Who are the Nephilim mentioned in
Genesis 6:1-6?
While
pronouncing God’s curse upon Satan through the intermediary vessel of the
serpent, God mentioned that Satan would have offspring (Genesis
In today’s passage, we see again those two lines
mentioned, the “sons of God” and the “daughters of man.” There is a popular theory that the (sons of
god) refers to the "godly" line of Seth (the third named son of Adam
and Eve born after Cain slew Abel) rather than actual "angels". Seth
was supposedly curious and desiring of knowledge of God. The Daughters of Man are
thought to be the descendents of Cain. However, if this theory is so, why would
the sons of Seth produce only giants
(nephilim)? Why would they all be
male? Why were they universally wicked?
Interestingly, the very same name is used by Job to
describe angels – specifically naming Lucifer (Job 1:6; 2:1). Some
may argue that Jesus taught that angels are sexless (Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25;
Luke 20:34-36), but I suggest the reader take a closer look at those passages
and determine if Jesus is saying angels are without gender, or if He is saying
that they are not bound by human marriage traditions.
We
know that angels can appear in the form of ordinary people (Genesis 18:2-10;
Hebrews 13:2), and there is at least one passage that I know of that seems to
describe a female angel (Zechariah 5:9).
Isaiah stated that at one point “other
lords than You have ruled over us, but we remember Your name alone. The dead do
not live; departed spirits do not rise up. Indeed, You have visited and
destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.” (Isaiah 26:13-14) The
word used is “rephaim” which is one
of the names of the giants and in verse 14 of chapter 26, Isaiah seems to imply
that they will suffer eternal death, which would be hell.
This concept is
affirmed by Moses who described the Ammonites’ land saying, “This too used to be regarded as the land of the Rephaim. The
Rephaim lived there previously, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim, a
great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. The LORD destroyed the Rephaim
at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they drove them out and settled in
their place.”
(Deuteronomy 2:20-21) Again, we see a race of giants who are universally
wicked, driven out of their land and destroyed utterly.
I
believe this whole situation is what Jude was alluding to when he said, “And He has kept, with eternal chains in
darkness for the judgment of the great day, angels who did not keep their own
position but deserted their proper dwelling. In the same way,
Maybe
this is why Paul stated that a woman should either allow her hair to be long or
to wear a covering in prayer warning, “This is why a woman should
have a symbol of authority on
her head: because of the angels.” (1 Corinthians 11:10)
The
Nephilim were apparently a race of giants that were produced by the sexual
union of the “sons of God” and the daughters of men. I find it is striking that
the Hebrew word "Nephilim" means "fallen ones." They were
renowned for their strength, prowess, and a great capacity for sinfulness.
The
Bible mentions several names for the Nephilim. The diverse kinds of these
giants are cited in several passages. They are variously referred to as:
·
Emim, or "Terrors" (Genesis
14:5; Deuteronomy
·
Rephaim, or "Weakeners" or
"Dead Ones" (2 Samuel
·
Zamzummim, or "Achievers"
(apparently another name for the Rephaim) (Deuteronomy
·
Gibborim, or "Giant Heroes"
(Genesis 6:4; 10:8-9)
·
Anakim, or "Long-necked"
(Deuteronomy
·
Avvites or "Devastators"
(Gesenius supposes the name to mean "dwellers in the desert," but it
was more probably the name of some pre-Semitic tribe. The Avvim are described
as living in Chatserim or "encampments" and extending as far as the
outskirts of
Other
giants are mentioned in these texts as well, such as Goliath (2 Samuel
I’m
not interested in debating controversial subjects simply for the purpose of
debate. Paul instructed Timothy: “As I
urged you when I went to
Again, Paul instructed Titus: “This saying is
trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have
believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are
good and profitable for everyone. But avoid foolish debates, genealogies,
quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” (Titus 3:8-9)
There must be a point to any exegesis and its instruction
must lead to love from a good heart, a good conscience, a sincere faith and
good works. So, what is the lesson to be learned from the Nephilim? Their
wicked arrogance carried with it a heavy toll. Genesis 6:5 alludes to the
corruption that the Nephilim had caused amongst humans and themselves: "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on
the earth had become..." Their evil rebellion had incurred both the
wrath and grief of God. The ensuing result was a devastating flood.
Our conclusion must be that if
even powerful angels and whole civilizations of giant warriors cannot resist El
Gibhor, then we should quickly bow the knee to our rightful King and humbly
keep our place.
For if God didn't spare the angels who
sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in
chains of darkness until judgment; and if He didn't spare the ancient world,
but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when He
brought a flood on the world of the ungodly… then the Lord knows how to rescue
the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the
day of judgment. (1 Peter
2:4-5, 9)