[I still care]

The Naked archeologist (a show I really enjoyed but you can’t get anymore) postulated the term “giants” in the bible in Genesis really meant old ones, and that the translation error came from the ancient concept of Titans being the old ones. Anyway, supposedly that area of Israel has a lot of Neanderthal remains and the thought was they were talking about Neanderthals in those verses of Genesis about the Nephilim.

If I recall correctly, he interviewed a bunch of rabbis in Israel and threw this out there. Never figured out if it was junk science or what, but it sounded interesting.

[Inyo-Mono]

I read something similar to that about 40 years ago, where a Rabbi scholar wrote that the “giants” meant the “hairy ones,” speculating that they were remnant Neanderthals.

[rawcatslyentist]

Neanderthals , Nephilim, Multisylabic alliterations aside, it's still a plausible theory. Languages melt and morph over time.

Here's another one Canaan bush, cannabis.