Who were the Nephilim in Genesis 6?

There seem to be two primary interpretations of who the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 are:

1. Offspring of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.”
2. A race of wicked people who were contemporaries of the “sons of God” and “daughters of men.

(A third view, such as by Matthew Henry, was that they were children of the Seth line marrying Cain’s line — his interpretation of “sons of God” and “daughters of men.”)

Be sure to review the text in various versions in yesterday’s post.

The pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch, in chapters 6 and 7, at least gives us what the tradition was during the period it was written:

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it….And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

In this narrative it is obvious the the Nephilim are the offspring of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men."

Here are commentaries which support the idea that the nephilim were offspring of the “sons of God” and “daughters of men” (regardless of the identity of the “sons of God”).

In his Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, chapter 3, historian Josephus said “for many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of this whom the Grecians call giants.

In his Second Apology of Justin, chapter 5, Justin Martyr stated:  God, when He had made the whole world, and subjected things earthly to man . . . committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment, and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons; and besides, they afterwards subdued the human race to themselves, partly by magical writings, and partly by fears and the punishments they occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and libations, of which things they stood in need after they were enslaved by lustful passions; and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate deeds, and all wickedness. Whence also the poets and mythologists, not knowing that it was the angels and those demons who had been begotten by them that did these things to men, and women, and cities, and nations, which they related, ascribed them to god himself, and to those who were accounted to be his very offspring, and to the offspring of those who were called his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, and to the children again of these their offspring. For whatever name each of the angels had given to himself and his children, by that name they called them.

Ariel’s Bible Commentary, The Book of Genesis, by Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, specifically states that the Nephilim are “the results of the intermarriage between fallen angels and human women.” He goes on to state that the Greek word gigantes used to translate “Nephilim” in the Septuagint is the term for the Latin “Titans,” which were part man and part god; having human characteristics but also superhuman. In that regard it is best to translate “Nephilim” as “fallen ones.” Fruchtenbaum says the rabbinic interpretation of the meaning of “Nephilim” was “because they fell and caused the world to fall.”  Interestingly, he states the use of “Nephilim” in Numbers 13:33 is due to the lie from the spies when they tried to discourage Israel from invading Canaan, and that no giants were found there.

Henry Morris’ Defender’s Study Bible (King James Version): These “giants” were the monstrous progeny of the demon-possessed men and women whose illicit activities led to God’s warning of imminent judgement. The Hebrew word is nephilim (“fallen ones”), a term possibly relating to the nature of their spiritual “parents,” the fallen angels. That they were also physical giants is evident from the fact that the same word is used later in connection with the giants in Canaan at the time of Joshua (Numbers 13:33) and by the fact that the word here was translated in the Septuagint by the Greek word gigantes. “After that” clearly refers to Numbers 13:33 and probably represents an editorial insertion in Noah’s record by Moses. These giants in Canaan may also have had demonically-controlled parents…. The antediluvian giants had, by the time of Moses, become renowned heroes of antiquity, as far as the world was concerned. They, like their parents, were probably demon-controlled. Their gigantic stature was engineered by genetic manipulations. . . A half-angel, half-human being would be an impossible anomaly in terms of soteriology.  The only apparent solution to all the problems posed by these verses is demon possession of both parents and progeny, not demonic marriage or procreation. 

The NET Bible: The Hebrew word [Hebrew letters at this point] (nefilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v.2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner.

Merril F. Unger’s Bible Dictionary: The Nephilim are considered by many as giant demigods, the unnatural offspring of “the daughters of men” (mortal women) in cohabitation with “the sons of God” (angels). This utterly unnatural union, violating God’s created orders of being, was such a shocking abnormality as to necessitate the worldwide judgement of the Flood.

The International Bible Commentary, with F.F. Bruce as general editor, states that, “The obvious inference is that they were the offspring of the unions just mentioned, and the setting suggest that they were the ring-leaders in the evil begin described.”

Harper’s Bible Dictionary says that they are “people of the pre-Flood generation, the offspring of daughters of men and divine beings….” (cited by Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry.)

From the Encyclopedia Judaica we find this comment:  In apocryphal writings of the Second Temple period this fragmentary narrative was elaborated and reinterpreted. The angels were then depicted as rebels against God: lured by the charms of women, they "fell" (Heb, nfl. נפל), defiled their heavenly purity, and introduced all manner of sinfulness to earth. Their giant offspring were wicked and violent; the Flood was occasioned by their sinfulness. 

The “Free Messianic Bible” states that they were indeed the offspring, but it does not agree that the “sons of God” were fallen angels.

An article from Logos Talk (the blog of Logos Bible software) seems to accept the Nephilim as offspring, regardless of the identity of the “sons of God.”

Got Questions specifically identifies the Nephilim as the offspring.

Even Wikipedia states that the Nephilim were the offspring of the “sons of God” and “daughters of men.”

Here are commentaries which say the nephilim were not the offspring of the “sons of God” and “daughters of men.”

John MacArthur’s Study Bible: The word nephilim is from a root meaning “to fall,” indicating that they were strong men who “fell" on others in the sense of overpowering them. … They were already in the earth when the “mighty men” and “men of renown” were born. The fallen ones are not the offspring from the union in 6:1,2.

Charles Ryrie’s Study Bible: Nephilim. From a root meaning “to fall”; i.e., to fall upon others because they were men of strength…. Evidently they were in the earth before the marriages of Men.6:2, and were not the offspring of those marriages from which Mae the mighty men (military men) and men of renown (of wealth or power).

Kenneth Barker and John R. Kohlenberger III in their “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary.”: Here “Nephilim” appears to refer to the great men of antiquity. Since the author has just referred to ten such great men (ch.5), perhaps these were the “men of renown.”

I’m sure one can go through more commentaries (and I have access to many more on CD) and find both sides of the debate, but I’m finding the vast majority believe the Nephilim were the offspring of the “sons of God” and “daughters of men,” regardless of the identity of the “sons of God.”

After studying all the noted commentaries in regards to who the “sons of God” were, and now studying about who the Nephilim were, I think the most rational understanding is that the Nephilim were indeed the offspring of the union of the “sons of God” and “daughters of men,” whether or not the fallen angels were direct sires or indirect via possession. 

One thing is certain: they were not aliens from another world as so many claim today.

UPDATE 11/19/19:  Interesting YouTube teaching about this topic, which disagrees with my understanding (but agrees with my understanding of "sons of God"). I think his reasoning about the Nephilim is good and can accept it as an alternative to mine.