Nephilim

Genesis 6:1-4: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

The word for “giants” in the Hebrew is “Nephilim,” which means “fallen ones.” It is a popular understanding that the Nephilim or giants were born as a result of sexual encounters between angels and human women. This thinking does not at all line up with the scriptures, and so a close examination of the scriptures will reveal the truth of the matter.

No one in the Bible who saw an angel ever reported an encounter with a gigantic being. Angels in their visible form are of ordinary stature (Hebrews 13:2: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.). Those people throughout time who have entertained angels unawares have done so because their guests were of an ordinary appearance.

The sons of God were the male descendants of Adam. Adam was made by God in the image of God and is called the son of God in Luke 3:38. The sons of God, being the descendants of Adam, were of ordinary stature. It was the men and women descended from Cain who were of great size. The women of Cain’s lineage were called the daughters of men in order to distinguish them from the daughters of God. The daughters of God were descended from Adam, as were the sons of God, whereas the daughters of men were descended from the Serpent, as were the sons of men.

Cain’s lineage was quite distinct from Adam’s lineage. Adam and his direct descendants were created in God’s image, which made them Godlike, whereas Cain and his lineage were a combination of man and beast from Eve’s cohabiting with the Serpent. In the course of time, however, the two intermarried and merged into one line of humanity. The Serpent’s direct descendants were drowned in the Flood so that no full-blown progeny of the Serpent remained on the earth after the Flood. At the same time, the crossing of the two races put an end to the original thoroughbred sons and daughters of God. What remained was a mixed breed, having a blend of good and evil in every one of their number. This is the current brand of humanity today.

After the Fall, the male descendants of Adam became backslidden and were captivated by the beauty of women, especially the women of Cain’s lineage. These sons of God in their fallen and backslidden state cohabited and had sexual affairs with the women of Cain’s lineage, and the result of illicit union brought greater genetic upheaval with the birth of hybrid children who were of large stature, although of a lesser degree than the thoroughbred ones descended from Cain. This also shows that, contrary to the popular belief, it was not the sons of God who were gigantic, but rather the daughters of men. But giants did not come into existence only at that time, for the Bible clearly states that giants already existed before the sons of God went with the daughters of men (…There were giants [already] in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men…).

The Nephilim or fallen ones were giants. These giants were the descendants of Cain who was a man of great stature after God had marked him in Genesis 4:15 (please read the article Cain’s mark), and then there were giants of lesser degree than their thoroughbred cousins as a result of the sons of God cohabiting with the daughters of men. It was the Fall that produced these fallen ones or Nephilim. The giants were hybrid, a combination of man and beast.