Nephilim

Giants

Genesis 6:1-4 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

The phrase “sons of God” from Genesis 6:2 cross references with Job 1:6, Job 2:6, Job 38:7. In the Hebrew writings “sons of God” refers to angels.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.

Job 38:7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The Nephilim in Genesis 6:4  is actually a word that means giant. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriputre (known as the Septuagint or LXX) used the word giant. All of the early English translations that followed, King James, Geneva and Webster all use the word giant. The Young's Literal Translation uses the words "fallen ones". Not until recent modern translations have English translations begun to use Nephilim rather than giant. With that said, the word Nephilim does refer to describe a specific grouping of giant.

Genesis 6:4 and Numbers 13:33 are the only two places in Scripture that use the specific word Nephilim to describe giant. However there are other giants in the Scriptures.

Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Some theologians who do not agree with the idea of angels and men having sexual relations have argued that the report in Numbers 13:33 was falsified to drive fear into Moses and the people so that they would not go to war. However even a falsified report on the sons of Anak and the Nephilim had to be taken from a historical context that the Israelites would believe and drive fear into the people. The spies told Moses that the same type of giants seen during the time of Noah were living at the city. They compared themselves (Israelites) as grasshoppers next to the giants (Nephilim) that they saw. The Sons of Anak were an actual tribe that lived in that area and it is documented by both Moses and Joshua in Scripture. (Deut 9:2, Josh 11:21)  According to Scripture the Sons of Anak dwelt in the south of Palestine, in the neighborhood of Hebron (Gen 23:2, Josh 15:13) In the days of Abraham (Gen 14:5-6) they inhabited the region afterwards known as Edom and Moab east of the Jordan. There is no reason for Scripture to make an specific note in Numbers 13:33 linking the Sons of Anak to the Nephilim if it were not both important for our knowledge and true.

It should also be noted that in Genesis 6:4  it says that the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. Therefore not only should we trust God's Word at face value with regard to giants being on the earth during the days of Noah but also after the flood. When we see men like Goliath and King Og of Bashan in Scripture we have a reasonable description from the Scripture of their existence. The descendants of Anak are the descendants of Nephilim.

Throughout the Old Testament we find many references to a giant race. There are both references to Nephilim (the direct offspring of angels and humans having sexual relations) as well as the children of those offspring producing more giant offspring. The children of the Nephilim are often referred to by their tribal name, yet Scripture is clear that they were children of Nephilim or of other giants.

Deut 3:11 “(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)” Psalm 136:20

Rephaim - The sons of Har-raphah, or Rephaim, are also described as a giant race, yet distinct from the Sons of Anak. They are classified as being like the Sons of Anak in Deut 2:11

Rephaim - (Gen 14:5, Gen 15:20, Deut 3:13, Deut 3:11, Josh 12:4, Josh 13:12, Josh 15:8, Josh 17:15, Josh 18:16, 2 Sam 21:16, 1 Chr 20:4, 1 Chr 20:6, 1 Chr 20:8) They were known to the Moabites as Emim (Deut 2:11) and to the Ammonites as Zamaummim Deut 2:20. These were very large men both wide and tall, some with strange mutations having six fingers and toes. 1 Chr 20:6 Some lived in cities and kingdoms, some lived wild and some like Goliath later found refuge among the Philistines and still existed in the days of David. Scripture speaks nothing of their origin. Considering their size, mutations, the fact that they are compared to the Anakim, these are not simply the descendants of Adam. Furthermore, when Israel went to war with them, God wanted them wiped out completely from the face of the earth. It would be reasonable to conclude that these are not at all descendants of Adam but rather a dangerous offspring of angels and men having sexual relations that needed to be destroyed. King David went to war with what was left of these

Amos 2:9 ““Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.”

The New Testament also speaks to this. The apostle Peter speaks about the angels that sinned during the time of Noah being held in chains until the day of judement.

2 Peter 2:4-5 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Back in his first letter (1 Peter 3:19-20) Peter mentioned that after Jesus died for the sins of the world he went to preach to the "spirits in prison" that did not obey in the time of Noah. It would seem that the second letter helped to clarify "the spirits in prison" from his first. That the spirits in prison in his first letter are the angels in chains described again in his second letter.

1 Peter 3:19-20 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

Perhaps the most straight forward statement of angels having sexual relations with women during the time of Noah is found in Jude. It speaks specifically that angels did not keep their position of authority but left their proper dwelling place. That the punishment for the sin they commited is being held in chains. The context of their sin is related directly to the sin of Sodom and Gamorrha saying using the phrase "in like manner" the angels "went after strange flesh".

Jude 6-7 “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”

While Jude does not reference the book of Enoch verses 6 or 7. Jude does reference a prophecy of Enoch found in the book of Enoch in vs 14. Many books are referenced in Scripture that are not cannon so in no way should we consider the book of Enoch cannon. Many of the writings in the book of Enoch were complied millenium after Enoch actually lived. However, this prophecy spoken of by Jude and inspired by the Holy Spirit is spoken of as true prophecy by Enoch under God. While Scripture itself gives sufficient evidence for the fall of the angels and their immorality with women, the book of Enoch highlights this very thing as well as how giants existed from that union. From history we can see that the book of Enoch was regarded as an important document by many in spiritual education during the time of the apostles and even earlier.

To conclude; Both historical Judaism and historical Christianity have understood a union between angels and the women of men that led to a race of giants. Scripture teaches this throughout different books and under both Old and New Covenants. This issue is not a salvation issue. We do not need to understand it in order to be saved. However not understanding this will a hinder a full understanding of Satan’s full frontal assult on the womb of women and mankind itself. It will leave a believer with many questions on God’s Word and references to giants and angels. Furthermore, not understanding this will hinder a complete Biblical understanding on the importance of sexual purity as this is used as an example of sexual immorality. Lastly it will hinder a complete understanding of prophecy and how the times of the end will be dark days, like the times of Noah, when Satan makes an out in the open, full assault on mankind and God’s people.