The Bible has some mysterious stories. One of the most puzzling is about the Nephilim. They are mentioned only a few times. This article looks at what the Bible says and what Christians think about it.
The Nephilim are mysterious people in the Bible’s first book, Genesis.
They appear when “the sons of God” had children with “the daughters of men.” Their children were the Nephilim (Genesis 6:1-4).
When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with[a] humans forever, for they are mortal[b]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”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.
The word “Nephilim” means “fallen ones” or “giants.”
The Bible says they were “heroes of old, men of renown.” It also says they were on the earth before the great flood of Noah’s time, and also after the deluge.
There are two main ideas from biblical scholars about who they were but we are going with the first idea:
- Fallen Angels: Some believe “the sons of God” were angels who rebelled. They married human women. Their children were giant, powerful men.
- Godly Men: Others believe “the sons of God” were the good family line of Seth (Adam’s son). The “daughters of men” were from the bad family line of Cain. They mixed, and their children became proud, violent giants.
Later, in the book of Numbers, spies sent to Canaan report seeing Nephilim there. They say the people were so big, the Israelites felt like grasshoppers (Numbers 13:33).
The story of the Nephilim shows how wicked the world had become before the flood. It shows the deep mixing of sin that broke God’s design. The focus is not on the giants, but on why God brought the flood: because human evil was very great. Our focus should be on God’s power and His judgment on sin.
