David Vance SubstackRead More
Let’s start at the beginning, in fact, in the beginning.
The Nephilim are enigmatic figures from ancient texts, primarily the Bible, described as offspring of “the sons of God” and “daughters of men.”
Genesis 6:1-4 introduces them cryptically: “When human beings began to increase… the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose… The Nephilim were on the earth in those days.”
The Hebrew term “Nephilim” translates to “fallen ones” or “giants”
So the Nephilim are defined as being apart from humans.
In biblical context, they appear before the Great Flood, linked to humanity’s corruption. Numbers 13:33 later mentions Nephilim as giant inhabitants of Canaan, intimidating Israelite spies with their size:
“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
This suggests either literal giants or a hyperbolic description of formidable foes.
Some see them as historical tribes exaggerated into myth; others see them as supernatural beings.
Ancient Jewish texts expand the story.
The Book of Enoch (circa 300 BCE), a non-canonical work, casts the “sons of God” as rebellious angels—The Watchers—who descended, mated with women, and birthed the Nephilim. These hybrids were monstrous, towering beings who devoured resources and sinned against nature, prompting God’s flood to cleanse the earth. Enoch calls them “bastards and reprobates,” blending divine and human traits into a chaotic force.
But did the Great Flood wipe them all out? It seems not. It may have wiped SOME of them out but there were post-Flood Nephilim!
The explanation for the post-flood Nephilim is that sons of God, distinct from those who went to the daughters of humans before the flood, went to the daughters of humans born after the flood. If these sons of God were fallen angels, then these fallen angels are in addition to the ones who were locked up in the abyss as a result of their having sexual relations with human females before the flood.
Thus, the abyss would contain two sets of fallen angels: those who had violated human women before the flood and those who had violated human women after the flood. If the sons of God were human males, this interpretation would imply that God had commanded the sons of Shem and/or Japheth not to have sexual relations with the daughters of Ham and/or Canaan. The violation of this command evidently would have produced a second generation of Nephilim.
So where did they go?
Some say that the Nephilim, at least in the time of Moses and Joshua, were descendants of Anak who were extremely large and fearsome.
If so, then it is possible that there are some descendants of them today.
Who are they and where can they be found?
Christian tradition often aligns with the angelic view, though some Church Fathers like Augustine favored a human lineage theory—Seth’s godly descendants mixing with Cain’s wicked line. Rabbinic Judaism leans toward the latter or treats Nephilim as mighty warriors, not divine hybrids.
Archaeology offers little clear direct evidence—claims of giant skeletons often stem from hoaxes or misidentified fossils (e.g., 19th-century fake “Nephilim bones”). Still, flood myths and giant legends across Mesopotamia, Greece, and beyond suggest a shared cultural motif. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and Greek Titans echo similar hybrid beings, hinting at cross-pollination of Near Eastern lore.
Theologically, Nephilim raise questions. Were they a catalyst FOR the Flood, or a symptom of deeper corruption? Their ambiguity fuels speculation—literal giants, fallen angels’ spawn, or symbolic rebels against God. Pop culture amplifies this mystique, from Noah (2014) depicting them as stone-encased Watchers to video games like Dark Souls riffing on their legacy.
Some speculate that the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim remain on the earth and became what we now refer to as demons. The presumption is that, as angelic-human hybrids, the spirits of the Nephilim would have been different from the human soul-spirit, having the ability to remain present in this world despite no longer having a physical body. This would possibly explain the desire the demons have to possess human beings, thus gaining control over a physical body.
As Hamlet puts it;
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
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