In the Bible, who were the "giant sons of God"?

Who or what were the giant sons of God (Nephilim) mentioned in the Bible and what happened to them? Depending on the author, they are refered to as sons of Seth, angels, aliens, monsters, and "weird hybrid offspring" that may have been wiped out in the flood. Were the ancient scribes jealous because they were just the big guys that got the good looking daughters? --Michael K.

Let's quote the text from Genesis 6. This is my own translation, combined from several sources, trying to retain the literal text. I'm telling you, at the Straight Dope you're dealing with professionals:

This is one of the strangest accounts in Genesis, and there is no certain explanation. The Hebrew text is obscure, possibly deliberately so, to downgrade any mythic tone. In the first chapters of Genesis, human beings strive to become divine, and God intervenes, so that mankind cannot be immortal. Here, the reverse happens, divine beings lower themselves to the level of humans, and again God intervenes.

It is very likely that the passages are only a fragment of what was once a longer narrative, or commonly told tale. Presumably, the Nephilim were described as "heroes of old" based on popular stories and tales. Depending on who you think wrote the text, either the longer story was lost by the time the Redactor got to editing the various texts centuries later, or Moses left out popular and well-known stories about ancient times and just referenced them in a way that appears cryptic to us.

Almost all pagan mythologies abound with legends about intercourse between gods and mortal women, and between goddesses and mortal men, producing demigods or heroes as children. There is also a common mythology that there once existed a race of men of gigantic stature of strength. The story here seems similar, but is still consistent with the overriding theme of monotheism: there is only one God who makes decisions. The offspring of such unions may have been heroic, but they are not divine, they are flesh and blood like all humans ("since he too is flesh"). The one God controls the breath of life.

So, for a start, who are the "sons of God"? The most popular interpretation is that they are divine beings, the angelic host, the celestial court, a poetic image taken from the analogy of human kings surrounded by their entourage. The term "the host of heaven" is also sometimes used in the Bible to mean the same thing.

Some translators use "sons of the great," since the term elohim in the Psalms often means "mighty." It would also be possible to read it as "sons of the gods," but that would be inconsistent with the monotheism of the text. On the other hand, "sons of God" may simply mean those who serve and love God. One interpretation is that the children of Seth are sometimes called "sons of God," and then the "daughters of men" might imply the daughters of Cain.

So, I repeat, the text is extremely unclear. By the way, note the implication that the sons of God are driven by lust (they are attracted to the mortal women by their beauty rather than their personalities or moral character). And, lest your mind wander in the gutters, the term is definitely "took wives," meaning were married--there is no implication of rape or coercion.

And, now, who were these Nephilim? The plain reading of the text indicates that they are the offspring of the misalliances between the divine beings and the daughters of men. The term "The Nephilim were in the earth in those days" would thus mean that the union of the sons of God and daughters of man gave birth to them. However, it is possible that the Nephilim existed separate from the intermarriages, and the term "were in the earth in those days" just sets the time-frame as antediluvian. (Hah! I've always wanted to use that word in context!)

The word Nephilim itself unclear; the obvious root N-F-L would imply they are "fallen ones," that is, fallen angels. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Torah, from about 200 BC) translates Nephilim as "giants," likely based on the reference in Numbers 13:33 (see below) that Nephilim were "of great size." Thus, the term is commonly translated as giants or heroes.

I don't know if this helps you much. Who the Nephilim and the "sons of God" were is a matter of conjecture and interpretation, and there are lots of different interpretations. As to what happened to them, at least here we have consensus: they did not survive the Flood. The Flood story comes hot on the heels of these verses, and so the conjunction of the two stories implies the Nephilim and the marriage of the divine and mortal beings was part of the wickedness that was destroyed by the Flood.

As a footnote, the word Nephilim appears significantly only one other time in the Bible.

In Numbers 13:32-33, the Israelites send advance spies to scout out the land of Canaan. The spies report that "All the people we saw in it are men of great size; we saw the Nephilim there--the Anakites are part of the Nephilim--and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them." Now, the problem with this description is that, if the biblical narrative is consistent, then the Nephilim would not have survived the Flood, so how would they have been around for the spies to see? The answer is that the spies were trying to instill fear in the hearts of the people, to discourage them from invading the land, and so they used poetic exaggeration. The term Nephilim was used for dramatic effect, as the term "Huns" was used to indicate Germans during the World Wars, centuries after there were no longer true Huns.

Staff Reports are researched and written by members of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, Cecil's online auxiliary. Although the SDSAB does its best, these articles are edited by Ed Zotti, not Cecil, so accuracywise you'd better keep your fingers crossed.

Excerpt:

Yesodei HaTorah 2:7, notes ten levels of angels:

1. Chayos,

2. Ofanim,

3. Erelim,

4. Chashmalim,

5. Seraphim,

6. Malachim,

7. Elohim,

8. B'nai Eleohim (Sons of God),

9. Cherubim, and

10. Ishim.

* * *

The Artscroll Tanach on Bereshit (Genesis) provides some insights into the "sons of God":

"The Talmud, in Yoma 67b, states that the rite of Azazel on Yom Kippur, in Vayikra (Leviticus) 16, is so called 'because it obtains atonement for the affair of Uzza and Azel.'"

"Rashi ad. loc. explains Uzza and Azel as 'angels of destruction who descended to earth in the days of Naamah, sister of Tuval-Cain. Referring to them the verse says, 'and the godly beings saw the children of man'"

"Accordingly, the Azazel obtains atonement for immorality.'"

* * *

Rashi calls the sons of God the "sons of the judges", the "sons of the lords". Alternatively, they are the angelic "lords" who go on the mission of the Omnipresent.

There seems to be some indication, therefore, that the sons of God are angels.

***

and it goes on and on and...

The Days of Noah
Greg Killian

What I have read here is remarkably well-researched and worthwhile reading. I have not yet read the entire thread. I have a splitting headache and doubt I could offer much more contribution to the documentation anyway. I will pose a few thoughts though.

I believe it is reasonable to assume that the "sons of God" in the context in which it is used means divine beings; in other words, angels. While angels throughout our western traditions have often been depicted as feminine and even as infants, i.e. cherubs, the Scriptures distinctly describe angels in masculine terms. Also, there are only 3 angels actually named in Scripture; Michael the Archangel, Gabriel, and Lucifer, all masculine. In the Old Testament the angels were often referred to as the sons of God. Jesus would later be referred to as the only begotten Son of God and the redeemed as adopted "sons," but His followers under the Old covenant were referred to as His people, for they were led of God externally (i.e. He went before them as a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night). Only under the New Covenant in Christ's shed blood did the Spirit come to dwell within making us sons and daughters of the Most High.

The angels were a completely different order of created being than man. After considerable study and reflection, I came to the conclusion that angels had a dual nature. We see throughout the Scriptures many appearances of angels which support that theory. They invariably appeared in one of 2 ways. Often they appeared to men in all their heavenly glory, and the reaction was always one of fear and awe, exhibited in such ways as falling to the ground as if dead, being overcome with great fear or even trying to worship them. But there were also times when the ministry of angels required them to "blend" with humans, such as the visitors to Lot's home in Sodom to deliver his family from the coming destruction. We also see the ability to fit in when it is said in the Scriptures that we may "entertain angels unawares." That would be quite impossible were they to appear in their heavenly nature.

All that said, it is presumably unnatural for angels to marry or be given in marriage, because the New Testament describes the redeemed in terms of neither marrying nor being given in marriage, but becoming like the angels in heaven. But, we also know that angels, like man, were created as beings with a free will to serve God or not and were also subject to sin, though not in the same sense as man being that there seems no plan of redemption for restoring fallen angels. When Lucifer, the most perfect of all created beings, rebeled against God, he took a third of the leagues of heaven with him.

There is no evidence that the fallen "sons of God" lost tbe powers they had possessed previously. They were still able to plead their causes before the throne of God, but it does appear that since they were obviously vulnerable to the sin of pride which had been their downfall, that their fallen state opened them up to other sins as well, such as lust. It is also evident that when overcome by this lust they were able to assume their "human form" which would have been very fair to look upon. Going back to the story of Sodom and the desire of the men of the city to have sex with them for they were very fair. Perhaps this is the origin of the feminine depiction of angels. Anyway, this would suggest that it would have been no problem at all for the "daughters of men" to succumb to the charms of these beings. What I do find both interesting and odd however, is that in their physical shape they had the ablity to procreate. Did they possess this ability before they fell or was it a result of the fall? Any thoughts?

As has been mentioned, the earth is full of myths and legends that permeate most, if not all cultures at some level. Often the word "myth" is used as synonymous with "fictional." This is not the case. A myth is simply a story generally dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that often take on legendary proportions and no matter how fantastic the stretch in proportion to reality, all seem to contain an element of truth or some "essential" kernal of history. In short, I think it is a logical assumption that these gods and demons, fairies and giants, heroes and villians were the supernatural inhabitants of the heavenlies who had the capability to assume many forms. These were creatures which were full of mystery and mischief, folly and vengeance and incredible powers of persuasion over the minds of men and even to manipulate the elements and events to suit their whims. We still deal with these beings today and there are yet stories to be told.

Just my thoughts. I would enjoy your responses.

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