Expert: John A. Tvedtnes - 12/17/2005

Question
Who were the Nephilim?  

Answer
Most ancient noncanonical texts identify them with the fallen angels who were so attracted to human women that they coupled with them and produced the giants, while other texts identify the Nephilim with the offspring of these fallen angels.  The term Nephilim, in fact, means "fallen ones" (from the verb root NPL, "to fall").  Other early texts identify the Nephilim with either the descendants of Cain or the descendants of Seth who were tempted by Cainite women and came down from the holy mountain (atop which was the garden of Eden) and mingled with them.  Similarly, some texts identify the "sons of God" with angels, while other texts identify them with the righteous descendants of Seth who called themselves "sons of God" to distinguish themselves from the descendants of Cain, who, according to those accounts, were followers of the devil.  The term Nephilim is also found in Numbers 13:33 where, as in Genesis 6:4, the King James and some other English Bibles, render it "giants," based on the way the Greek Septuagint rendered it in the second or third century B.C.