Genesis6:4

Translation

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days

(and also after that),

when the SONS OF ELOHIM

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went in to the daughters of men and they bore them children. Those were the mighty men of old,

the men of renown.  (See comments below.)

Paraphrase

There were lots of great big bullies on the earth in those days (and also after the flood). This was because the MIGHTY ONES AMONG THE FOLLOWERS OF GOD approached those who were committed to following man’s sinful nature and had sex with them, and of

course children were born from these relationships. Those children grew up to be famous for being ruthless and power-hungry, of whom many stories have been told.  (See comments below.)

Footnotes

1: “sons of Elohim”

The paraphrase column combines the two ideas that I think are being implied by this phrase; these men had been followers of God, and they were also giant men who had risen to positions of leadership among their relatives. (See my full-length comment after verse two for the reasons why the phrase “sons of God” is not likely to refer to angels in this passage.)

WHAT IS THE MAIN POINT OF THESE VERSES?

This appears to be the beginning of the problems for which God said, “My Spirit shall not govern man forever” (Gen 6:3). Polygamy started out as an uncommon thing which slowly grew to be the norm. These verses are describing the point in time in which mankind as a whole had moved away from the original concept of family in order to do whatever they wanted to do. As they did so they became more aggressive in taking what they wanted by force. As aggressiveness became more common, size and strength became more important. When even the righteous started playing the game of seeking advantage through size and strength, corruption and godlessness propelled them quickly down the spiral of sin. And that is why God punished the human race with a world-wide flood.

THE NEPHILIM WERE MORE THAN SIMPLE GIANTS

Human genes at that time were very rich and one of the possible characteristics of an offspring was that of exaggerated size – giants. The word Nephilim probably came to mean “giants” because that was their most obvious physical characteristic.  Yet I choose to focus on the root meaning of “bow down,” therefore, I believe the true Nephilim possessed several characteristics which made them more adept at forcing others to bow down to them –They were large and strong, brutal, political geniuses, and skilled inventors and builders, and possibly demon possessed. They were able to convince the people that “if you follow me, we will accomplish great things together, but if you don’t follow me, bad things will happen to your personal physical being.” They were the “perfect storm,” if you will.

WERE THE NEPHILIM OFFSPRING OF ANGELS THAT MARRIED HUMAN WOMEN?

I find that interpretation to be spiritually dangerous and physically impossible. Here  are my reasons:

  • It contradicts the rest of scripture.
  • such an interpretation is based on a highly questionable interpretation of the words “sons of Elohim.” Apart from the discussion about DNA, if they came to do something contrary to God’s will, they were no longer angels, but demons, and using the phrase “sons of Elohim” to refer to demons is questionable. Some people on the internet say “Elohim” can refer to any spirit being, including demons, but I don’t see that in any lexica I trust. In the Bible I have never seen “Elohim,” or “sons of Elohim,” used in a way that clearly refers to demons.
  • it throws doubt on the reason God sent the flood, which is the purpose of Gen 6:1-4;
  • it is unclear how they existed both before and after the flood (Gen 6:4) without being on the ark;
  • It violates the principle of reproduction in nature which always occurs “according to its kind;”
  • it violates the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:30 about angels not marrying (even one another);
  • it violates John 3:6, “flesh gives birth to flesh and spirit gives birth to spirit”.
  • it violates I Corinthians 15:39, “All flesh is not the same” meaning creatures have different DNA which does not allow for reproduction across certain lines.
  • In order for them to reproduce with human women they would need human DNA, making them humans, not angels. The only way for them to have human DNA is if God altered their make-up to include human DNA because we know they were created as spirit-beings, not as humans with human DNA. If God gave them our DNA, then He was complicit in wickedness, which is contrary to His character.
  • Let me say it this way – if that interpretation were true, the birth of every Nephilim would be a miracle. As such it would have to be produced by God, which would mean God was fighting against Himself, or it would mean that the Nephilim are themselves gods with power which the Creator God cannot, thwart, impede, or countermand.