The Nephilim And The Sons Of God

Genesis 6:1-4 

Before we look at this week’s passage let me remind you that we are only a week away from VBS!  A good number of folks have been working very hard putting this event together and I know we will all have a wonderful time.  Remember, VBS is for all ages; there will be classes for adults as well as all ages of children.  Make your plans to attend now.  Bring your family and invite your friends and neighbors.

In the first few verses of Genesis six we are told about the wicked state of mankind.  And, because of man’s wickedness God was going to blot him out.  What makes this passage difficult is the wording of verse four, “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.”

One common rendering of this verse is that the Nephilim were giants who were a result of an unnatural union between angels (the sons of God) and humans (the daughters of men).  While such an understanding may seem evident from the context, the idea of angels marrying humans is not supported anywhere in scripture.  In fact, Jesus tells us that angels do not marry (Mk. 12:25).  We err when we assign physical attributes to non-physical beings without biblical substantiation.  But how then do we account for the giants?  And who were the “sons of God?”

There is an abundance of biblical evidence for the existence of giants.  However, we are left only to guess of their origin.  The term “Nephilim” has become synonymous with giants because of the report of the ten spies in Numbers chapter thirteen, “we saw the Nephilim and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight.”  Here Moses tells the reader that the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim.  True enough, the sons of Anak were giants or men of great stature but this does not mean that all the Nephilim were giants.  So the question becomes, “who were the Nephilim?  Kaiser answers this saying, “In Gen. 6:4 the Nephilim are associated with the term gibborim, meaning a mighty man of valor, strength, wealth or power.”  It would be correct then to translate Nephilim as “princes” or “great men” rather than “giants.”

What about “the sons of God?”  This phrase could refer to angels, as it does in the book of Job, but it does not necessarily always carry this meaning.  In ancient times it was customary for rulers to proclaim themselves divine or take on the name of a local deity in an effort to boost the effectiveness of their rule.  It would not be straining the holy text at all to suggest that the Nephilim of Genesis six were great warrior-rulers rather than giants.

In Christ, 

Thomas Sneed 

Pond Church of Christ