historical · Gen 6:4 · ✓ Approved

The Nephilim in early reading

Says הַנְּפִלִים (hannephilim, “the Nephilim”) “were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well”, and the children born “became the mighty men of old, men of renown” (Gen 6:4). The word returns in the spies’ report, הַנְּפִילִים (Num 13:33).

Field records the Greek of 6:4, here translated: the Septuagint and Theodotion have οἱ δὲ γίγαντες (“giants”), Aquila οἱ ἐπιπίπτοντες (“those who fall upon”), Symmachus οἱ βίαιοι (“the violent”). Jewish writings tell of giants. In 1 Enoch the women “bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells” (7:2); in Jubilees the angels’ sons “were giants” (5:1). Josephus likens the angels’ sons to “those whom the Grecians call Giants”. Pseudo-Jonathan names “Schamchazai and Uzziel, who fell from heaven” (6:4). Third Maccabees recalls “giants trusting in their strength and boldness” destroyed by “a boundless flood of water” (2:4), and Wisdom, a time “when proud giants were perishing” (14:6). Augustine holds that giants lived both before and after the sons of God took wives. Keil takes the word as “the invaders”, with Luther’s sense “tyrants”, and calls the idea of giants a product of the Greek rendering; Calvin speaks of “ferocious tyrants”. These are their views; 1 Enoch is reported as reception, not authority.

Uncertain Whether the Nephilim were men of great size or violent men, whether they were the children of 6:2 or lived before them, and how they relate to Num 13:33, are open. No lean is taken, and these readings do not fix the meaning of 6:4.

Claims

SaysGen 6:4: the Nephilim were on the earth in those days and afterward; the children became the mighty men of old, men of renown. The word recurs in Num 13:33.
UncertainWhether the Nephilim were giants or violent men, whether they were the children of 6:2 or earlier, and how they relate to Num 13:33, are open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.

Citations

BSB public domain Gen 6:4; Num 13:33
OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 6:4; Num 13:33
Field, Hexapla public domain Field, Origenis Hexaplorum quae supersunt, vol. 1 (1875), on Gen 6:4, p. 22 (n133): Ο΄. Θ. οἱ δὲ γίγαντες; Ἀ. οἱ ἐπιπίπτοντες; Σ. οἱ βίαιοι; read on the page image; Greek quoted, English renderings translated
APOT public domain vol. 2 (1913): 1 Enoch 7:2, p. 192 (n211); Jub 5:1, p. 20 (n39); read on the page images; quoted
APOT 1 public domain vol. 1 (1913): 3 Macc 2:4, p. 164 (n181); Wis 14:6, pp. 557–558 (n574–n575); read on the page images; quoted
Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.3.1 = 1.73 (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1), p. 14 (n23); read on the page image; quoted
Etheridge public domain Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Palestine (Pseudo-Jonathan) on Gen 6:4, p. 177 (n189); read on the page image; quoted
Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 15.23, pp. 304–305 (n327–n328) (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2; CCEL npnf102.iv.XV.23); read on the page images; paraphrased
Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 6:4, p. 137 (n140) with n. 1; read on the page image; quoted, otherwise paraphrased
Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis 1 (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 6:4, p. 244 (n253) and p. 246 (n255); read on the page images; “ferocious tyrants” (p. 246) quoted, otherwise paraphrased

Sources BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 Field, Hexapla public domain APOT public domain APOT 1 public domain Josephus (Whiston) public domain Etheridge public domain Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0

2026-11-10

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