Genesis 6:1-4
1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Numbers 13:31-33 – 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants[d] (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Some translations use the word Nephilim instead of giant. Who were these gigantic people? Some teach that they were the offspring of fallen angels – these angels lusted after human women and they had intercourse with them and the women bore these huge, wicked children. Who knows? From the little bit of research that I was able to do, it appears that the term Sons of God is interpreted a couple of ways and that makes it debatable about the paternity of these huge creatures.
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I’ve always thought the Nephilim were the offspring from fallen angels. Why? I guess because they were so huge, much larger than regular humans, coupled with the fact that it appears they were wicked, too. I also read that the Nephilim pop up again in the book of Numbers, so I’ve provided that scripture, too. So, it’s possible that the Sons of God appeared again and did the same thing again with human women? The Nephilim mentioned in Genesis were killed during the flood, so the scriptures can’t be talking about the same group of giants?
I just try to imagine how large these people were…were they twice the size of regular humans, maybe three times larger than the average human? The ones in Numbers state that the regular people were like grasshoppers compared to these giant people! Grasshoppers?? Reminds me of Gulliver’s Travels or Jack And The Beanstalk!
I’m just sitting here, trying to imagine what they would have looked like, giants stomping upon the earth, doing all sorts of wicked things to people. Frightening thoughts I’m having, but, just makes me stop and wonder, makes me wish I had a vivid snapshot of the way the world was back then…
Do you think the Nephilim/Giants were the offspring of fallen angels? This inquiring mind wants to know!
Wow, I must have missed this part of the Bible. Or maybe my Bible teacher at parochial school interpreted this passage in a more boring way. GIANTS! in the BIBLE!! WOW!!
Hey, Beth. Yeah, it’s in the Old Testament. In the books of Genesis and Numbers. I quoted from Genesis. The King James Version uses the word Giant, but other versions use Nephilim. The creatures were evil, and, this was one reason why God saw fit to have a flood cover the earth and kill all living creatures with the exception of those inhabitants of Noah’s Ark.
Madeline L’Engle wrote an interesting YA novel called Many Waters that incorporates her speculations on these creatures. An interesting read.
When I was researching for my wip on the days after Adam and Eve were evicted from the garden I came across this section. I had always wondered where the other people came from after the “eviction”,and this was one of the things that jumped out at me. When I tried to ask others (who had done extensive research on the Bible) I was surprised how many were not aware of it! One dear friend, whose father was a minister, swore that never happened (and that the other people were the many children of Adam and Eve, who married their brothers and sisters!)Boy was she ever surprised to see those passages! I, too, have heard the Giants were products of Angels and women of the earth (keeping in mind that one third of the angels in Heaven fled with Lucifer)and that alone would account for their extreme size and strength! I am excited to see where this discussion goes. I have also heard that they were products of aliens who visited the earth in ancient days (it would be selfish to believe we are the only intelligent life in the vast Heavens around us!)~Cheri Horgan
Thanks for the suggestion, Cindy! I’ll keep that book in mind!
Hi, Cheri! Thanks for commenting. I tend to believe that we are the only intelligent life on this universe…outside of the heavenly creatures that God created as well as the ones that are fallen. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t believe in aliens because I don’t see God referring to them in the Bible. However, I do believe the Giants/Nephilim are products of fallen angels mating with human women.
I think it is exciting that you have brought this up and challenged people to really read their Bibles for things like this! I can’t believe how many people didn’t know it was in there!!! I remember many many years ago I used to sleep with the radio on, and I woke up in the middle of the night to Sir Arthur C. Clark, (noted for his work in science fiction, but also extremely well versed in the studies of UFO’s and such) speaking about the Bible and using scriptures referring to God scattering the people to the uttermost parts of the “universe” and other references about life beyond out planet…then he went on to say he believed we have already had extraterrestrials living here in the past, and sited the exact scriptures you are using! He noted their intense size as compared to earthly humans, and way back then there was a group of people that claimed they had been abducted by aliens and had strange experiments done to them…which he claimed was artificial insemination as we know it. Of course I dismissed it as Sci Fi hype, until years later when I heard someone else compare these giants to aliens…or maybe the aliens they referred to were Angels who fled to earth…??? I guess we will never know for sure until we reach Heaven, but it is interesting to hear the theories! After all everyone does remember David and Goliath (but they dismiss it as David was just a boy and Goliath was big like Andre the Giant of WWE fame) but after you triggered this thought I surfed the web for more facts, and found fossil remains for people believed to be up to 20′ tall and over 1000# weight were not that rare!
Way to go! Great Blog, and good example of what draws in readers!
HI Cecelia, I am so glad you posted this question. I have been wondering about the Nephilim myself. My pastor just jumps over it and says he doesn’t know.
But we do know for a fact that dinosaurs lived on the earth. They are not mentioned as dinosaurs in Genesis, but it is possible that the Nephilim were dinosaurs. I can imagine ancient people finding these huge bones and thinking they were giant people or even thinking they were
“gods from Mount Olympus”, thus providing the ideas that started Greek mythology.
Whether or not they were dinosaurs, it does make sense that they were not big enough for Noah’s Ark. Getting rid of giants would be a big favor to mankind, and God could have choosen the flood to get rid of these creatures.
It is most likely they were some time of animal if they did not have an immortal soul, and if they were not sons of Adam.
I rather doubt that they were aliens. I tend to think the only aliens out there are just angels. But fallen angels went to hell, and probably did not have the DNA to mate with humans.
Another possiblity for the Nephilim is Neanderthals. I cannot get my pastor to tell me if the Neaderthals had 48 chromosomes like Adam, or if they had 46 like an ape. All of the early creatures that were similar to both apes and humans could be the Nephilim.
No one knows if God was beta testing human form with higher animals like apes, or whether the Nephilim were just dinosaurs. We may never know until heaven. I guess the best thing is just to trust Jesus. God works out everything for the best for those who love Him. We will end up learning some interesting things once we finally get to heaven!
Sharon Troy Centanne
Sharon, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I highly doubt that the Nephilim were dinosaurs. Why? Because if you read my post for the day after this one, you’ll see that I did some further research and that these giant people (Nephilim/Raphaites/etc. – they were known by various names) were actually very tall people. The giants/Nephilim pop up again later on in scripture and one of them was the last in a line of kings and the Bible describes the bed this giant slept on – I doubt a dinosaur would be crowned king. I have heard the alien theory (I believe somebody else commented about that on this post or on the next one). Also, I heard an author speak a long time ago. His name was Pat (can’t recall his last name), but he mentioned the Greek god theory during his speech, and I thought he sounded a bit ludicrous!
I’m posting late on this, but here are a couple thoughts…
Nephilim seems to be related to one of two ancient Hebrew words, one meaning extraordinary and the other meaning fallen. So, the word doesn’t indicate anything about height.
Angels cannot breed. Check out the New Testament teachings when Jesus was asked about widows in heaven. He said angels are sexless. So, I believe nephilim weren’t the offspring of angels and men. Sons of God, therefore, must indicate the Sethite line. Since these “nephilim” were destroyed by flood, the word must be generic, not specific.
The size of these individuals is never suggested to be 2-3 times of average people. Goliath seems to have been around 9 feet tall. Huge, but not outside the realm of possibility given giantism today has shown heights nearing that.
Anyway, I hope you see fit to pass this through moderation. The accounts of giantism in the Bible are frequently left unexamined, so I appreciate the discussion.
Eric
Hi, Eric
Thanks for commenting. I don’t think that angels in heaven can breed, BUT, I’m led to believe that FALLEN ANGELS MAY be able to breed. Yes, the origin of the Nephilim is debatable. BTW, I believe I blogged about a similiar scripture to the one that you referenced? See this blog post
did blog about the scripture that you referenced on this blog post
Eric, I tried to email you personally but your profile does not show a blog or email address attached to it. I might use this as one of my Sunday Brunch questions – about the meaning of the Sons Of God. Sunday Brunch is a new feature on my blog that I do every Sunday to talk about scriptures. Click this link to see the Sunday Brunch blog posts.
~Cecelia Dowdy~