The Nephilim
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton
(Short Talk)
Text: Genesis 6:1-4
I. There are three groups mentioned in our reading:
A. The Nephilim
B. The sons of God
C. The daughters of men
II. It is frequently claimed that the Nephilim were beings who resulted from fallen angels having sexual relations with humans
A. But angels are spiritual beings - Hebrews 1:14
1. They don’t have flesh - Luke 24:39
2. They are incapable of a physical relationship, let alone producing offspring
B. Angels do not marry - Luke 20:34-36
1. Since they are eternal, they have no need to reproduce
C. The text states that the Nephilim were on the earth before and after the time the sons of God had sex with the daughters of men
III. The word Nephilim means “giant”
A. It can refer to someone large in stature - Numbers 13:32-33
1. Anak must have been an exceptionally large man because his descendants were also large - Deuteronomy 1:28
2. The Emim were similar - Deuteronomy 2:10-11
3. Notice that the Nephilim existed before and after the flood!
B. It can refer to someone who is a renown leader – a giant among men - Genesis 6:4
1. Notice the last part
IV. Who were the sons of God?
A. Can refer to angels - Job 1:6
B. But also the righteous - Hosea 1:10; Deuteronomy 14:1
V. Who were the daughters of men?
A. They are the opposite of the sons of God
1. Sons – Daughters
2. God – Men
B. The opposite of the righteous are the wicked
VI. Thus, we have an explanation of why the world became so corrupt
A. The righteous married the wicked and the natural result was that their offspring grew up being wicked.
