Nephilim

(See NOAH.)

See FALL OF ANGELS:

NEPHILIM.—A Heb. word, of uncertain etymology, retained by B.V in the only two places where it occurs in OT (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘giants’). In Gen 6:4 we read: ‘The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God went in to the daughters of men and they hare to them; these are the heroes which were of old, the men of renown.’ The verse has the appearance of an explanatory gloss to the obscure mythological fragment which precedes, and is very difficult to understand. But we can hardly be wrong in supposing that it bears witness to a current belief (to which there are many heathen parallels) in a race of heroes or demigods, produced by the union of divine beings (‘sons of God’) with mortal women. The other notice is Num 13:33, where the name is applied to men of gigaotic stature seen by the spies among the natives of Canaan. That these giants were popularly identified with the demigods of Gen 6:4, there is no reason to doubt. See also art. Giant.

J. Skinner.

nef´i-lim (נפילים, n^ephı̄lı̄m): This word, translated “giants” in the King James Version, but retained in the Revised Version (British and American), is found in two passages of the Old Testament - one in Gen 6:4, relating to the antediluvians; the other in Num 13:33, relating to the sons of Anak in Canaan. In the former place the Nephilim are not necessarily to be identified with the children said to be borne “the daughters of men” to “the sons of God” (Gen 6:2, Gen 6:4); indeed, they seem to be distinguished from the latter as upon the earth before this unholy commingling took place (see SONS OF GOD). But it is not easy to be certain as to the interpretation of this strange passage. In the second case they clearly represent men of gigantic stature, in comparison with whom the Israelites felt as if they were “grasshopers.” This agrees with Gen 6:4, “the mighty men that were of old, the men of renow.” Septuagint, therefore, was warranted in translating by gı́gantes.

A kind of superhuman race that

appeared before the flood. Sometimes

translated “giants,” the name might

come from a Hebrew word meaning

“people who have fallen.” Later, the

Nephilim were a famous family whose

men were tall and powerful fighters. See

Gen. 6:2–4; Num. 13:32–33.