iran will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Limiting enrichment even to low levels will allow Iran to break out of the agreement at any time, no matter what the agreement says.

Iran is not a normal government that observes the rules of international behavior or fair “dealmaking.” This is a regime that relies on regional terror and brutal repression of its citizens to stay in power. It has a long history of using negotiations to expand its nuclear program. Its negotiating tactics are clear: extend the negotiations as long as possible and meet any concession with more demands.