What does the Bible say about Nephilim?
When I think about the Nephilim, those mysterious figures from Genesis, I’m struck by how they stand at the crossroads of a world filling up with people. The Bible tells us they came from the “sons of God” uniting with the “daughters of men,” their children growing into the “mighty men of old, men of renown.” That word “Nephilim” pulls me in. It’s tied to the Hebrew idea of falling, making me wonder if they were the “fallen ones” or maybe those who pulled others down with them. Some say the “sons of God” were fallen angels, stepping into human lives and fathering a race of giant, powerful beings, while others believe they were righteous men from Seth’s line mixing with wayward women from Cain’s descendants. Then, in Numbers 13, we hear of them again, or at least their name, which is linked to the huge inhabitants of Canaan the spies saw. As I ponder this, I’m reminded of the time before the Great Flood when they roamed, a piece of God’s vast story that keeps me seeking His truth. What do you make of these enigmatic souls?
Genesis 6:4 (NASB) – “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”
Numbers 13:33 (NIV) – “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Genesis 6:1-2 (NKJV) – “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.”
Genesis 6:5 (ESV) – “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Deuteronomy 2:10-11 (KJV) – “The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites called them Emims.”
Joshua 11:21 (NLT) – “During this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns.”
Genesis 6:11-12 (Holman) – “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.”
Numbers 13:32 (NIV) – “And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.’”
Deuteronomy 3:11 (NASB) – “For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits and its width four cubits by ordinary cubit.”
2 Samuel 21:20 (ESV) – “And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants.”
Genesis 6:9 (NKJV) – “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.”
1 Chronicles 20:6 (KJV) – “And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot and he also was the son of the giant.”
Deuteronomy 2:20-21 (NLT) – “That area was once considered the land of the Rephaim, who had lived there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim. They were a numerous and powerful people, as tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could move in and settle in their land.”
Joshua 15:14 (Holman) – “Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, descendants of Anak.”
Genesis 6:3 (NIV) – “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.’”
Amos 2:9 (NASB) – “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like the height of cedars and he was strong as the oaks; I even destroyed his fruit above and his root below.”
1 Samuel 17:4 (ESV) – “And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”
Genesis 6:7 (KJV) – “And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
Numbers 13:28 (NLT) – “But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!”
Deuteronomy 9:2 (NKJV) – “A people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakims, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’”
Joshua 14:12 (NIV) – “Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
Genesis 6:13 (Holman) – “Then God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.’”
2 Peter 2:5 (NASB) – “And did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”
Judges 1:20 (ESV) – “And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.”
1 Chronicles 20:4 (KJV) – “And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.”
Genesis 6:6 (NLT) – “So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.”
Deuteronomy 1:28 (NKJV) – “Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.’”
Joshua 17:15 (NIV) – “Joshua answered, ‘If you are so numerous,’ he said, ‘and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim.’”
Genesis 6:17 (Holman) – “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.”
2 Samuel 21:16 (NASB) – “Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David.”
Numbers 13:22 (ESV) – “They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there.”
Genesis 6:8 (KJV) – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
Joshua 18:16 (NLT) – “The boundary then descended to the edge of the hill country near the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim.”
1 Samuel 17:7 (NKJV) – “Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.”
Genesis 6:14 (NIV) – “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.”
Deuteronomy 2:25 (Holman) – “Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.”
2 Samuel 21:18 (NASB) – “Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant.”
Joshua 13:12 (ESV) – “All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses had struck them and driven them out.”
Genesis 6:18 (KJV) – “But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.”
Numbers 14:9 (NLT) – “Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
1 Chronicles 20:5 (NKJV) – “And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.”
Genesis 6:15 (NIV) – “This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.”
Deuteronomy 3:13 (Holman) – “I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og. The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.”
2 Samuel 21:22 (NASB) – “These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.”
Joshua 12:4 (ESV) – “And Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei.”
Genesis 6:19 (KJV) – “And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.”
Numbers 13:31 (NLT) – “But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. ‘We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!’”
1 Samuel 17:51 (NKJV) – “Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.”
Genesis 6:22 (NIV) – “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
Isaiah 26:14 (Holman) – “The dead do not live; departed spirits do not rise up. Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them; you have wiped out all memory of them.”
