Donn W. Leatherman
The Nephilim were 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 that were of old, the men of renown. Genesis 6:4.
Genesis 6:4 raises a number of questions, primarily in regard to the identity of the various people mentioned in the text: Who are the Nephilim? Who are the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men?” Who are the “mighty men, the men of renown?” And what is the relationship between these various groups?
The passage in Genesis 6:1-8 is preceded by the genealogy of Adam (5:1-32) and followed by the genealogy of Noah (6:9, 10) and the story of the Flood (6:13-8:22). It provides the reason for God’s judgment upon the earth in form of the Flood. The increase in numbers was matched by an outbreak of immorality. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (6:5). And the marriages between the daughters of men and the sons of God seem to have contributed in some way to this moral decline.
The origin and meaning of the word Nephilim is uncertain. If the word goes back to the Hebrew word pala’, meaning “be extraordinary,” the Nephilim are simply “extraordinary men.” If the term is derived from the Hebrew word naphal, the meaning of which is “to fall,” the Nephilim may have been morally fallen men or those who fell upon others, i.e., invaders or hostile, violent men. There is one other reference to Nephilim in the Bible. Long after the Flood, in Numbers 13:33, ten of the spies sent into Canaan by Moses report, “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” (ESV). This later reference to the Nephilim tells us that they were (or were perceived to be) physically large and, therefore, unlikely to be overcome in war. It is not clear why the spies in Numbers 13 used the word Nephilim. Perhaps the spies simply appealed to these figures from the past to win their case. The KJV translation “giants” follows the Septuagint and other ancient versions, which were probably influenced by the report of the spies.
Although many commentators identify the Nephilim in Genesis 6 with “the mighty men,” “the men of renown,” at the end of verse 4, the text does not say so. The Nephilim are not the offspring of the marital union between the sons of God and the daughters of men; rather they lived “in those days,” i.e., in the antediluvian period, when the sons of God had sexual relations with the daughters of men from which came the mighty men of renown. All we know about the Nephilim is that they were tall and powerful people, possibly violent men, who lived before the Flood.
The “sons of God” as angels – Some interpreters, following an ancient Jewish tradition, have concluded from the references to the “sons of God” in Job 1:6, 2:1 and 38:7 that these beings must be supernatural, possibly fallen angels. In this interpretation, the “daughters of men” would be human females who had offspring resulting from sexual relations with these supernatural beings. Their offspring were semi-supernatural persons of great power. However, this theory clashes with Jesus’ declaration that angels do not marry (Matt 22:30). Sons of God can also refer to human beings; e.g., in Luke 3:38, Adam is called a “son of God” and in Psalm 82:6 human beings are called “sons of the Most High.” In addition, if God’s displeasure in Genesis 6:3 is provoked by the intercourse described in Genesis 6:2, it would seem odd that human beings were punished for the sin of angels. The Flood is God’s punishment on humanity, not on angels.
The “sons of God” as royal despots – A second theory holds that the “sons of God” are royal despots who engage in polygamy by taking as many wives as they wanted. This is supported by the references to kings as “sons of God” in 2 Samuel 7:14, and 1 Chronicles 28:6. In addition, those who administer justice are sometimes referred to by the Hebrew word for God, ‘Elohim (e.g., Exod 22:8). In this interpretation, the “daughters of men” would be women of non-royal birth who were taken into the harems of the despotic kings. Their offspring became mighty men of war.
Against this view is the fact that nowhere in this passage is there a reference to kingship. Furthermore, although individual kings in the Old Testament are sometimes referred to as a “son of God” (see Ps 2:7), there is no evidence in the Bible or in the ancient Near East for a group of kings being given this title.
The “sons of God” as descendants of Seth – A final interpretation of this text suggests that the “sons of God” were the righteous and God-fearing descendants of Seth, and the “daughters of men” were the corrupt and impious descendants of Cain. The practice of referring to the righteous (directly or indirectly) as “sons of God” is evidenced elsewhere in the Bible (e.g., Deut 14:1; Isa 43:6; Mal 2:10; etc.). According to this view, the S-thites, abandoning their spiritual principles, intermarried with the Cainites (perhaps even polygamously) and had offspring who became men of renown.
This last view interprets “sons of God” in a sense consistent with Old Testament usage, without suggesting angelic marriage.
“‘The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.’ The children of Seth, attracted by the beauty of the daughters of Cain’s descendants, displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the worshipers of God were beguiled into sin by the allurements that were now constantly before them, and they lost their peculiar, holy character” (PP 81).