THE GIANTS and the SONS of GOD
The story of the giants is one of the most documented articles in the Bible. The Hebrew word nephilim from nephil means giant, bully or tyrant. The Hebrew word gibbor translates as powerful, mighty, strong man.
The name Rephaim translates into giant in II.Sam.21:16,18,20,22 and in I.CHR.20:4,6,8 and DEU.2:11,13: JOSH.12:4, 13:12, 15:8, and 18:16. The words "remnant of the giants" in DEU.3:11;JOSH.12:4 and 13:12 should have been translated as remnant of the Rephaims. This is because there were many nations of giants other than Rephaims, who filled the whole country trying to take over God's promised land. Before the great flood of Noah the earth was populated between 150 million and 500 million.
Some Bibles do not use GEN.6:4, where it states Giants for the first time. I don't know how many times I have read right over the word 'giant' and never really thought much about it.
Most people read the Bible and never notice the word giant, but there were a people of giants actually at three different time periods. There actually were several tribes of giants. "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 the bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown" GEN.6:4. Befor (and after) the great flood, some of the giants took normal sized women as wife's who had children by the giants and there children also grew into giants. This is an astounding statement. Go back and read verse 2, "That the sons of God (fallen or outcast angels) saw the daughters of men that they were fair (beautiful); and they took them wives of all which they chose."
But we need to took at this much more closely. "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and took them wifes of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit it shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 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, and the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." GEN.6:1-5. These 5 verses tell us many things;
(1) - Man had many daughters. Notice that the daughters were born well after Cain was expelled after killing Abel, GEN.4:14.
(2) - Sons of God is nearly always fallen angels from the previous world and are always male..
(3) - The sons of God saw that these daughters of man were beautiful women and took as many as they wanted for wifes.
(4) - The LORD grieved because of (3), (6), (7), (8), (9) and (11).
(5) - The LORD limited mans life span to 120 years because of (3), (6), (7), (8), (9) and (11).
(6) - That these wifes or daughters of man bare children fathered by the sons of God or fallen angels.
(7) - That these children grew to be giants.
(8) - The wickedness and imagination of man was great, likely fornification and possibly porno type sex.
(9) - The phrase "the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown," says several things.
(A) - renown - meaning famous during there time;
(B) - each child fathered by either a son of God or a giant grew to be a giant,
(C) - As the giants were produced by two sources the giant population soon over-ran the world..
(10) - The phrase "which were of of old" - means it happened befor, in the first earth or original creation.
(11) - That because of the many problems with the fallen angels doing a simular thing in the first world, God had to devise a plan to destroy them.
(12) - The plan was the flood of Noah.
I should add as you will see later, the giants grew to 12 to over 18 feet tall, terribly strong, and neither the women or the parents would be unable to resist a being of this size from taking their daughters.
Befor getting into this any further, we need to look at some other Bible facts. This will give us a more reliable picture. Between Verses 11 and 25 in Chapter 1, he brought into existance trees, grass, fowl or birds, fish, animals and so on. On the fifth or sixth day he would also have re-created some of the dinosaurs but not all. On the sixth day along with some animals he also created man in his image. In other words, 2 arms, 2 hands, 2 legs, 2 feet and so on. Notice there is no mention of either size or skin color.
Eve becomes the first person to sin when she ate the forbidden fruit in GEN.3:6 which will lead to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden. After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve are expelled eastward from the garden, GEN.3:24. For some reason it must have been safer east of Eden. In Chapter 4 in Verses 1 and 2 Cain and Abel are born, and in Verse 8, Cain kills Abel. "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. So Cain is pushed even farther eastward, GEN.4:16.
We now have to backup a couple of verses befor we can continue on. "Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that everyone that findeth me shall slay me. GEN.4:14. Now wait a minute, so far we have only recorded 4 people in the Bible, Adam and Eve the parents, Cain, and Abel who is dead. Who is he afraid of? His parents? They are not very likely to kill him. There had to be other beings on the earth at the same time.
Next verse, "And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengence shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him" GEN.4:15. The Lord not only put a mark on Cain so that no one could kill Cain by mistake, but also warned the other beings about Cain. In verse 16 he is expelled which I stated earlier. Look at the very next verse.
"And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, after the name of his son Enoch". Wait a minute, he just got expelled in the previous verse, and he immediately finds a wife who gets pregnant. Cain was expelled alone and sent eastward away from his parents, so he could not have taken a sister with him for a wife as most religious leaders say. The only place he could obtain a wife is from the giants, and they - were warned not to kill him. Cain also builds the first recorded city, Enoch. Cain's Genealogy is recorded in GEN.4:18-24. Eve again concieves and has a third son, Seth, GEN.4:25. Still no daughters. The genealogy of Adam through Seth is recorded in GEN.5:4-32.
This brings us to another point. There is most likely many millions of angels today both both fallen and good. YET THEY DO NOT PRODUCE CHILDREN. This means they must all be Male. The sons of God could produce children by females, the Bible says so in GEN.6:2-4. This means that the only way for Cain to find a wife immediately after being expelled eastward, was that his mother Eve had sex with one or more fallen angels (sons of God) and had a giant daughter, who Cain took for a wife.
There are many hundreds of years in this genealogy. So god created Adam and Eve, it is very simple. It does however leave a large blank spotconcernin skin color. This blank spot can be filled in in three ways.
(1) God created more than one set of people with only Adam and Eve put in the garden of Eden and he also created at the same time, the yellow, white, brown and black races, and there genes would also pass through Noah ( by marriage) to a son, and on through there children, - these races continued on until today, or at least some of the colors.
(2) When God created Adam and Eve the other colors of genes were given to Adam and possibly Eve and this is carried on through Seth.
(3) Adam and Eve were not the same color and the genes continued on through Seth.
No one knows what color of skin Adam and Eve actually were, so the white race will say white, the brown race will say brown and so on. It is possible that other colors may have existed either befor or after Noah. The third option is not likely because in GEN.2:7, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground", in Hebrew it says Adam meaning ruddy and also - adamah (Hebrew) meaning ground or red soil. So he was likely reddish or tan and he possessed the other color genes.
Just where is Eden anyway? Religious leaders can only speculate but most likely in the top eastern third of Africa, to as far east as Eastern Syria and southward to Iran. No physical evidence exists on Eden itself but 2 rivers still do exist today, the Euphrates and the Tigris. The most likely area is in or near Palestine.
We again pick up the giants in the book of Numbers long after the great flood of Noah. God did not creat the giants as I have stated befor they were fallen angels, who had sex with human females to begin with and they also existed in the original world created possibly any millions of years ago.
Seth the third son of Adam and Eve produced one pure offspring linage through to Noah. Many other children would have been born to Adam and Eve, Cain and Seth but all turned to the giants. Notice that in the days of Noah, the whole world had turned to violance and fornication Gen.4:14. By the time of the great flood, all or nearly all of beings were giants thereby forcing the flood.
After the great flood of Noah, God promised Noah he would never destroy the earth by flood again GEN.9:11-13. This gave the devil the opportunity to again order his fallen angels to again have sex with the daughters of men. This he did with Hams descendants and the giants again appear in GEN.10:16,17 when the Amorite and Hivite appear.
Because God was limited in that he could not create another flood, he devised a new plan. The Isrealites became his favoured people and they multiplied exceedingly. They however were held captive by the Egyptians. Moses with Gods help led them out of Egypt.
The next account of the giants is in NUMBERS when Moses and the people of Israel are in the wilderness. Don't forget that Moses is, long after the great flood and he has escaped from Egypt, with the children of Israel, crossed the Red Sea, and is in the mountains of what is now likely the Sinai west and south of Jordon. Moses sends a member of each tribe into the land of Canaan to search to out and to report back to the people. There numbers would continue to increase during the 40 years in the wilderness.
"And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight" NUM.13:33. NOTE Some Bibles mention grasshoppers but not the word giant. Picture it, the scouts come upon these people so large that they called themselves grasshoppers, and knew that the giants had seen them. These are not just Larger People, but honest to goodness Giants. Notice a little later similar descriptions. The scouts had entered the land of Canaan from the south and travelled north. "And the ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were (Now Hebron was built seven years befor Zoan in Egypt)" NUM.13:22. Hebron is still a city today and can be looked up on a map, not the same city, but likely in the same area. If you were to dig down several feet you would likely find the old crumbled walls of ancient Hebron, as describer shortly. There were 3 tribes of giants in this area, and they had built the old city of Hebron. "Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there".NUM.14:28. These giants were strong and had heavily fortified high walled cities as stated in Deuteronomy. "Whither shall we go up? our breathern have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is great and taller than we; the cities are great walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of Anakims there". DEU.1:28. Again the size is mentioned and also the wall height is stated as walled up to heaven, so they were very high walls, not some 20 or 30 foot walls.
"The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims. Which were also accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites called them Emims".The giants in DEU.2:10,11, continues on into much of Chapter 3. "That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt there-in in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the Lord destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in there stead". DEU.2:20,21. So there were also a large number of giants, not just a few but many tribes. The Lord spreads rumours amongst the giants about the mighty Israelites, "This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee" DEU.2:26. The lord destroyed these giants, causing them to war amongest themselves and with the Israelites, up to the time of Abraham, so that the Israelites could have there land. Only Og, king of Basham survived, DEU.3:11. where he is imprisoned, verse 12 the size of the land, verse 13 and how it is divided.
Now back to Verse 11, notice his bed is 9 cubits long and 4 cubits wide. A cubit is about 2 feet, making his bed 18 feet long by 8 feet wide. Keep in mind at this time period people only grew to about 5 feet. This would make the giants more than 3 times there height. In todays height of people, consider a 2 story house with a basement, a giant would stand about equal to the edge of the roof in equivalent terms.
The land of the giant king Og is mentioned in JOSHUA 12:4. In JOS.13, Moses is possessing the land and in verse 12 the king of Og is mentioned, the land of giants. The border is mentioned again in JOS.15:8 ;17:5 and 18:16. So just 4000 years ago (or less) giants walked this earth.
In addition the Bible story of David and Goliath is recorded in 1.SAM.17. Although Goliath is not stated as a giant, he would be about 12 feet tall, 1SAM.17:4. Goliath's armour weighed nearly 200 pounds. Goliath is again mentioned in 1.CHR.20:5 "And there was war again with the Philistines: and Slhanonthe son of Jair slew Lahme the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weavers beam. And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great statute, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot and he also was the son of the giant". 1.CHR.20:5,6.
The devils goal was to take heaven from God. When that failed and he and his fallen angels were expelled from 1st heaven, he resorted to destroy the earth. This has been going on one way or another for a very long time, and he nearly succeed befor the flood of Noah. After the great flood he tried it again knowing God could no longer flood the earth, and the giants reappeared in GEN.10:16. When this failed Satan has kept his remaining fallen angels to confront Jesus in his second coming. In the mean time he is trying to destroy Christanity.
The following is a list of the giants and where they are listed in the Bible.
Nephilim - GEN.6:4; 14:5,6; 15:19-21; EX.3:8,17,23; DEU.2:10-12, 20-23; 3:11-13; 7:1; 20:17; JOS.12:4-8; 13:3; 15:8; 17:15 and 18:16
Kenites - GEN.15:19; NUM.24:21; JUD.4:11; I.SAM.15:6, 27:10,30:29; I.CHR.2:55
Kenizzites - GEN.15:19
Kadmonites - GEN.15:19
Hittites - GEN.15:20; EX.3:8,17; 13:5; 23:23; NUM.13:29; DEU.7:1, 20:17; JOS.1:4, 3:10, 12:8, 24:11; JUD.1:26, 3:5; I.KING.9:20, 10:29, 11:1; II.KING.7:6; II.CHR.1:17, 8:7; EZRA.9:1; NEH.9:8
Perizzites - GEN15:20, 34:30; EX.3:8, 17; 23:23; DEU.7:1, 20:17; JOS.3:10, 12:8, 17:15, 24:11; JUD.1:4,5, 3:5; I.KING.9:20; II.CHR.8:7; EZRA.9:1; NEH.9:8
Rephaims - GEN.14:5; 15:20
Zuzims - GEN.14:5
Emims - GEN.14:5; DEU.2:10
Amorites - GEN.14:7, 15:16,21; EX.3:8,17; 13:5; 23:23; NUM.13:29; 21:13,21,25,26,29,31,32,34; 22:2; 32:33; DEU.1:4,7,19,20,27,44; 3:2,8,9; 3:28,9,; 4:47,47; 7:1; 20:17; 31:4; JOS.2:10; 3:10; 5:1; 7:7;9:10; JOS.10:5,6,12; 12:2,8; 13:4,10,21; 24:8,11; 24:12,15,18; JUD.1:34,35,36; 3:5; 6:10; 10:8,11; 11:19,21,22,23; I.SAM.7:14; II.SAM.21:2; I.KING 4:19;9:20; 21:26; II.KING.21:11; II.CHR.8:7; EZRA.9:1; NEH.9:8; PS.135:11, 136:19.
Canaanites - GEN.10:18,19; 15:21; 24:3,37; 34:30; 50:11; EX.3:8,17; 13:5,11; 23:23; NUM.13:29; 14:25,43,45; 21:3; DEU.1:7; 7:1; 11:30; 20:17; JOS.3:10; 5:1; 7:9; 12:8; 13:4; 16:10; 17:12,13,16,18; 24:11; JUD.1;1,3,4,5,9,10,17,27,28,29,30,32,33; 3:3,5; II.SAM.24:7; I.KING.9:16; EZRA.9:1; NEH.9:8,24; OBA.20
Zebusites - GEN.15:21; EX.3:8,17; 13:5; 23:23; NUM.13:29; DEU.7:1; 20:17; JOS.3:10; 12:8; 15:63; 24:11; JUD.1:21; 3:5; 19:11; II.SAM.5:6,8; I.KING.9:20; I.chr.11:4,6; II.CHR.8:7; EZRA.9:1; NEH.9:8.
Hivites - EX.3:8,17; 13:5; 23:23; DEU.7:1;20:17; JOS.3:10; 9:7;11:19;12:8;24:11; JUD.3:3,5; II.SAM.24:7; I.KING.9:20; II.CHR.8:7
Anakims - DEU.1:28; 2:10,11,21; 9:2; JOS.11:21,22; 14:12,15
Horims - DEU.2:12,22
Avims - DEU.2:23
Caphtorims - DEU.2:23
Anakims - DEU.1:28; 2:10,11,21; 9:2; JOS.11:22,22; 14:12,15
Zamzummims - DEU.2:20

As you can see there are many referrences to the giants, this should provide plenty of evidence that the giants lived and walked on the earth only a few thousand years ago. The facts of the Bible cannot be disputed and a time frame can easily be established.

Two things which loosely tie into the Giants and also into Creation and Re-Creation and other articles, which are not stated in the Bible. I have added them here as they may have been an event.
Greek Mythology, mythology meaning myth, or may be what we call fairy tales. Mythology is the handing down of events or stories from father to son, and the process goes on and on. There is usually no written text or proof for the story. All native people of North/South America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa etc., have stories of times long ago. We tend to believe some of these stories of the natives, yet rule out Greek mythology. In many anchient Greek drawings, statue's and sculpture's show people with wings. Some of these show giant type men with muscles developed far greater than man to-day. Mercury a Greek God is shown with wings on his ankles and a winged cap. Was Mercury actually an angel and perhaps had wings or could he levitate himself and they thought he had invisable wings ? The answer is unknown.
The Egyptian Pyramids, the largest covering about 13 acres and nearly 500 feet tall and built 3000 years ago or longer. It contains 2.3 million blocks of stone with an average weight of 2-1/2 tons however some weigh 16 or more tons. There base is almost a perfect square and the joints between each block is nearly perfect. Originally covered with polished limestone, which glistened in the sunlight. While still nearly a hundred miles away, they were plainly visable. The polished limestone was removed about a hundred years ago to build a castle for a Egyptian ruler. The blocks of stone were transported a great distance over sand, yet the Egyptains only had a crude wheel on carts at the time. How could a people with only a crude wheel, transport millions of tons of large blocks of stone across a sand dessert and hoist them nearly 500 feet into the air? How could they build a near perfect square base? And how come it didn't sink, when it weighs perhaps a billion tons? And why was it polished limestone faced? Were they a beacon for the sons of God to find earth from outer space more easily (Second Heaven) ?
Is it possible the Egyptains didn't build them at all? That perhaps the sons of God and the giants built them? They were around about that time. The fallen angels or sons of God would have powers far beyond anything we can imagine. One giant would be far stronger than many men of to-day, and there were thousands and thousands of giants.

- Wednesday, February 09, 2000 - Taken for the Globe and Mail - "As indelicate as it sounds, a rare pair of nearly complete pelvic bones has thrust anthropologists up against the impressively large bodies of human ancestors. More than 200,000 years old, these pelvic fossils - one newly unearthed in Spain and the other extensively analized for the first time, although it was discovered in 1984 in China - belonged to individuals whose reconstructed physical build makes most people living today look puny," said Science News last summer. " Seperate investigation of (the) fossils now suggest that modern humans have shrunk from the ample anatomical norm of their fossil ancestors, which include a long broad and thick pelvis for both sexes." End of quote.
These people just will not read the Bible will they.
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Bible Prophecy for the World Today © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, All rights Reserved http://www3.sympatico.ca/bibleprophecy/ DATE: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 INDEX

GENESIS 6 - WHO WERE "THE SONS OF GOD"?

GENESIS 6:1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." 4 There were giants 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. (NKJV)

There has been much speculation about who these "sons of God" mentioned in the sixth chapter of Genesis were. Three basic interpretations of this passage have been advanced.

The first, and oldest, belief is that "the sons of God" were fallen angels who consorted with human women, producing giant offspring called nephilim (Heb. ). This view was widely held in the world of the first century, and was supported by Flavius Josephus, Philo, Eusebius and many of the "Ante-Nicene Fathers," including Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Athenagoras and Commodianus.

The second view is one which was first suggested by Julius Africanus and later advocated by Saint Augustine, the Catholic Bishop of Hippo. Augustine rejected the concept of the fallen host having committed fornication with women. In his early fifth century book The City of God, he promoted the theory that "the sons of God" simply referred to the genealogical line of Seth, who were committed to preserving the true worship of God. He interpreted Genesis 6 to mean that the male offspring of Adam through Seth were "the sons of God," and the female offspring of Adam through Cain were "the daughters of men." He wrote that the problem was that the family of Seth had interbred with the family of Cain, intermingling the bloodlines and corrupting the pure religion. This view has become the dominant one among most modern biblical scholars.

The third view is that "the sons of God" were the sons of pre-Flood rulers or magistrates. This belief became the standard explanation of rabbinical Judaism after Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai pronounced a curse in the second century C.E. upon those Jews who believed the common teaching that the angels were responsible for the nephilim. This interpretation was advocated by two of the most respected Jewish rabbis of the Middle Ages, Rashi and Nachmanides, and became the standard explanation of rabbinical Judaism. However, it is not widely accepted by modern scholars.

To determine who these "sons of God" were, we'll first examine what various outside sources have to say about this topic. Then we'll examine the ultimate authority, the Bible, to see its position.

Let's start with a quotation and footnote from William Whitson's translation of the respected first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus' history of the Jewish people:

Now this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers, and did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed to them, nor had they any concern to do justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of wickedness; whereby they made God to be their enemy, for many angels* of God accompanied with women and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians called giants. But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and, being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better; but, seeing that they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land. (p. 32; bk. 1, ch. 3, §§72-74, The Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whitson)
* This notion, that the fallen angels were, in some sense the fathers of the old giants, was the constant opinion of antiquity.

As you can see, Josephus believed and recorded that "the sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6 were fallen angels. As Whitson's footnote acknowledges, this belief was standard in the ancient world.

Another well-known first century Jewish writer, Philo of Alexandria, shared Josephus' views on this topic. In his work "On the Giants," Philo wrote:

"And when the angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, they took unto themselves wives of all them whom they chose." Those beings, whom other philosophers call demons, Moses usually calls angels . . . (p. 152, The Works of Philo, "De Gigantibus," translated by C.D. Yonge)

The Book of Enoch (also called I Enoch) is a collection of pseudepigraphic writings by various authors which dates to the first or second century B.C. This book was well-known by the early church; in fact, Jude, the brother of Jesus, quoted Enoch 1:9 in verses 14 and 15 of his epistle. Obviously Jude felt that the Book of Enoch he had access to in the first century was trustworthy. This work, which survived to our day against great odds, deals extensively with the fall of the angels. It was viewed favorably by some early "Christian" writers also (Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and others). However, it was never universally accepted as inspired Scripture. Below is a selection from the Book of Enoch which records the sin of angels:

1 ENOCH 6:1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.' And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon . . . (From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, translated by R.H. Charles)

A similar passage is also found in the pseudepigraphic Book of Jubilees:

JUBILEES 5:1 And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they 2 chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants. And lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth - all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men 3 (was) thus evil continually . . . (From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, translated by R.H. Charles)

The Genesis Apocryphon, one of the texts uncovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, also contains references to the angels interbreeding with human women. In this text, a conversation between Lamech, the father of Noah, and his wife Bathenosh is detailed. Lamech questions his wife because he thinks that the conception of Noah was due to either an angel or one of their offspring, a nephilim. The Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, and the Genesis Apocryphon all clearly show that the common understanding at the time of Christ was that the fallen host had committed fornication with women in the period before the flood.

As stated previously, many early Christian writers accepted the story told in Enoch as fact. Let's examine the writings of two of them, beginning with Justin Martyr, who lived from 110 C.E. to 165 C.E. Here is what he had to say in chapter 5 of his Second Apology, entitled ""How the Angels Transgressed":

God, when He had made the whole world, and subjected things earthly to man, and arranged the heavenly elements for the increase of fruits and rotation of the seasons, and appointed this divine law - for these things also He evidently made for man - committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment, and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons; and besides, they afterwards subdued the human race to themselves, partly by magical writings, and partly by fears and punishments they occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and libations, of which things they stood in need after they enslaved by lustful passions; and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate needs, and all wickedness. . . . (p. 363, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Now let's examine chapter 3, "The Worship of Demons," from The Instructions of Commodianus, a North-African bishop who lived about 240 C.E.:

When Almighty God, to beautify the nature of the world, willed that that earth should be visited by angels, when they were sent down they despised His laws. Such was the beauty of women, that it turned them aside; so that, being contaminated, they could not return to heaven. Rebels from God, they uttered words against Him. Then the Highest uttered His judgment against them; and from their seed giants are said to have been born. By them arts were made known in the earth, and they taught the dyeing of wool, and everything which is done; and to them, when they died, men erected images. But the Almighty, because they were of an evil seed, did not approve that, when dead, they should be brought back from death. Whence wandering they now subvert many bodies, and it is such as these especially that ye this day worship and pray to as gods. (p. 435, vol. 4, The Ante-Nicene Fathers)

The idea that the nephilim or giants were the offspring of the fallen host and human females was not unique to Judaism. This understanding was likely behind the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythologies, as well as those of India and the near east. All these beliefs resulted not as mere inventions of fertile human imagination, but as a corruption of antediluvian truths which were distorted as their origin was forgotten over time.

Take, for example, the legend of the Titans. In Greek mythology, the Titans were a family of giant gods who were the offspring of Uranus (heaven) and Gaea (earth). The most famous of the Titans was Cronus, who killed his father. Cronus later led the Titans in their losing war against Zeus and the Olympian gods. After their defeat, the Titans were imprisoned in a section of the underworld called Tartarus.

In his second epistle, the apostle Peter uses part of this Greek myth to explain the fate of some of the fallen angels. He states that for their sins, these angels had been tartarosas, which The NKJV Greek English Interlinear New Testament translates literally as "confining them to Tartarus" (also known in the Bible as "the Abyss").

II PETER 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell [tartarosas] and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; (NKJV)

This is the same Tartarus where Greek mythology says the Titans were imprisoned. It's highly unlikely that Peter would have used such an analogy if this pagan legend wasn't based on at least some grain of truth which his readers would have knowledge of. The idea that evil angels mated with human women and had offspring (the nephilim) appears far-fetched to us in this modern era, but it seems to have been widely accepted as fact in the ancient world.

As we've seen above, the word translated "giants" in Genesis 6:4 is nephilim. Let's look at what The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia has to say about the possible origins of this Hebrew word:

The etymology of n^epîlîm is uncertain, the following explanations have been advanced with mixed reception. First, it may derive from the niphal of the verb pala, meaning "be extraordinary," i.e., "extraordinary men." Second, it may be derived from the verb napal, "fall," in one of the following senses: (1) the "fallen ones" - from heaven, i.e., supernatural beings; (2) morally "fallen men"; (3) "those who fall upon," in the sense of invaders or hostile, violent men; (4) "those who fell by" the sword (cf. Ezk. 32:20f.); (5) "unnaturally begotten men" or bastards (from cf. nepel, "abortion" or miscarriage"). (pp. 518-519, vol. 3)

The Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, renders the Hebrew term nephilim as gigantes, which literally means "earth-born." This is often misunderstood to mean "giants" - which the nephilim apparently were also.

From the sources we've just examined, it's readily apparent that the general understanding of Genesis 6:1-4 at the time of Christ was that the angels had sinned by committing fornication with human women. But does the Bible support this theory?

First, let's look at all of the Old Testament references to "sons of God." This phrase is translated from the Hebrew beney 'elohim ( ), beney ha'elohim ( ) and beney 'elim ( ):

GENESIS 6:1 When men began to increase on earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the divine beings [beney ha'elohim] saw how beautiful the daughters of men were and took wives from among those that pleased them. 3 The Lord said, "My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years." 4 It was then, and later too, that the Nephilim appeared on earth when the divine beings [beney ha'elohim] cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown. (Tanakh, the new Jewish Publication Society translation according to the traditional Hebrew text)

DEUTERONOMY 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God [beney 'elohim]. (RSV)

JOB 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. (NKJV)

JOB 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. (NKJV)

JOB 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God [beney 'elohim] shouted for joy? (NKJV)

PSALM 29:1 O give the Lord you sons of God [beney 'elim], give the Lord glory and power; 2 give the Lord the glory of his name. Adore the Lord in his holy court. (The Psalms: A New Translation)

PSALM 89:5 The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord; the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth. 6 For who in the skies can compare with the Lord or who is like the Lord among the sons of God [beney 'elim]? (The Psalms: A New Translation)

As you can see, each reference above is to angels. There are no instances in the Old Testament where the phrase "sons of God" refers to men. Let's see what E.W. Bullinger has to say about these "sons of God" in Appendix 23 to The Companion Bible:

"The Sons of God" in Gen. 6.2, 4.
It is only by the Divine specific act of creation that any created being can be called "a son of God." For that which is "born of the flesh is flesh." God is spirit and that which is "born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3.6). Hence Adam is called a "son of God" in Luke 3.38. Those "in Christ" having the "new nature" which is by the direct creation of God (2 Cor. 5.17; Eph. 2.l0) can be, and are called "sons of God" (John 1.13; Rom. 8.14, 15; 1 John 3.1).
This is why angels are called "sons of God" in every other place where the expression is used in the Old Testament. Job 1.6; 2.1; 38.7; Ps. 29.1; 89.6; Dan. 3.25 (no art.). We have no authority or right to take the expression in Gen. 6.4 in any other sense. Moreover in Gen. 6.2 the Sept. renders it "angels". (pp. 26, 27, Companion Bible Appendixes)

Now let's look at Genesis 6:9, which discusses Noah's genealogy. This Scripture is further proof that fallen angels had interbred with humans.

GENESIS 6:9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect [tamim] in his generations. Noah walked with God. (NKJV)

In Genesis 6:9, the Hebrew word tamim, here translated "perfect," means "physically without blemish." As the first sentence makes clear, it's referring to the genealogy of Noah; it does not refer to moral perfection. Below is what Appendix 26 of The Companion Bible has to say about this word as used in verse 9 of Genesis 6:

The Heb. word tamim means without blemish, and is the technical word for bodily and physical perfection, and, not moral. Hence it is used of animals of sacrificial purity . It is rendered without blemish in Ex. 12.5; 29.1; Lev. 1.3, 10; 3.1, 6; 4.3, 23, 28, 32; 5.12, 18; 6.6; 9.2, 3; 14.10; 22.19; 23.12, 18; Num. 6.14; 28.19, 31; 29.2, 8, 13, 20, 23, 29, 32, 36; Ezek. 43.22, 23, 25; 45.18, 23; 46.4, 6, 13.
Without spot: Num. 19.2; 28.3, 9, 11; 29.17, 26.
Undefiled: Ps. 119.1.
This shows that Gen. 6.9 does not speak of Noah's moral perfection . . . (p. 28, Companion Bible Appendixes)

Now let's examine what Jude said about the fallen angels in the New Testament:

JUDE 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (KJV)

Because of the punctuation of verse 7, this Scripture appears to say that Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the cities around them, gave themselves over to sexual immorality. However, the underlying Greek text does not support this interpretation. Kenneth Wuest writes of verse 7:

This verse begins with hos, an adverb of comparison having meanings of "in the same manner as, after the fashion of, as, just as." Here it introduces a comparison showing a likeness between the angels of verse 6 and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha of this verse. But the likeness between them lies deeper than the fact that both were guilty of committing sin. It extends to the fact that both were guilty of the same identical sin. The punctuation of the A.V. [KJV] is misleading, as an examination of Greek text discloses.
The A.V. punctuation gives the reader the impression that Sodom and Gomorrha committed fornication and that the cities about them committed fornication in like manner to the two cities named. . . . The words "in like manner" are related to the verbal forms, "giving themselves over to fornication" and "going after strange flesh." In addition to all this, the Greek text has toutois, "to these." Thus, the translation should read, "just as Sodom and Gomorrha and the cities about them, in like manner to these, having given themselves over to fornication and having gone after strange flesh." The sense of the entire passage (vv.6, 7) is that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha and the cities about them, in like manner to these (the angels), have given themselves over to fornication and have gone after strange flesh. That means that the sin of the fallen angels was fornication. (pp. 241-242, vol. II, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament)

The underlying Greek text indicates that the fallen angels left their own domain and indulged in sexual immorality, going after "strange," or "other" flesh. The KJV obscures this fact, probably because the view that the fallen angels were "the sons of God" spoken of in Genesis 6:2, 4 was not accepted when it was translated in 1611. However, some translations do more clearly show the meaning of this passage. The New English Bible better presents what Jude was saying:

JUDE 6 Remember too the angels, how some of them were not content to keep the dominion given to them but abandoned their proper home; and God has reserved them for judgement on the great Day, bound beneath the darkness in everlasting chains. 7 Remember Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring towns; like the angels, they committed fornication and followed unnatural lusts; and they paid the penalty in eternal fire, an example for all to see. (NEB)

It's clear that Jude wrote of the fornication of the angels as a fact. In verse 7 of his epistle, he compares the sexual wickedness in Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities to the sin of the angels.

The nature of the angels' fall is also clearly stated in Jude 6, where it is said that they left their own "abode" (Gr. oiketerion). This word occurs in the New Testament only here and in II Corinthians 5:2, where it is used of the spiritual body of a resurrected saint.

II CORINTHIANS 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation [oiketerion] which is from heaven, (NKJV)

There is a great deal revealed in the Bible about angels. Angels could and did assume human form and even eat men's food (Gen. 18-19). Although the Bible doesn't tell us how, Jude 6 shows that some angels left their proper abode (their spiritual bodies) and took on fleshly bodies so as to marry and produce offspring by the daughters of men.

Although the angels committed sexual sins and corrupted the human lineage to some extent, they did something else that threatened to foil God's plan for humanity. Let's go back to 1 Enoch to see what these fallen angels did that affected the human race enormously:

1 ENOCH 8:1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all 2 colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they 3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments, and root- cuttings, Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught) astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . . (From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, translated by R.H. Charles)

As the text above shows, the angels brought with them knowledge which humanity did not have beforehand. This information led to a rapid advance in the knowledge base of the antediluvian society, including the invention of advanced methods of waging warfare. In the NKJV translation of Genesis 6:4, the nephilim are called "mighty men who were of old, men of renown;" however, the NRSV translates that same phrase as "heroes that were of old, warriors of renown."

Genesis 6:11 shows that the earth was filled with violence; this is very likely the direct result of the nephilim, who apparently were mighty warriors. If the ancient legends are indeed based in fact, as they appear to be, these angelic offspring were superhuman in size and great in strength. There is also an indication from the ancient text known as the Book of Jasher that this corruption of bloodlines extended to the animals also.

JASHER 4:18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals. 19 And the Lord said, I will blot out man that I created from the face of the earth, yea from man to the birds of the air, together with cattle and beasts that are in the field . . .(From The Book of Jasher, published by J.H. Parry & Company, 1887)

The Book of Jasher is mentioned twice in the Bible (Jos. 10:13; II Sam. 1:18). While it's evident the copy of this book that has survived to our time has been corrupted to some extent, the Scriptures seem to confirm the information contained in this section of Jasher:

GENESIS 6:7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." (NKJV)

It appears likely that the objectives of the Flood were the destruction of the polluted human and animal bloodlines and the eradication of the forbidden knowledge that humanity had learned from the fallen host.

There is one other New Testament passage which hints at the sin of the angels before the flood. It is an enigmatic scripture found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church.

I CORINTHIANS 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. (NKJV)

In I Corinthians 11, Paul states the position of women in relation to men and says that the symbol of authority on a woman's head is needed "because of the angels." Without an understanding of what took place anciently between the fallen host and women, this verse is cryptic at best.

There is opposition to the view that the fallen angels are the "sons of God" referred to in Genesis 6. Some cite Matthew 22:29-30 and Mark 12:24-25 as objections, saying that these Scriptures clearly teach that angels do not marry.

MATTHEW 22:29 Jesus answered and said to them [the Sadducees], "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven." (NKJV)
MARK 12:24 Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." (NKJV)

First, these verses do not state whether angels can marry or procreate. Here Christ was referring only to the way things will be after the first resurrection of the dead. Additionally, the angels in heaven who did not sin are the example cited, not the angels confined to Tartarus because they sinned by marrying humans and producing offspring. To get a better perspective of what Christ was saying, let's look at the parallel account of this conversation in Luke's Gospel.

LUKE 20:34 And Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." (NKJV)

Christ's primary purpose in his answer was to affirm the reality of the resurrection to these questioning Sadducees, who did not believe that there would be a resurrection. As you can clearly see from Luke's account of this confrontation, Christ is making two points about the age to come: (1) Resurrected humans will not marry, and (2) resurrected humans will be given eternal life, which the holy angels now have. Interpreting these Scriptures to mean that angels have never been able to marry or procreate reads more into them than was intended by Jesus.

Some also object by saying that Genesis 6:4 shows that there were nephilim on the earth before "the sons of God" came in to "the daughters of men" and also afterward; therefore, these giants cannot be the offspring of this union. Does the phrase "in those days, and also afterward" mean that the nephilim were present before the the sons of God cohabited with the daughters of men?

"In those days" plainly means the time after the "sons of God" had come down to earth; the fact that they had taken wives is disclosed in Genesis 6:2. In time sequence, chapter six of Genesis should follow chapter four; the fifth chapter is an inset into the story flow. "Afterward" specifies after the flood, when we see another instance of giants appearing, this time in the land of Canaan which the Israelites were to inherit (Num. 13:33). Satan once again tried to thwart God's plan by using these savage hybrids to occupy the land of Canaan and keep Abraham's offspring out. Obviously none of the nephilim survived the flood.

These giants are often mentioned in the early books of the Old Testament until the last of them were finally killed off. The word nephilim only appears twice in the Old Testament (Gen 6:4; Num. 13:33), but these giants are also referred to as gibbor (Gen 6:4; Num. 13:33; Job 16:14) and rephaim when they reappear in a more limited fashion after the flood (Gen. 14:5; 15:20; Deu. 2:11, 20; 3:11, 13; Jos. 12:4; 13:12; 15:8; 17:15; 18:16; II Sam. 5:18, 22; 21:16, 18, 20, 22; 23:13; I Chr. 11:15; 14:9; 20:4, 6, 8; Isa. 17:5; 26:14). They were known by the proper names of Rephaim, Emim, Anakim, and Zamzummim.

CONCLUSION

As shown above, the evidence that "the sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6 are fallen angels is substantial. By their sexual immorality, these angels produced offspring which were strong and violent. The concept of a race of giants which resulted from the union of gods and humans is virtually universal in the world's early civilizations.

The original intent of the angels may have only been to satisfy their forbidden lust. Yet the knowledge they brought with them and taught mankind caused society to develop at a more rapid technological pace than God had intended. This societal development was not positive, and it gave rise to a very violent society, one in which the nephilim apparently played a large role. God was forced to restrain in the Abyss the wicked angels that produced the nephilim, and cleanse the earth of them and the violence they brought with the great Flood.