The "Nephilim" what were/are they?

[Daniel55]

As you may see, I consider myself an atheist.
I still enjoy reading the bible and wonder about certain things and concepts.
As I started reading a certain study bible, I saw this verse from Genesis 6:4

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

The explanation was lacking, to put it mild.
If I remember correctly is said something to the effect of "The Nephilim were large men"

So I went online and I see that there does not seem to be any good solid answers what the Nephilim are/were.
There seem to be as many theories as people that wonder.
The word itself suggests someone that has fallen.
People argue that they can´t be angels, since they mated with the female humans.

Then I got even more confused when there is more to be learned from the Book of Enoch.
The first book/chapter is more detailed about the Nephilim.
It is told as the Nephilim come from the angels.
They seem to be good and bad.

One such fallen Nephilim was this one Azazel (I would put up a link but I´m a newbie that is not allowed that)

From the Book of Enoch:

And Azazel taught men to make swords and knives and shields and breastplates; and made known to them the metals [of the earth] and the art of working them; and bracelets and ornaments; and the use of antimony and the beautifying of the eyelids; and all kinds of costly stones and all colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray and became corrupt in all their ways.

Then god imprisons Azazel

"the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl (Gods Kettle/Crucible/Cauldron), and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin."

I don´t know if many of you are in to reading other sources - as in the Book of Enoch.
I still find it interesting and still kind of wondering what they are/were.
Anyone here that has a good answer?

 

[BornOfWaterAndSpirit]

They are Sethites.

 

[dcyates]

As you may see, I consider myself an atheist.
I still enjoy reading the bible and wonder about certain things and concepts.
As I started reading a certain study bible, I saw this verse from Genesis 6:4



The explanation was lacking, to put it mild.
If I remember correctly is said something to the effect of "The Nephilim were large men"

So I went online and I see that there does not seem to be any good solid answers what the Nephilim are/were.
There seem to be as many theories as people that wonder.
The word itself suggests someone that has fallen.
People argue that they can´t be angels, since they mated with the female humans.

Then I got even more confused when there is more to be learned from the Book of Enoch.
The first book/chapter is more detailed about the Nephilim.
It is told as the Nephilim come from the angels.
They seem to be good and bad.

One such fallen Nephilim was this one Azazel (I would put up a link but I´m a newbie that is not allowed that)

From the Book of Enoch:


Then god imprisons Azazel



I don´t know if many of you are in to reading other sources - as in the Book of Enoch.
I still find it interesting and still kind of wondering what they are/were.
Anyone here that has a good answer?

The "sons of God" are simply men while the "daughters of men" are simply women.

We should remember that the chapter and verse divisions were added much later and, as a result, these verses began acting as the introduction for Gen 6, and so we tend to link and otherwise identify it closely with the Flood -- and obviously, simply in terms of proximity, that's a perfectly fine understanding. But coming as it does right after our introduction to Noah, I think it's these verses that Jesus was referring to in Matt 24 when he was speaking about the coming judgement.
Here in Genesis we're told that in the days of Noah, men and women were getting married and being given in marriage, and were having children and going about their daily lives. Then, all of a sudden, the judgement came in the form of the deluge.
Likewise, Jesus informs his disciples: "For when the Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east.... But when that hour and day will come, no one knows.... For the Son of Man's coming will be just like in the days of Noah. Back then, before the Flood, people went on eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, right up until the day that Noah entered the ark; and they didn't know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes" (Matt 24.27, 36, 37-39).

Therefore, the phrases "sons of God" and "daughters of men" are simply poetical ways to say, "men and women."

 

[timewerx]

They are described in much better detail in the Book of Enoch.

They were giants and/or normal sized with incredible strength and learned of evil crafts - martial arts, warfare, use of weaponry and armor, and perhaps even sorcery. They caused much violence and bloodshed on Earth. When they die, their spirits roam the Earth. Their spirits are around you today!

Their human mothers specialized in sorcery, incantations, and martial arts taught by the fallen angels themselves.

Their fathers "the watchers" were given the task of watching over mankind but they rebelled and deserted their tasks.

Pretty much like Tolkien's imagination or Warcraft lore if you know those sort of things!

 

[gasman64]

One of the meanings of the word was giant. But only one of many. The most common meaning was 'great' man signifying local king or chief. But people fixated on the word giant. Particularly this conspiracy led generation. It is myth and nothing more. Giantism is the extreme of one part of mankind and dwarfism is to the other....Do we say that hobbits fell from heaven and mated with women to make little people? No.

 

[Daniel55]

Thanks for the informative answers.

Again, can´t provide a link, but I found this in an interesting article.

It is not clear where the name Nephilim comes from. There are a few possibilities, and scholars argue about the likelihood of each of them. First of all, the word nephilim is a plural and the single form, (npl), does not occur in the Bible (which by itself is not at all unusual). In another context, however, the word (nepel) means untimely birth or abortion. It comes from the verb (napal), fall, lie down, be cast down, fail. The plural word means 'fallen ones,' mostly by the sword, and occurs in Joshua 8:25, Judges 20:46, 2 Kings 25:11, Psalm 145:14, Jeremiah 39:9, 52:15, Ezekiel 32:22 and 24.

HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament mentions the above similarity with some disdain and pronounces a much more likely etymology based on words such as (pala), be marvelous, wonderful, or (pala), be distinct, marked out, or (palal), intervene, interpose, pray. This latter verb is one of many for prayer and other interventions, and in search of origins of this particular verb some scholars end up right back at (napal), to fall (i.e. to prostrate oneself). This becomes especially compelling when we remember that the name Rephaim has to do with a verb that means to sink, let drop, fall slack.

The Nephilim are the Fallen Ones, and the Marvelous Ones.

BDB Theological Dictionary adds a very interesting note, although, in its signature grumpy style, pronounces any etymology 'dubious' and 'precarious' : The words for Nephilim, and bear a striking resemblance to Nephila, the Aramaic word for Orion: and .

The Nephilim are the Orionids.

Some parts of the quote does not work in the copy-paste, since it is missing the hebrew letters.
Still, the major points are there.

 

[DrBubbaLove]

A race/group of tall people with perhaps some addition of height/might from legend. And for those whose suggest that is absurd, in more modern times we have the example of people like the Basuto or the Zulu.

 

[Godfixated]

The giants or Nephilim in Genesis 6:4, in the context of Genesis 6:5, is a figure of speech meaning "men of great sin." Look at the verses together and it makes a lot of sense. Genesis 6:3-5, "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." This whole passage in the context is about man's great sin.

 

[DrBubbaLove]

But why focus on the point of a passage when one can have so much imaginative fun creating a whole ideology out of a background side reference?

And speaking of side notes, we would be remiss if we failed to note a significant amount of racism which seems to often associate itself with such tales or at least feeds any buried racism and certainly an attractive notion for those freely embracing it. Not saying anyone here feels that way, but have know a few in my time, including my father who held such views. For some at least it seems to justify in their minds racist attitudes they already held before being introduced to this ideology.

Even if not expressed initially, among friends who have endorsed such ideas I have found many who would at least express some racist speculation regarding imagined remnants of human-demon hybrids among us today.

 

[A New Dawn]

Admin Hat On

I am moving this thread to Exploring Christianity. Posts not responding to the OP were deleted.

 

[GrayAngel]

There are many ideas about who the Nephilim were. I do not currently subscribe to the idea that they were hybrids of angels and humans, however, because Jesus in the New Testament teaches that in death we will become "like the angels" and implies that angels are without marriage or sex. They are spirits, without male or female.

I'm skeptical of the idea that angels can multiply with humans.

What I've heard as a possibility is that "sons of God" were kings or men of renown who took the "daughters of men" or common folk as their own. These men could pretty much have whoever they wanted for a wife. I don't know if I'm fully convinced by this explanation either, though.

 

[strangertoo]

As you may see, I consider myself an atheist.

life would be so much better and easier if everyone were atheists until spirit baptism... my best friends are all atheists , so little hypocrisy amongst atheists, so many open minds which the God of Love can reach as soon as an atheist chooses Love over the ways of the world, as some do ...

I still enjoy reading the bible and wonder about certain things and concepts.

questions that Love alone will provide the answer to... surprising perhaps, but true ... God can and will explain all, but only to those who stop abusing others...turn to Love... perhaps not as easy as it sounds in a capitalist-dominated world with little time left before man destroys it for himself....

As I started reading a certain study bible, I saw this verse from Genesis 6:4

study bibles are only good for studying the lies of religion , saints would never consider such evil works.... one cannot learn about God from sinners , only about Satan pretending to be God in man-made religion of sinners...

The explanation was lacking, to put it mild.
If I remember correctly is said something to the effect of "The Nephilim were large men"

'giants' even ... very big men...

So I went online and I see that there does not seem to be any good solid answers what the Nephilim are/were.

you must have spelled it wrongly, there's loads on the web , but most if not all written by sinners of course , who know not God or Jesus... but he3y that doesn't hold them back at all... e.g. :-

http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/nephilim-sons-of-god-word.pdf?gclid=CMTJtonUtbICFUPxzAod2TwAAw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephilim

There seem to be as many theories as people that wonder.
The word itself suggests someone that has fallen.
People argue that they can´t be angels, since they mated with the female humans.

Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

the word 'angels' is a transliteration from 'angelos' which simply menas messenger ... God's messengers can be mistaken for men because they are men, albeit men who have been translated free of death - like Enoch :-
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

God uses such saints [those who Love everyone] as messengers as they can manifest to affect events in the world and then re-translate [so long as they don't sin here]

clearly they can mate with folks, they are folks... but few of them would want to for very good reasons...

... and there is the problem for [most of if not all?]the Nephilim ,as for all sinners, so they have to die to be freed from sin [Rom 6:7] as they had no intention of Loving everyone in life ... so they have to 'wait' now in death for the new earth kingdom of God , for resurrection to life , to see if God can persuade them next time to Love, not abuse with sin...

Then I got even more confused when there is more to be learned from the Book of Enoch.
The first book/chapter is more detailed about the Nephilim.
It is told as the Nephilim come from the angels.
They seem to be good and bad.

Don't remember any good ones, but haven't read it for some time now... awesomely detailed read though, good stuff

One such fallen Nephilim was this one Azazel (I would put up a link but I´m a newbie that is not allowed that)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azazel

From the Book of Enoch:

Then god imprisons Azazel

Just like 'Satan' ... the prison is simply death, the chain is simply that no-one escapes death except by resurrection, something only God can do....

Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

I don´t know if many of you are in to reading other sources - as in the Book of Enoch.
I still find it interesting and still kind of wondering what they are/were.
Anyone here that has a good answer?

If I remember rightly they are termed 'satans' meaning adversaries [of God] ... taught men all manner of evil tricks which led to men preferring sin to Love so most never knew God in life... and the final Satan of the bible is the Antichrist who unites world religion in worship of himself as god of all men [except a couple of thousand saints] ,owns the whole world and runs the one world army [NWO ?] the ultimate 'capitalist pig'... Rev 13:3-4

mankind has the most terrible time ever after his death only three and a half years after coming to power... but Jesus returns at his death to take the very few saints from this earth... to build the kingdom come in the new earth and heavens as mankind has destroyed the viability of the planet by then [with capitalism , fake money, fake promises, but one cannot escape death by fakery...it takes Love in life to escape death God persists plugging this deep Truth about mankind until all see through the lies and try Love ... takes a while and up to three lives but men see the point in the end, even satans] ...

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 

[golgotha61]

As you may see, I consider myself an atheist.
I still enjoy reading the bible and wonder about certain things and concepts.
As I started reading a certain study bible, I saw this verse from Genesis 6:4



The explanation was lacking, to put it mild.
If I remember correctly is said something to the effect of "The Nephilim were large men"

So I went online and I see that there does not seem to be any good solid answers what the Nephilim are/were.
There seem to be as many theories as people that wonder.
The word itself suggests someone that has fallen.
People argue that they can´t be angels, since they mated with the female humans.

Then I got even more confused when there is more to be learned from the Book of Enoch.
The first book/chapter is more detailed about the Nephilim.
It is told as the Nephilim come from the angels.
They seem to be good and bad.

One such fallen Nephilim was this one Azazel (I would put up a link but I´m a newbie that is not allowed that)

From the Book of Enoch:


Then god imprisons Azazel



I don´t know if many of you are in to reading other sources - as in the Book of Enoch.
I still find it interesting and still kind of wondering what they are/were.
Anyone here that has a good answer?

Three theories have been proposed as to the parentage of the Nephilim. These hypotheses do not address the problem of how they might have survived the flood to appear in Canaan at the time of the spy expedition:

Some Biblical historians argue that the “sons of God” were righteous men (descendants of Seth) who married worldly, female descendants of Cain and so became defiled. Their progeny increased in sinfulness until God rectified the situation with the flood. Problem is; this theory does not explain why the word translated “men” in Gen. 6:1 describes all of humanity, while the same word in verse 2 refers to only Cain’s line.

Other scholars argue that “the sons of God” were kings who took multiple wives in order to build dynasties from their numerous descendants. In several instances Ancient Near Eastern documents refer to kings as being the sons of particular gods. Akkadian texts indicate that the Hebrew word translated “men” in Gen. 6:4 could alternatively mean “commoners” in some contexts. This would suggest that the Nephilim were kings who acquired harems, using the daughters of commoners, and sired large families through them. But no other Biblical passages refer to kings in general as “sons of God,” and later kings (such as Solomon) who had many wives are not identified as being among the Nephilim.

Still other Scholars believe that the “sons of God” were angels who impregnated human women and sired demigods who were able to do whatever they pleased on Earth. However Jesus said that angels do not marry (Mt 22:30) and from this it can be argued that they do not procreate (New International Version Archaeological Study Bible, by Walter C. Kaiser and Duane Garrett.)

Also consider: The “sons of God” are best understood as demon-possessed kings. The perverted psyches of these tyrants allowed this entrance of the demonic. The Nephilim (i.e., “fallen ones”) who also existed at the time of Moses (Num. 13:33) were probably offspring, also called “heroes”. They filled the earth with violence (An Old Testament Theology, by Bruce K. Waltke).

 

[doc8645]

First and foremost I readily confess math is really my worse subject, having said that, as to the "nephilim" exploration, I wouldn't consider the book of Enoch as a good guide toward translating Bible references.

As stated in the book of Enoch the giants were three thousand ells.
the egyptian ell was 450mm (or 3 palm lengths I believe), the babylonian ell was 495 mm, the standard Biblical ell would have been 525 or 495mm. So to compute mm to inches= x.039370 would be using 450mm= 17.7165 inches. So 17.7165 inches by 3000 would be 53149.5 inches or 4429.125 feet, so even not being very good with physical science, I can see the women would be pretty safe.

So, I personally would go with some of the previous posters about being God believers going after non-God believing women.

God bless
doc8645

 

[ViaCrucis]

As you may see, I consider myself an atheist.
I still enjoy reading the bible and wonder about certain things and concepts.
As I started reading a certain study bible, I saw this verse from Genesis 6:4



The explanation was lacking, to put it mild.
If I remember correctly is said something to the effect of "The Nephilim were large men"

So I went online and I see that there does not seem to be any good solid answers what the Nephilim are/were.
There seem to be as many theories as people that wonder.
The word itself suggests someone that has fallen.
People argue that they can´t be angels, since they mated with the female humans.

Then I got even more confused when there is more to be learned from the Book of Enoch.
The first book/chapter is more detailed about the Nephilim.
It is told as the Nephilim come from the angels.
They seem to be good and bad.

One such fallen Nephilim was this one Azazel (I would put up a link but I´m a newbie that is not allowed that)

From the Book of Enoch:


Then god imprisons Azazel



I don´t know if many of you are in to reading other sources - as in the Book of Enoch.
I still find it interesting and still kind of wondering what they are/were.
Anyone here that has a good answer?

There are two primary theories that have existed since antiquity:

1) The nephilim are the offspring of the godly line of Seth ("sons of God") and the lineage of Cain ("daughters of men").

2) The nephilim are the offspring of angels ("sons of God") and human women ("daughters of men").

The former theory dominates Jewish and later Christian literature, the latter theory can be found, for example, in Enoch and some Christian literature of the patristic period.

The simple fact of the matter is the author of this portion of Genesis seems to just gloss over this without really offering anything to answer the questions that we naturally want to ask, such as, "Wait...what?"

As such the two theories are really just guesses on the part of Jews and Christians who read this passage and paused, saying, "Wait...what?" and trying to come up with an answer without having much to go on.

There is also this theory (mentioned on Wikipedia's article on the Nephilim):

"In Aramaic culture, the term niyphelah refers to the Constellation of Orion, and nephilim to the offspring of Orion in mythology.[33] However the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon notes this as a "dubious etymology" and "all very precarious".[34]

J. C. Greenfield mentions that "it has been proposed that the tale of the Nephilim, alluded to in Genesis 6 is based on some of the negative aspects of the apkallu tradition".[35] The apkallu in Sumerian mythology were seven legendary culture heros from before the Flood, of human descent, but possessing extraordinary wisdom from the gods, and one of the seven apkallu, Adapa, was therefore called "son of Ea", despite his human origin.[36]"

-CryptoLutheran

 

[strangertoo]

First and foremost I readily confess math is really my worse subject, having said that, as to the "nephilim" exploration, I wouldn't consider the book of Enoch as a good guide toward translating Bible references.

As stated in the book of Enoch the giants were three thousand ells.
the egyptian ell was 450mm (or 3 palm lengths I believe), the babylonian ell was 495 mm, the standard Biblical ell would have been 525 or 495mm. So to compute mm to inches= x.039370 would be using 450mm= 17.7165 inches. So 17.7165 inches by 3000 would be 53149.5 inches or 4429.125 feet, so even not being very good with physical science, I can see the women would be pretty safe.

So, I personally would go with some of the previous posters about being God believers going after non-God believing women.

God bless
doc8645

LOLOL ... most folks, even those not scientists or mathematicians, would realise there was a flaw somewhere along the way to get a result like that
... structural steel wouldn't take the stresses in such a 'giant' , let alone flesh and bone...

as for the book of Enoch, as you likely know we have little idea of the original text because the versions we have are different , thus edited ...but Jude confirmed one of the most important facts in it Jude 1:14 which confirms that Jesus' statement that he only ever has a total of 144,000 followers in this earth is literal, not symbolic... about two thousand alive at any one time then... Jesus never originated modern Christianity then... but tells us Satan will -Rev 13:3-4 , only the few saints escaping being fooled by the dragon about religion... of rather more concern today perhaps than giants in the past ? ... thanks to Enoch for exposing the lies of the churches pretending the number is symbolic ...Satan already at work

as to the ell , it seems to be inextricably linked to the length of the arm... so one is left having to question the accuracy of the translation ...and the validity of the source which we know to have been edited...

 

[KimberlyAA]

Some have claimed that the nephilim, or the ‘sons of God’, both mentioned in Genesis 6:2–4, were aliens. This is a wild extension of a common view that the ‘sons of God’ who married the ‘daughters of men’ were fallen angels.

‘Sons of God’ (Hebrew: bene elohim) is clearly used of angels in Job 38:7. The Septuagint (LXX7) here translates ‘sons of God’ as ‘angels of God’. A straight-forward reading of Genesis 6:4 implies that evil angels actually cohabited with women. The resultant offspring were called the Nephilim, which literally means ‘fallen ones’. Although this is a troubling passage that challenges our views of the spiritual dimension and the physicality of angels, the strongest argument for this view comes from the simplest understanding of the text itself. There is also New Testament support for this view (Jude 6—; 2 Pet. 2:4–; 1 Pet. 3:18–0).


Some suggest that evil angels on Earth could have used the bodies of ungodly men, by demonic possession, to achieve their evil purpose of producing an evil generation of people (Gen. 6:12). But this has little textual support.​

Interestingly, the word nephilim is only used in Gen. 6:4 and in Num. 13:33. The latter refers to the descendants of Anak, who were big people, but still people. However, it is likely that the mention of the nephilim in this latter passage, whether referring to the descendants of Anak, or the pre-Flood group of nephilim, was a lie by the spies to dissuade the Hebrews from entering the Promised Land. God punished the spies for bringing back an untruthful report (Num. 14:11, 36–37).​

Although ‘sons of God’ is used exclusively of angels in the Old Testament, in Hosea 1:10 ‘the sons of the living God’, specifically refers to the children of Israel. The Bible scholar, H.C. Leupold, suggested that the ‘sons of God’ were descendants of Seth, the godly line who are detailed in Genesis 4:25–32. Leupold wrote, ‘But who were these “sons of God”? Without a shadow of a doubt, the Sethites …’. In this view, the descendants of Seth became wayward and married the ‘daughters of men’ indiscriminately, basing their choice only on appearance, without concern for godliness, and the nephilim were their offspring. However, others have argued against this view suggesting that the text would have specifically said ‘sons of Seth’ and ‘daughters of Cain’. Also, it is claimed that the Sethites could not have been a godly group in toto because family heritage does not guarantee piety or righteousness anyway (witness the kings of Israel, for example).


Rulers in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia often proclaimed themselves as ‘sons of God’ to enhance their power and prestige. So, another view is that the ‘sons of God’ were power-hungry rulers and despots, who, in their hunger for power and influence, took many wives in polygamy. They, and their offspring, through tyranny, became ‘mighty men’ (Nimrod was described as such a ‘mighty one’, Gen. 10:8).​

I don't recommend using the Book Of Enoch as a reliable source. First of all, the book of Enoch was not considered scripture by the Christian Church. There was some discussion on its canonicity by a few people, but the Christian Church did not include it in the Bible.


There is much talk these days about lost books of the Bible. Sometimes people claim that the Bible was edited to take out reincarnation, or the teaching of higher planes of existence, or different gods, or ancestor worship, or "at-one-ment" with nature, anything that disagreed with what the people in power didn't like. But, none of this is true. The "lost books" were never lost. These so-called lost books were already known by the Jews and the Christians and were not considered inspired. They weren't lost nor were they removed from the Bible because they were never in the Bible to begin with.

These so-called lost books were not included in the Bible for several reasons. They lacked apostolic or prophetic authorship; they did not claim to be the Word of God; they contain unbiblical concepts such as prayer for the dead; or have some serious historical inaccuracies. These books were never authoritative, inspired, or authentically written by either the Jewish Prophets or the Christian Apostles.

The Pseudepigraphal books are "false writings." They are a collection of early Jewish and "Christian" writings composed between 200 BC and AD 200. However, they too were known and were never considered scripture.

These pseudepigraphical books were never considered scripture by the Christian church because they were not authoritative, inspired, written by either Prophets or Apostles, nor do they have the power of the word of the books of the existing Bible. Therefore, since the books are not lost and were never part of the Bible to begin with, they have no bearing on the validity of the Bible.
​

 

[PureDose]

As you may see, I consider myself an atheist.
I still enjoy reading the bible and wonder about certain things and concepts.
As I started reading a certain study bible, I saw this verse from Genesis 6:4



The explanation was lacking, to put it mild.
If I remember correctly is said something to the effect of "The Nephilim were large men"

So I went online and I see that there does not seem to be any good solid answers what the Nephilim are/were.
There seem to be as many theories as people that wonder.
The word itself suggests someone that has fallen.
People argue that they can´t be angels, since they mated with the female humans.

The spirits of heaven, some of them, slept with some women and created fleshly offspring. "Then and in times after".

Yes, they are angels.


You seem to be running into a lot of mythology when looking for more answers, and also a lot of opinions of people who have no idea of what they are talking about -- or are just making up stories.

The universe is far more bizarre then what the Bible explicitly describes. However, it sure hints at some of that bizarreness in at the very least some of the visions of the prophets and apostles.

Put together all of the wildest fiction in the world and none of it gets even close.

 

[Faulty]

Look into the work of some people like Tom Horn and Steve Quayle, and maybe get Horn's book 'Nephilim Stargates'. There's a lot of detail there.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Amazon's book description for "Nephilim Stargates"

"One myth from the history of every great civilization spoke of beings descending from heaven and using human and animal DNA to create giant offspring. Rabbinical authorities, Septuagint translators and early church fathers understood this as a factual record of history. The phenomenon began with the “Watchers” who spawned “Nephilim” resulting in judgment from God. The ancients also knew Bible passages that predict the Nephilim will return when Iraq and Iran are invaded and destroyed. Is this prophecy about to be fulfilled? Is man, in his rush to play god through biological weapons, biotechnology, and genetic manipulation, opening gateways to a supernatural unknown? Nephilim Stargates and the Return of the Watchers is a glimpse into this past, present, and future phenomena, with an eye on what sages and scientists believe and what futurists and prophets may fear."

Emphasis mine.

I'm going to go ahead and say that, at least based on this description, this book isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

It might as well be reptilian aliens live in human skin and tin foil hats protect us from their mind-beams.

If one's biblical interpretation starts to look a bit more like a B-rated sci-fi novel, it should seriously cause pause.

-CryptoLutheran