Nephilim: Part 1 Introduction

The Nephilim are mentioned in Chapter 6 of the Book of Genesis.

Genesis 6 v 1-4

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

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.

They are the offspring of the sons of god and the daughters of men. According to the narrative, their appearance led people astray, which caused sin to greatly increase, and ended in the Great Flood.

The Nephilim are one of the most intriguing elements of the Bible. We not only see them mentioned in theological circles and sometimes at church, but even in areas as diverse as ancient alien theories, esoteric philosophies and film and TV shows.

A popular talking point is the ‘sons of God’ are aliens. And the Nephilim are human/alien hybrids. Cue the X-Files music. They are also used as antagonists in graphic novels like the God’s Dog series, and films like Noah and Alien Armageddon.

The word Nephilim is a transliteration from the Hebrew, and should be read as giants. This text is therefore used to prove the existence of giants in the distant past, along with the stories of the cyclops, the Titans and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Giant enthusiasts are always on the look out for evidence, especially potential skeletal remains. The first alleged finding of Nephilim bones was in 16th Century France. Where a discovery of fossilised mammoth bones were mistakenly thought to be part of a giant’s skeleton, which stood around 19ft tall.

Other giant bones have been dug up over the centuries, but either they were proved to be a hoax, or disappeared before they could be properly examined. Those who believe in the bones say that there is an attempt by anthropologists and archaeologists to hush up these findings. The argument is that the discovery of Nephilim bones would disprove evolutionary theory. I’m not sold on this idea, as I don’t think a wholesale cover up regarding bones is high on the cards of academics.

Another theory I came across a few decades ago was how this event in Genesis 6 described the interaction between humans and Neanderthals. There is evidence of interbreeding between the species, which has survived in our DNA. For example the ability for the skin to tan is from a Neanderthal gene. Could these ‘men of renown’ been the offspring of different species of hominids? After all, Neanderthals were stronger than modern humans.

This series will examine more theories like this, unpacking what the ancients thought about the Nephilim and discuss whether these beings are still around today.

The theories tend to fall into two camps; supernatural and natural interpretations. The natural ones, like the Neanderthal theory above, try to find material explanations for the narrative. For example, the story might highlight the problems of polygamy or the intermarrying of priests and commoners. To be honest, these ones aren’t as fun as other theories.

The supernatural theories are rooted in the Bible and surrounding contemporary texts. The Nephilim are discussed at length in the Enochian literature as well as the Book of Jubilees, both key Second Temple texts. We will look at why Jesus cast out demons and who were these men of renown.

I have my own personal views on all of this, but I am not completely sold on one single idea. As we go through the series, I will give some commentary on why I think some of these explanations are unlikely and which ones I prefer.