A certain Paul, who self-identifies as, “Pastor, Husband, Father and Bible Believer” who makes, “King James Bible teaching and preaching videos” and “would love to show you what the Bible says, not what I think” (I don’t even see what he pastors) posted a list of 25 Characteristics of Nephilim in the Bible.
1. Tall Stature – Giants in the Bible are described as being of tremendous height. (Deuteronomy 3:11)
That verse reads, “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.”
Note that there’s not a single word about “Tall Stature…tremendous height” in that verse.
Some merely assert that he was due to being called a “giant” and having a big “bed.” Yet, the pastor doesn’t seem to be aware that when he reads of Og as a “giant” in the KJV he’s reading that Og was a Repha so the word “giant” doesn’t even imply anything about height whatsoever since it’s job is to merely render (not even translate) Repha: that’s what it’s doing in 98% of the verses in which it’s found—the other 2 verse in which it’s found it renders “Nephilim.”
Ergo, that is not about a Nephil but about a Repha so the very first one on the list doesn’t belong there and didn’t teach us any “Characteristics of Nephilim.”
Moreover, Og’s bed was not something upon which he slept but was a ritual object—a “bed” of the same dimensions was found in the Etemenanki ziggurat.
For details, see my book The King, Og of Bashan, is Dead: The Man, the Myth, the Legend—of a Nephilim Giant?
2. Nephilim – Giants are referred to as Nephilim in Genesis. (Genesis 6:4)
That verse reads, “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.”
Oddly, likely due to his KJV leanings, he got it 100% backward since it’s anachronistic to claim “Giants are referred to as Nephilim” since it’s really “Nephilim are referred to as Giants” since the ancient Hebrew came first.
Also, the pastor doesn’t seem to be aware that biblically contextually “Giants are referred to as Nephilim” reads as “Nephilim are referred to as Nephilim.”
3. Fame and Renown – They were men of renown, respected and feared by others. (Genesis 6:4)
Fair enough.
4. Warriors – Giants were often depicted as fierce warriors. (1 Samuel 17:4)
That verse reads, “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”
Goliath was a Repha, not a Nephil so he’s also irrelevant.
Since Pastor Paul is reading the KJV he’s fixated on its reliance on the Masoretic text which has him at just shy of 10 ft. Yet, the earlier LXX and the earlier Dead Sea Scrolls and the earlier Flavius Josephus all have him at just shy of 7 ft./four cubits and a span—compared to the average Israelite male who was 5.0-5.3 ft. in those days.
5. Strength – They possessed extraordinary physical strength. (2 Samuel 21:16)
“And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.”
Here “the giant” in question is Goliath: “the giant”/“the Repha.”
As for “extraordinary physical strength” well, regular guy Benaiah took a spear like a weaver’s beam from a 7.5 ft. Egyptian and successfully wielded it against him in hand-to-hand combat (2 Sam 23:21).
6. Armor Bearers – Giants were described as having significant and impressive armor. (1 Samuel 17:5)
It’s interesting to note the Pastor’s hyperbolic manner of speaking: here he has one description of one giant’s armor, the only such description in the Bible, and applies to how “Giants were described” in the plural and in general.
Note that he had a guy assisting with the equipment and you can search for strongman or weightlifting competition vids and see guys who are around 6 ft. lifting 1,000 lbs.
7. Six Fingers and Toes – Some giants had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. (2 Samuel 21:20)
Note that this was supposed to be about Nephilim but, due to the KJV, the Pastor keeps telling us about “giants.”
In this case, we also have the issue of watering down and exaggerating since we’re told of extra digits one single time about one single person who was a Repha and that somehow turned into that some Nephilim had such features.
“And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.”
Now, recall that “of great stature” means taller than 5.0-5.3ft and that “born to the giant” refers to being Goliaths’ son.
8. Descendants of Anak – Some giants were referred to as Anakim, descendants of Anak. (Numbers 13:33)
Numbers 13:33 reads “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.”
He didn’t bother telling us that he was appealing to one sentence from an “evil report” by 10 unreliable guys whom God rebuked so there’s no reason to believe them and many to disbelieve them.
His statement “Some giants were referred to as Anakim, descendants of Anak” is missing the key points since Anakim were descendants of Anak who was Arba’s son but then how do we get them having anything to do with Nephilim? The biblical answer is: we don’t.
This is the second of the two verses that refer to Nephilim as “giants” and it’s unreliable.
9. Inhabitants of Canaan – Giants lived in Canaan. (Deuteronomy 9:2)
“A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!”
Anakim were a clan of the Rephaim tribe and Rephaim were “tall” in general (so, taller than 5.0-5.3ft.) and lived in Canaan. But, again, this has nothing to do with Nephilim.
10. Philistines – Some giants were from the Philistine region. (1 Samuel 17:23)
“And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.”
Recall that what he’s supposed to be telling us is “Some Nephilim were from the Philistine region” but, of course, there’s literally zero indication of that since they didn’t make it past the flood in any way, shape, or form.
Thus, he’s actually asserting that Philistines weren’t fully human which is shameful.
11. Champions of Battle – Giants often occupied key roles in battle. (1 Samuel 17:4)
How about we simplify things hereinafter since it’s going to be more repetitions.
In this case, guess what, it has nothing to do with Nephilim, it’s about Rephaim.
Nephilim were strictly pre-flood hybrids, Rephaim were strictly post-flood humans, and there’s zero correlation between them.
12. Multiple Battles – Giants appeared in several battles against Israelites. (2 Samuel 21:18)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
13. Pride and Defiance – Giants like Goliath displayed pride and defiance against God. (1 Samuel 17:10)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
14. Fearsome Reputation – Their reputation instilled fear. (Deuteronomy 2:10-11)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
15. Subjects of God’s Judgment – Giants were often subject to God’s judgment. (Deuteronomy 2:21)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
16. Heart of Stone – Giants were described as hard-hearted. (1 Samuel 17:44)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
17. Relics and Weapons – Their colossal weapons and relics required special attention. (1 Chronicles 20:5)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
18. Rephaim – Another term for giants used in the Bible. (Genesis 14:5)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
Yet, in this case we see another instance of anachronism since “Rephaim – Another term for giants used in the Bible” should read “giants – Another term for Rephaim used in the Bible.”
19. Increased Land’s Difficulty – Giants made the Promised Land appear unconquerable. (Numbers 13:32-33)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
20. Renowned Heroes – Giants earned respect similar to heroes. (2 Samuel 23:13)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
21. Island Inhabitants – Lived on islands and coasts. (Jeremiah 47:5)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
22. Feared by Enemies – Their presence alone could intimidate. (Deuteronomy 9:2 )
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
23. Empowered by False Gods – Believed to be empowered by false gods. (Joshua 11:21)
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
24. Correlation with Evil – Often associated with evil and sin. (Genesis 6:5)
What this has to do with Nephilim is that they were part of the “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” mix.
25. Defied Israelite Expansion – Hindered Israelites from expanding territory. (Deuteronomy 3:13 )
Nothing to do with Nephilim.
So, of the “25 Characteristics of Nephilim in the Bible” what did we actually learn about Nephilim? A wrongly and vaguely generically worded, “Giants are referred to as Nephilim in Genesis” and “Fame and Renown – They were men of renown, respected and feared by others” plus “associated with evil and sin” by association—oh, and even though Pastor Paul didn’t tell us, also that centuries post-flood some guys made up a tall-tale about them.
Thus, that was not so much about “Characteristics of Nephilim in the Bible” but was about what I suspect was that which I term KWBT: Key-Word Based Theology (or, in this case, Nephilology) whereby he merely searched for the word “giants” and strung together some of the verses in which it appears, in the KJV, in a case of taking texts out of context to make pretexts for prooftexts.
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