Genesis 6:4

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator describes the earth's condition immediately after God sets a 120-year lifespan limit and before recording the universal wickedness that will trigger the flood.

The words — הַנְּפִלִים (ha.nə.p̄î.lîm) translates literally as "the fallen ones" or "the Nephilim," identifying a group that existed both during the specified period and afterward.

The thread — The text reappears in Numbers 13:33 as a reference to the Anakite descendants, and is linked to the Rephaim in Deuteronomy 3:11 and the giant Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:4.

Why it lands — The verse records the presence of formidable figures born from a specific historical intersection, requiring the reader to acknowledge the text's explicit claim before drawing conclusions about its origins.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Cross-references

Numbers 13:33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
Deuteronomy 3:11 (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
1 Samuel 17:4 Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
2 Samuel 21:15 Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines. But David became exhausted.
Deuteronomy 2:20 (That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
Numbers 16:2 a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly.
Genesis 11:4 “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”