In Genesis chapter six, there is a mysterious passage about a group called the Nephilim. According to the text, they were a tribe or race of mighty warriors who terrorized the ancient world. Although the Nephilim are certainly larger-than-life Biblical characters, who they were and how they lived is still shrouded in profound mystery.
1. The Nephilim In The Biblical Narrative
In the Bible, the Nephilim take up only a tiny portion of the narrative spotlight, appearing by name in only three places: Genesis 6:4, Numbers 13:27-33, and Ezekiel 32:27. There is also a hand-full of verses that talk about giants in the land of Canaan, which many believe could have connections to the Nephilim of Genesis 6.
The Nephilim In Genesis 6:4
The Nephilim first appear on the Biblical stage in Genesis 6:4.
“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
According to the text, these great warriors of old were the offspring of two mysterious factions called the “Sons of God” and the “Daughters of men.” Contextually, they were born before the Flood, which was a corrupt place rapidly descending into sin.
“God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.”
Genesis 6:5
This was the world the Nephilim were born into, a chaotic upside-down reality full of moral decay and sinful rot. Some suggest that the textual timing of their birth indicates they were the culmination, or physical embodiment, of the world’s depravity. Others have even theorized that their birth caused the Flood.
However, speculation aside, the first verses about the Nephilim provide us with little information. On the contrary, the text gives us more questions than answers. For example, who are the so-called “sons of God” and the “daughters of men,” why were their offspring such great warriors, and how did they manage to survive the Flood?
“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward.”
-Genesis 6:4
The Nephilim In Numbers 13
Numbers 13 is the second time the Nephilim appear in the text. Contextually, Israel just arrived at the border of the promised land. Shortly after making camp, spies are sent into the land of Canaan to determine its quality and the inhabitance’s strength. After some time, they came back and delivered this report.
“We saw the children of Anak there…. “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we….” “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 13:27-33
The spies claim to have seen a race of giants known as the children of Anak, who they say are descendants of the Nephilim. Although the spy’s report sounds like it could be a bit exaggerated, it was not false. The battles with the children of Anak, which happen later in the story, confirm the spy’s claim.
This passage is fascinating because it builds upon much of the foundation laid in Genesis. For example, Genesis six just says they were great warriors; it says nothing directly about them being giants (“Nephilim” does not necessarily mean “gain,” more below). Moreover, their presence in Canaan gives us more insight into the end of 6:5, which claims they were on earth after the flood.
The Nephilim In Ezekiel 32
Unlike the previous two passages, the reference to the Nephilim in Ezekiel isn’t nearly as direct or helpful.
“But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.”
Ezekiel 32:27
Some scholars believe the term “fallen” in this passage could reference the Nephilim. However, Ezekiel may simply be talking about dead soldiers. So, this reference is tedious and debatable at best.
2. What Does “Nephilim” Mean?
Generally speaking, scholars as a whole agree that the term “Nephilim” comes from the Hebrew word “naphal,” meaning “to fall.” Ezekiel 32:27 is an excellent example of the word being translated in light of its root. However, deciphering ancient texts is never easy. Consequently, scholarship is somewhat divided over how the word Nephilim should be translated when referencing the great warriors of old.
Many well-known and influential translations, including the Septuagint, Theodotion, and Latin Vulgate, use the word “giant.” This choice likely comes from their description in passages like Numbers 13:27-33 and other Jewish apocryphal texts. If the Nephilim were, in fact, a race of giants, then it would not be illogical to think their tidal was connected to their size.
On the other hand, some argue that since the root word means “to fall”, a term like “Fallen Ones” would be a more accurate translation.
The difficulty of this translational dilemma should not be underestimated. The problem is why non-Hebrew speakers call the Nephilim “the Nephilim” instead of “the giants” or “the Fallen Ones.” Due to the ambiguity of the word’s original meaning, many Biblical translations transliterate[1] the Hebrew word ” נְפִילִים” to “Nephilim” and leave it at that.
Why “Fallen”?
Even though we can’t travel back in time to discover firsthand why ancient people chose the word “Nephilim,” this does not mean we can’t develop some good theories.
Nephilim – Another Word For Giant
As stated above, many believe the term was connected to their size. Language is a very flexible thing; just because the word typically means “Fallen Ones” doesn’t mean it could not have had a double meaning. Even today, words like “cool” often represent two seemingly unrelated things.
One well-known explanation says the term could have originated from the effect their impressive size had on people. In other words, the Nephilim were so imposing that people would physically or emotionally “fall” when they appeared. Although this idea has some merit, many commentators consider it a bit of a stretch.
Nephilim – A Description Of Their Character
The name could also be a reflection of the lifestyles the Nephilim lived. Proponents of this view suggest they were evil individuals, true men of their depraved era, who continued down the path started by Cain and Lamech. “Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” – Genesis 4:23-24
Nephilim – The Nature of Their Birth
The last suggestion (which is very popular on the internet and in several denominations) argues that the use of the word “fallen” comes from the circumstances of their birth. Proponents of this view believe the text implies the union of the Sons of God and Daughters of Men was forbidden. Consequently, their name could have been inherited from the trespass of their parents.
3. Who Are The Sons of God and Daughters of Men?
As mysterious as the Nephilim are, the identity of the “Son of God and the Daughters of men” is arguably even more confounding. Narratively speaking, they appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Over the years, students of the Biblical text have developed three to four main theories regarding their identities.
Fallen Angels
The first, and most interesting view, says the Sons of God were fallen angels and that the Daughters of men were ordinary humans.
Of all the ideas mentioned in this article, the fallen angel perspective is by far the oldest and arguably the most popular today. There are several reasons why this train of thought is so well-excepted. Firstly, the name “Son of God” sounds very angelic, so many assume the text is referencing them. The interpretation also provides a reasonable explanation for the origins of the Nephilim’s extraordinary size. Angels don’t have the same genetic restraints humans do, so it’s possible they intentionally or unintentionally manifested on earth with giant genes.
The theory, however, is far from perfect and has its fair share of detractors. One of the biggest problems raised against the fallen angels position comes from Matthew 22.
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like God’s angels in heaven.”
Matthew 22:30
In this passage, Jesus says that angels do not get married, which many believe indicates angels are incapable of sexual relations.
Royalty
The second view takes a less fantastical approach. According to this perspective, the Sons of God were members of ancient royal families who had relations with the daughters of commoners. Proponents of this perspective tend to avoid the idea that the Nephilim were a race of giants. Preferring instead to describe them as a collection or group of renewed warriors with some Goliath-sized members.
Men and Women
The third perspective is very similar to the second in that it says the “Sons of God and Daughters of men” were humans. However, unlike the second, this view argues that the terms (sons of God and Daughters of men) are simply a Biblical ways of saying, men and women.
A good example can be found at denisonforum.org. [2]
“Genesis 2 says that God formed man from the ground and woman from man (vs. 7, 23). So calling men the “sons of God” and women the “daughters of men” was simply repeating what the readers of Genesis already knew.”
denisonforum.org
Descendants of Seth and Cain
The fourth and final perceptive says that the sons of God were the descendants of Seth and that the daughters of men were descendants of Cain. This interpretation has been held by several well-known Theologians and Christian writers, including Agustin, Clementine, and Calvin. However, it is currently not a particularly popular position.
4. How Tall Were These Giants?
In several ancient non-canonical sources, the Giants of Genesis 6 and Numbers 13 are depicted as fantastically large creatures. For example, 1 Enoch [3] tells stories of giants big enough to put some modern skyscrapers to shame.
“They became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells (cubits).”
1 Enoch 7
(Three thousand cubits or ells convert to around four or five thousand feet, which would make the giants of 1 Enoch almost a mile tall.)
Unlike these apocryphal sources, the giants in the Biblical narrative are a bit more down to earth. For example, the tallest Biblical giant was Og, who was between 9 and 13 feet tall. We know this because Deuteronomy 3:11 says that his bed was nine cubits long, which is about 13 ½ feet. Likewise, the famous giant in the Bible, Goliath, weighed in at “six cubits and a span” (1 Samuel 17:4), which is approximately nine feet, six inches.
5. How Did The Nephilim Survive The Flood?
The last big mystery surrounding the Nephilim’s story is their apparent survival of Noah’s Flood.
“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward.”
The canonical connection between the Nephilim of Genesis 6 and the sons of Anak in Numbers 13 is a strong indication that their bloodline did find a way to survive the catastrophe. However, the text never clarifies how they managed to do it.
The lack of an explanation places us into a bit of a conundrum. You see, in the story, the Flood kills every living creature besides Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark. Consequently, the Nephilim should have perished alongside everything else. The way commentators and Biblical scholars deal with this apparent contradiction largely depends on their views regarding the Flood’s reach.
The Local Flood Perspective
Like the red sea, when it comes to the Flood Debate, Christians are split down the middle. On one side, you have those who believe the Flood was global, and on the other, those who think it was reregulated to local arias.
For those who hold the local flood point of view, the existence of Nephilim post-flood is a non-issue. Their presence in Canaan indicates some lived outside of the flood zone.
One good example of this theory comes from the Talmud and Midrash. In these Jewish texts, the Rabi quotes a tradition that says the flood waters did not cover the land of Israel; this idea is based on a verse in Ezekiel 22
“Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’”
Ezekiel 22:24
According to this opinion, because the flood waters never reached Israel, the Nephilim living in the land were not wiped out, which is why they were around in Moses’s day. (see Zevachim 113a)
The Global Flood Perspective
The explanations become slightly more complex for the global Flood perspective. However, there are several good theories that many find satisfying.
Giant Genes
The first suggests Noah himself was related to the Nephilim and that their gigantic genetics survived through him and his descendants. Due to the fact that Noah was not a giant, it is unlikely he was a direct descendant of the Son of God; however, according to this view, he could have been a distant relative.
Ham, Noah’s disrespectful son, is often cited as the one who passed on the giant gene.
Repeating Events
The second argument is a little more straightforward than the first. Proponents of this perspective suggest the unholy events which initially spawned the giants happened again after the Flood.
Mostly Normal People
The third suggests that the word “Nephilim” could be more of a catch-all term for large, depraved warriors than it is a name for a specific bloodline. This perspective fits well with the more natural views of the Nephilim and leaves room for the idea that the Nephilim of Noah’s day were not related to the ones of Israel faced.
A Survivor
Another view worth mentioning comes from the Talmud. According to AISH.com[4], Niddah 61a says Og survived the Flood by holding onto the ark. In the Midrash, the story is further expanded upon,
“(Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer Ch. 23) describes further how Og rode on the outside of the ark, promising Noah and his sons to forever be their slave if they would save him. Noah then drilled a hole through the ark so he could feed Og daily.”
AISH.com
6. Recommended Books For Further Reading
- The Unseen Realm: by Michael S. Heiser
- The Lost World of the Flood: by John H. Walton and Tremper Longman
7. Sources
- Definition of “Transliterate” Cambridge Dictionary
- denisonforum.org
- Aish.com
- 1 Enoch text on: HistoryHanover.com
- Noah’s Flood – The Debate, Its History, and Consequences : Article by LFC
