What are the “Nephilim” that is mentioned in Genesis?

QUESTION: What are the “Nephilim” that is mentioned in Genesis?

ANSWER:

Many Bible readers have speculated over the term “Nephilim” through the millennia. Some have claimed that they were simply “Giants” or humans with specific mutated DNA that made them remarkably large and/or strong. Others have deduced that they are a spiritual being, much like a demon (fallen angel) that roamed the earth. This is false and a wrong understanding of what scripture tells us. The best way to deduce what these creatures where is to look to scripture first then to historic record. We hear of the Nephilim for the first time in Genesis 6:

GEN. 6:2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 
GEN. 6:3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not  strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 
GEN. 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Nephilim where the offspring produced from human women when fallen angels, prior to the flood mated with them to produce a perverted version of human that is un-redeemable from God’s judgment and salvation plan laid forth by His promise made in the Garden to Adam and Woman. Satan’s strategy was to insert a DNA stand into the human bloodline that would ultimately render the coming of the messiah impossible (according to his logic). This of course, was a fail plan and he did not account for the sovereignty of God and the righteous work God did through Noah to preserve the bloodline of Christ. (Shem).

The original Hebrew (Nephilim) can be understood to mean “fallen ones”. Confusion surrounding giants arise when the Septuagint translates this word into the Greek becoming gigantes or “giant”. However as these offspring where clearly different from regular mankind, it is best to leave the word as a proper noun.

The next potential confusion comes in v4 when we interpret the word “afterward” to mean Nephilim were in the world both before and after the flood. So we need to look at the syntax of this sentence in the original Hebrew in order to clarify the meaning. In the Septuagint we can clearly see the “after” is connected to the second half of the sentence, to show what happened after these offspring were created:

GEN. 6:4 Now the giants were upon the earth in those days; and after that when the sons of God were wont to go in to the daughters of men, they bore children to them, those were the giants of old, the men of renown.  (Septuagint)

Scripture is very clear that the flood event distroyed all living creatures on the Earth except Noah and his family . In fact the significance purpose of the flood was to wipe out the Nephilim and their descendants (children produced by them) so that their own DNA wouldn’t corrupt the bloodline of Christ and the rest of mankind making them un-redeemable.

To be sure, looking at historical and archeological findings, there is no doubt that significant and amazing civilizations where created prior to the flood. Tremendous buildings and stone work where possible by the hands of these offspring of demons mating with human females. It is also possible that Greek mythology’s origins come from the feats of these grotesque beings.

The the accounts later on in scripture that mention “giants” are not referring to the Nephilim. ….

One interesting fact that we do find hidden in Jude is this that the demons responsible for this haynes act done with humans into the “Abyss” for the day of judgment mentioned in Revelation at the end of the 7 year tribulation.

Jude 6 "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,"