The Scripture Savvy site’s article 17 Bible Verses About the Nephilim (With Commentary) was written by a certain Jamie Wilson. Having published some dozen books on Nephilology, I was impressed to find that we’re told there’s 17 verses about them since historically, it has been known that there are 2—although some add more to the mix when they mistakenly count instances of the root word naphal as references to Nephilim.
Jamie Wilson begins with a list of, “Bible Verses About the Nephilim” the first of which is the Gen 6 affair, as I term it. Genesis 6:4 is quoted thusly, “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.” Fairly enough, it’s noted that they, “existed on the earth during the time when the sons of God intermingled with human women” even though we’re not told when that was, and that they “were mighty men of great reputation and strength.”
The next one is Numbers 13:33 quoted as, “There we saw the Nephilim (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
This time, the elucidation—the With Commentary part—is problematic since it doesn’t interact with the narrative. Wilson notes, “This verse is part of the account of the spies sent by Moses to scout the land of Canaan. They reported that they saw the Nephilim and described them as descendants of Anak. The presence of these giants instilled fear and a sense of insignificance among the Israelite spies.”
I will reproduce that statement along with elucidating facts, “This verse is part of the account of” 10 of, “the spies sent by Moses to scout the land of Canaan” within their evil report, “They reported that they saw the Nephilim and described them as descendants of Anak” but it’s actually the opposite, “the descendants of “the man named, “Anak” so, the Anakim, “come from the Nephilim” which is literally impossible and reference to Anakim is missing from the LXX version of that verse. “The” merely asserted, “presence of these giants” for some reason Wilson jumped from the specific ancient Hebrew word, “Nephilim” to the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word, “giants” which, “instilled fear and a sense of insignificance among the” 10 unreliable, “Israelite spies” who made up a fear-mongering scare-tactic tall-tale and were rebuked by God.
There’s literally zero reason to believe them and many reasons to disbelieve them. For example, any concept of post-flood Nephilim implies that God failed: He meant to be rid of them via the flood but couldn’t get the job done, He must have missed a loophole, the flood was much of a waste, etc. See, fallacious Nephilology negatively effects theology proper.
Also, post-flood Nephilologists have to just invent un-biblical tall-tales about how they made it past the flood and Wilson will have to do that.
This describes 100% of pop-Nephilologists. And those who claim they survived the flood contradict the Bible five times (Genesis 7:7, 23; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; and 2 Peter 2:5).
I’ve written whole books debunking them such as, Nephilim and Giants: Believe It or Not!: Ancient and Neo-Theo-Sci-Fi Tall Tales.
What’s the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” in English Bibles?
What’s Wilsons’ usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants”?
We then get a taste of how it is that Wilson counted 17 since the next one up is Genesis 6:2 and while it’s related to, “Bible Verses About the Nephilim,” it’s more like a premise for them since it reads, “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.”
Indeed, Wilson notes, “This verse provides context for the mention of the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4” and notes, “these ‘sons of God’” may be, “fallen angels or supernatural beings” although that seems like a false dichotomy since fallen Angels could be categorized as supernatural beings (as a systematic biblical paranormologist I would opt for paranormal rather than supernatural).
It’s likewise with Wilson’s inclusion of Genesis 6:5 since it reads, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Thus, we could consider this to record a byproduct.
The next text is Deuteronomy 2:10-11, “The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.”
Now, Wilson’s elucidation is, “This passage describes the Emim, another group of people who were considered giants like the Anakim. Although they are not explicitly referred to as Nephilim, their stature and reputation align with the general understanding of Nephilim as giants.”
Note that we’re told, “Emim, another group of people who were considered giants like the Anakim” but Wilson inserted whatever giants means into the text, a text that references that, on average, they were tall (with tall being just as vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage as giants)—and that is subjective to the average Israelite male who was 5.0-5.3 ft. in those days—plus, we’re told they are, “another” without indication of another besides whom since we the only relevant thing Wilson has done thus far is merely to swap the word Nephilim with the word giants without any indication as to what that was done.
But, it is noted, “Although they are not explicitly referred to as Nephilim, their stature and reputation align with the general understanding of Nephilim as giants.” This only makes matters worse since the only indication of, “their stature” is strictly exclusively from one single sentence from an evil report by the 10 unreliable guys whom God rebuked. Thus, we’ve no reliable physical description of Nephilim.
Also, Wilson is concluding whatever is meant by giants based on whatever is meant by tall thus, we’re dealing in generic vagaries. And also, mere appealing to some unknown level of subjectively unusual height to correlate it to another unknown level of subjectively unusual height so as to claim a, “general understanding” (by whom?) of relation is a non-sequitur: for example, I’m only related to other people who are my height because we’re all descendants of Adam and Eve but nothing besides that.
Having made that unsupportable move—along with not commenting on how there could possibly ever be post-flood Nephilim (and/or Nephilim relatives)—Wilson then fills in the rest of the 17 Nephilim verses with non-Nephilim.
“Joshua 11:21-22…Anakim” but by now, by merely appealing exclusively to one single (non-LXX) utterly unreliable sentence, Wilson reiterates the assertion, “Anakim were descendants of the Nephilim
“Joshua 15:13-14…sons of Anak” along with the comment, “Anakim were descendants of the Nephilim…facing the giants.”
“Judges 1:20…sons of Anak”
“2 Samuel 21:16-22 ‘Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him.’
The comment is, “a confrontation between David and Ishbi-Benob, one of the sons of the giant. Ishbi-Benob, with his impressive size and weaponry, posed a threat to David, but David’s loyal companion, Abishai, intervened and defeated the Philistine. This account showcases the ongoing presence of descendants of the Nephilim and the heroic actions of God’s chosen servants.”
Note that biblically contextually, “one of the sons of the giant” reads as, “one of the sons of the Repha,” not Nephil. Wilson then merely invents a concept of Ishbi-Benob’s, “impressive size” since no such description of him exists: Wilson is simply misreading the single word giant. Thus, this was not about, “descendants of the Nephilim” nor even about, subjectively, “impressive size.”
A subsection is titled, “Bible Verses About the Nephilim” and begins with a another text that has nothing to do with Nephilim.
“Amos 2:9 ‘Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.’”
Wilson can clearly see that it’s not about Nephilim and so admits, “This verse references the Amorites” and comments, “Though not explicitly identified as Nephilim,” because they weren’t, “their towering height and might draw parallels to the Nephilim” which is another pile of asserted fallacies. That includes that Amos telling us that they were big and strong must have something to do with Nephilim but that’s a stretch (pun intended).
For some reason, Wilson then takes us back to Num with a few added verses, “Numbers 13:28-33 ‘Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there… We were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.’”
The comment is, “In this passage, the spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan report the presence of the descendants of Anak, who were considered to be Nephilim. The spies describe them as powerful and intimidating, causing the Israelites to feel small and vulnerable in comparison. It emphasizes the fearsome reputation and physical stature of the Nephilim.”
What Wilson has done here is, without telling us, to mash together the two reports recorded in Num 13: the original one that is accepted as is and the evil one that’s a tall-tale.
Note that the original/as is report refers to, “strong,” not giant and even the 10 unreliable guys initially refer to that the peoples are, “stronger” but since that didn’t do the fear-mongering scare-tactic trick, they took it up a notch by merely asserting, “We were like grasshoppers…”: they literally merely embellished the original report (as well as contradicting it).
Thus, here’s the accurate way to relate this, “In this passage, the spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan report the presence of the descendants of Anak, who were” merely asserted by the 10 unreliable guys to be, “considered to be Nephilim. The” 10 unreliable, “spies” whom God rebuked, “describe them as powerful and intimidating, causing the Israelites to feel small and vulnerable in comparison. It emphasizes the fearsome reputation and physical stature of the Nephilim” that was either the stuff of myth and legend already or was literally invented on the spot by those guys.
“Deuteronomy 3:11…Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.”
In this case, Wilson reiterates, “Og, the king of Bashan, who was known as one of the last remaining giants or Nephilim” but doesn’t seem to be aware that what was stated is, “remnant of the Rephaim” and, of course, nothing to do with Nephilim. As for that with which Wilson follows, “the massive size of his bed, providing further evidence of his extraordinary stature” is a non sequitur based on assumptions about a man whose height we don’t know and followed by that this jump to a conclusion, “serves to highlight the exceptional dimensions of the Nephilim and their existence at that time” which is a non-issue since we don’t have a reliable physical description of Nephilim and so that entire assertion is just that—coupled with still not being told how Nephilim got past the flood, past God.
Assuming that Og’s, “bed” correlates to his height and that his height has something to do with Nephilim is actually based on various assumptions about which you can see my book The King, Og of Bashan, is Dead: The Man, the Myth, the Legend—of a Nephilim Giant?
“Deuteronomy 9:1-2 ‘Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’’”
Wilson’s comment is, “Moses addresses the Israelites, reminding them of the formidable nations they would encounter upon entering the Promised Land. He specifically mentions the descendants of Anak, emphasizing their imposing stature and the reputation of invincibility associated with them. The mention of the Anakim contributes to the portrayal of the Nephilim as a people of great strength and power.”
It appears that Wilson missed a huge point here: the 10 unreliable guys who presented an evil report, were rebuked by God, and upon whom Wilson relies fully merely asserted that Nephilim (who as per their tall-tale would have been the most awe inspiring beings on the planet at the time) were in the land.
Yet, when Moses relates that event, he utterly disregards them, he completely ignores them, he (as well as Caleb, Joshua, God, et al.: the rest of the relevant texts) all affirm that Anakim were in the land but never say a single word about Nephilim. It appears that Moses was being too practical, he’s not concerned about some tall-tale but only about the real challenges on the ground.
As for, “imposing stature” well, that’s Wilsons’ way to refer to being vaguely generically and subjectively, “tall.”
“1 Samuel 17:4-7…Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.”
Wilson notes, “Goliath…noted for his immense size and powerful weaponry. Goliath’s physical attributes align with the characteristics associated with the Nephilim, further illustrating their significance in biblical narratives.” Do you see how for post-flood-giant Nephilologists the one single sentence in Num 13:33 becomes a worldview-philosophy and hermeneutic? Anything to do with subjectively unusual height is automatically merely asserted to be Nephilim related even when there’s zero reliable indication that anyone post-flood are them or are related to them.
Wilson also fails to note that the Masoretic text has him at 6 cubits and a spam/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.
Also, as noted, he had a guy assisting with the equipment. Regular guy Benaiah took a spear like a weaver’s beam, just like Goliath’s, from an 7.5 ft. Egyptian and successfully wielded it against him in hand-to-hand combat (2 Sam 23). Also, you can search for strongman or weightlifting competition vids and see guys who are around 6 ft. lifting 1,000 lbs.
There’s a subsection titled, “What does the Bible say about the Nephilim?” which is about, “various interpretations and debates among scholars and theologians” including, “that they were fallen angels or supernatural beings who cohabited with human women, producing offspring that were giants” but Wilson still hasn’t told us what the usage of that term is: but clearly something subjectively vaguely generic about height.
Thus, the answers to the key questions are:
What’s the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” in English Bibles?
It merely renders (doesn’t even translate) “Nephilim” in 2 verses or “Repha/im” in 98% of all others and so never even hints at anything to do with any sort of height whatsoever.
What’s Wilsons’ usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants”?
Something about subjectively unusual height.
Do those two usages agree?
No.
And so, out of a supposed 17 verses we got 2 about Nephilim (one reliable and one not), 2 that don’t mention them but pertain to them, and 13 that has utterly nothing to do with them.
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