The Answer the Bible site posted an article titled What is the significance of the fact there were giants in those days (Genesis 6:4)? by a certain Aaron Chin.
The site notes that their, “goal is to help you find biblical answers to all of your Bible questions…Our team of researchers dives deep into Scripture to provide clear, concise explanations to your inquiries…We believe every detail in God’s Word matters and can help bring someone closer to Christ.”
The article begins by quoting that which I term the Gen 6 affair thusly, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.”
Aaron Chin claims, “Nephilim were a race of giants” which begs these key hermeneutical questions: what’s the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” in English Bibles? What’s Chin usage (especially since he quoted a version that doesn’t refer to, “giants”)? Do those two usages agree?
Of, “sons of God” he notes, “Some believe this is referring to fallen angels or demons who mated with human women, producing superhuman offspring. Others believe it refers to godly descendants of Seth intermarrying with ungodly Cainites. Either way, the Nephilim were a hybrid race of giants who dominated the pre-flood world.”
I’m unsure how they could be hybrid either way: unless he’s watering down the term hybrid to refer to half-Angel and half-human and also 100% human from two related lineages—and how does the latter result in superhumans?
The former option is the original, traditional, and majority view among the earliest Jewish and Christians commentators, starting in BC days, was the Angel view as I proved in my book On the Genesis 6 Affair’s Sons of God: Angels or Not?: A Survey of Early Jewish and Christian Commentaries Including Notes on Giants and the Nephilim. The latter is a late-comer of a view based on myth and prejudice.
For some odd reason, certainly not the Gen 6 affair, he concludes, “Their physical stature…made them celebrities and legendary figures” and yet, the dirty little secret is that since we’ve no reliable physical description of Nephilim then their height is a non-issue and that alone debunks 99% of un-biblical Nephilology—the modern branch of which is just un-biblical neo-theo sci-fi tall-tales.
Thus, his usage of the term giants seems to be something vaguely generic about subjectively unusual height of some unknown level above the parochial average (and yes, that is how useless the common parlance usage of that modern English word is).
That means that his usage doesn’t agree with the English Bibles’ usage since the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word giants in English Bibles is that 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.
Aaron Chin affirms that, “they contributed to the violence, immorality and corruption that overran the world, leading to God’s judgment by flood…Nephilim…stoked God’s anger.”
Since his usage of giants isn’t in keeping with the English Bibles’ usage he takes a wrong turn in going on about that, “The fact that giants once existed challenges the popular notion that humanity has been on an upward evolutionary trajectory over millions of years.”
He adds, “It lends credence to the biblical timeline that sophisticated civilizations date back only thousands of years. The prescence of giants also testifies to the reliability of Scripture, as their remains have been unearthed around the world.” Well, “around the world” is a bit of a vague citation but worse of all, that statement is misleading since by this point we’re dealing with such watered down assertions that they’re meaningless and nothing about the hints we can derive from his usage would have anything to do with the Bible.
Following up on his statement about the flood, he adds, “God refused to let these powerful hybrids and their corruption continue indefinitely. He stepped in to destroy their dominion and punish sin, while saving righteous Noah and his family. The Nephilim were wiped out…in the judgment of the flood.”
Now, he then takes a gigantic misstep by asserting, “Genesis 6:4 notes that the Nephilim existed even after the flood, implying some may have survived God’s judgment.”
You read Genesis 6:4 as he quoted it and there was no indication whatsoever that it “notes that the Nephilim existed even after the flood.” As for, “implying some may have survived God’s judgment” which is not only not in the least bit the case, it’s logically, bio-logically, and theo-logically impossible—unless, that is, one want to assert that God failed, missed a loophole, the flood was much of a waste, etc., etc., etc.
How can a site focused on finding biblical answers to provide clear, concise explanations of every detail in God’s Word to help bring someone closer to Christ claim that a verse states what it doesn’t and then imply that God failed.
Well, one problem is his usage of useless terminology: he seems to be chasing his subjective usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word giants around an ancient and specific Hebrew Bible.
By making that linguistics error, he can write things such as, “Some believe giants like Goliath were genetic descendants of the pre-flood Nephilim. However, there is no conclusive biblical evidence for Nephilim coexisting with humans today.”
We aren’t told how many the, “Some” are nor who they are nor where they stated such things nor are they quoted or cited. Yet, I know that he’s referring to un-biblical Nephilology since when it comes to Goliath when one reads of him having been a giant in some modern English Bibles that’s merely identifying him as a Repha: it’s telling us that he was of the Rephaim tribe and not telling us anything at all about his size.
As already noted, the only way it could be that, “giants like Goliath were genetic descendants of the pre-flood Nephilim” is if God failed. As for, “no conclusive biblical evidence for Nephilim coexisting with humans today” fair enough but, pray tell, why not if they made it past the flood—in some un-biblical manner?
An odd feature of the manner in which pop-Nephilolgists communicate is that one of their MOs is that they make a point, move away from it, come back to it, move away, come back, etc.
Thus, Aaron Chin goes back to, “Giant bones and skulls unearthed at ancient burial mounds in America, particularly the Ohio valley region” which is biblically irrelevant.
And, “Weapons of enormous size belonging to giant warriors found in Greece” which is biblically irrelevant.
And, “Giant footprints fossilized in stone at sites in Africa” which is biblically irrelevant. I’m unaware of plural footprints. I’m aware of this:
Actually, one of the firsts tests to determine if that’s a footprint is whether there are plural footprints: where’s the long line of footprints leading to it and away from it? Apparently, the answer is that there aren’t any. So, that’s a giant indicator of that it’s not a footprint.
And, “Ancient Jewish and Roman historians like Josephus referencing bones of giants being on display in public places” which is biblically irrelevant. Think about it: he asserts that bones of something are on display so, what of it?
He then refers to that:
The Nephilim are mentioned in some ancient extra-biblical sources, which provide additional insights about how they were viewed:
The Book of Enoch (7:2) describes giants 3,000 ells high (around 4,500 feet).
The Book of Jubilees (7:21–25) details that they could kill men with their bare hands.
The Book of Giants from the Dead Sea Scrolls mentions the Nephilim’s height and influence.
The Rephaim are described as giants in Ugaritic texts dating back to 1300 BC.
The first three texts are Bible contradicting folklore from centuries, if not millennia, after the Torah, see my book “In Consideration of the Book(s) of Enoch and The Apocryphal Nephilim and Giants: Encountering Nephilim and Giants in Extra-Biblical Texts. Also, read my How Nephilim Absconded from the Tanakh and Invaded Folkloric Territory.
As for, “Rephaim are described as giants in Ugaritic texts dating back to 1300 BC” I’m unsure I’ll accept that un-cited assertion but in Ugaritic texts recently deceased kings and heroes are referred to as kings and heroes but after they had been dead for some time, they were referred to as rph, could be summoned from the grave/underworld to attend rituals, etc., see my article Dead Kings and Rephaim The Patrons of the Ugaritic Dynasty.
Aaron Chin then writes of, “Nephilim co-existing with adamites” thusly:
According to Genesis 6:4, Nephilim lived concurrently with “daughters of man,” presumed to be the female descendants of Adam. The text portrays these groups intermarrying and producing offspring. This raises some interesting questions if the Nephilim really were giant hybrids:
How could giants and humans reproduce if they were completely different species or creatures?
Were there families that contained both giants and normal-sized people side-by-side?
Did the Nephilim have special abilities or superhuman traits compared to their human spouses?
What happened to the children of these mixed marriages in terms of their stature and skills?
Unfortunately the Bible does not provide this level of detail about Nephilim-human relations. But it does make clear that giants could somehow breed with humans, adding to the biblical intrigue surrounding these ancient colossal beings.
This is a bit messy so, just in case, “Nephilim lived concurrently with ‘daughters of man” having come into being after the daughters of men were around.
They had to be, “female descendants of Adam” by definition.
Perhaps, “these groups intermarrying and producing offspring” eventually but the Gen 6 affair was about the sons of God producing offspring with the daughters of men, not the Nephilim.
As for, “How could” let’s switch to sons of God as Angels, “and humans reproduce if they were completely different species or creatures?” well, Angels are always described as looking like human males, performing physical actions, and without indication that such isn’t their ontology. We were created “a little lower” (Psa 8:5) than them, and we can reproduce with them so, by definition, we’re of the same basic “kind.” See my book, What Does the Bible Say About Angels? A Styled Angelology.
As for, “How could giants and humans reproduce if they were completely different species or creatures?” well, remember the dirty little secret.
How about, “How could” Nephilim, “and humans reproduce if they were completely different species or creatures?” they weren’t completely different.
Note that he appealed to, “giants” and, “colossal beings” which are both uselessly vague terms and while he means something about subjectively unusual height by them, he’s yet to provide us any reason whatsoever to think that Nephilim were such.
Following up on his statement about the flood, he adds, “God refused to let these powerful hybrids and their corruption continue indefinitely. He stepped in to destroy their dominion and punish sin, while saving righteous Noah and his family. The Nephilim were wiped out…in the judgment of the flood.”
Now, he then takes a gigantic misstep by asserting, “Genesis 6:4 notes that the Nephilim existed even after the flood, implying some may have survived God’s judgment.”
You read Genesis 6:4 as he quoted it and there was no indication whatsoever that it “notes that the Nephilim existed even after the flood.” As for, “implying some may have survived God’s judgment” which is not only not in the least bit the case, it’s logically, bio-logically, and theo-logically impossible—unless, that is, one want to assert that God failed, missed a loophole, the flood was much of a waste, etc., etc., etc.
How can a site focused on finding biblical answers to provide clear, concise explanations of every detail in God’s Word to help bring someone closer to Christ claim that a verse states what it doesn’t and then imply that God failed.
Well, one problem is his usage of useless terminology: he seems to be chasing his subjective usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word giants around an ancient and specific Hebrew Bible.
By making that linguistics error, he can write things such as, “Some believe giants like Goliath were genetic descendants of the pre-flood Nephilim. However, there is no conclusive biblical evidence for Nephilim coexisting with humans today.”
We aren’t told how many the, “Some” are nor who they are nor where they stated such things nor are they quoted or cited. Yet, I know that he’s referring to un-biblical Nephilology since when it comes to Goliath when one reads of him having been a giant in some modern English Bibles that’s merely identifying him as a Repha: it’s telling us that he was of the Rephaim tribe and not telling us anything at all about his size.
As already noted, the only way it could be that, “giants like Goliath were genetic descendants of the pre-flood Nephilim” is if God failed. As for, “no conclusive biblical evidence for Nephilim coexisting with humans today” fair enough but, pray tell, why not, if they made it past the flood—in some un-biblical manner?
Having written, “that the doings of Nephilim played a part in, “leading to God’s judgment by flood…God…destroy their dominion…Nephilim were wiped out…in the judgment of the flood” and then that, “Nephilim existed even after the flood…giants like Goliath were genetic descendants of the pre-flood Nephilim.”
He went on to assert, “A key reason that God judged the world with a flood in Genesis 6 was because of the proliferation of Nephilim giants” which, FYI, biblically contextually would mean, “Nephilim Nephilim.”
And he then circled back to, “The giants known as the Nephilim”—“Nephilim known as the Nephilim”—“were not the only oversized beings mentioned in the Old Testament narratives” of which he hasn’t appealed to a single one, “There were also the Anakim, Emim and Rephaim, who were tribes or clans of very large people described as giants or comparing in height to the Nephilim. The most famous giant was Goliath, the Philistine warrior defeated by David.”
On a basic level of categorical thinking, if, “Nephilim…were also the Anakim, Emim and Rephaim” then, by definition, Anakim, Emim and Rephaim wouldn’t be, “Anakim, Emim and Rephaim” they would be Nephilim.
Yet, he offered no backing for the mere assertion that such was the case, in any case—in any way, shape or form. So, I’ll have to argue his point and then debunk it. The one and only possible way to even imagine arguing that Anakim, Emim and Rephaim were really Nephilim, by any other name, is Num 13:33 which myopically correlated Nephilim with Anakim. Yet, when one appeals to that verse, they needed to mention that they’re relying on:
1. One single unreliable sentence
2. From strictly non-LXX versions (since that version’s version of that verse doesn’t even mention Anakim)
3. Of an unreliable “evil report”
4. By 10 unreliable guys
5. Whom God rebuked—to death
6. Who made five mere assertions unbacked by even one single other verse in the whole Bible
7. Who contradicted Moses, Cable, Joshua, God, and the rest of the whole entire Bible
8. Then they have to invent un-biblical fantasy tall-tales about how Nephilim got past the flood, past God.
I could go on but see my post Chapter sample: On the Post Flood Nephilim Proposal.
Aaron Chin doesn’t seem to realize that, “Anakim, Emim and Rephaim” are one in the same since Rephaim were aka Emmim and Anakim was like a clan of that tribe. As for, “oversized…very large” well, those terms are as vague, generic, subjective, and multi-usage as giants and he can only get such an idea from Deut 2 which refers to them as, “tall” which is just as vague, generic, subjective, and multi-usage: in this case, is subjective to the average Israelite male who was 5.0-5.3 ft. in those days.
He added, “Goliath stood around 9 feet tall and his armor weighed over 120 pounds (1 Samuel 17:4-7)” yet, “1 Samuel 17:4-7” where? See that was a myopic assertion since the Masoretic text has Goliath 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. so that’s the preponderance of the earliest data.
He also wrote, “Other giants included King Og of Bashan whose huge iron bed was over 13 feet long (Deuteronomy 3:11)” but what does a, “bed” have to do with anything? He committed a very, very common pop-Nephilology fallacy of a non-sequitur. Concluding anything about his personal height from his, “bed” is based on various mere assumptions. And note that he doesn’t appeal to Og’s stated height since we have no physical description of him. He seems unaware that indications are that the, “bed” was a ritual object, not something on which he slept. Yet, even if he slept on it there are various reasons to not jump to a non-sequitur since he was a lavish king and if you measured my bed you’d conclude I’m some five times wider than I actually am. For more, see my book The King, Og of Bashan, is Dead: The Man, the Myth, the Legend—of a Nephilim Giant?
As for, “the giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot” that’s, “the Repha” and what of it?
He adds, “giants even after the flood. They stood well over seven and even nine feet” but the tallest person specified in the Bible was actually an Egyptian at 7.5ft (2 Sam 23).
He does affirm, “Though not the original Nephilim” but tells a tall-tale about, “later giants were evidence of genetic anomalies producing supersized humans both before and after the flood” for which there’s literally zero indication—granting that supersized is a useless term.
He then focuses on, “Nephilim size…There are no precise details in Scripture about how tall the Nephilim giants actually were” but claims, “a few clues” such as, you guessed it, “Numbers 13:33 says the Nephilim made the Israelite spies look like grasshoppers in comparison.” No, it states no such thing: that’s an unreliable sentence from an unreliable evil report by unreliable guys whom God rebuked who merely asserted that Nephilim made the Israelite spies look like grasshoppers in comparison.
He then circles back to, “Goliath…about 9 feet” but that’s not only myopic, it’s about a Repha so doesn’t count for Nephilim—odd that he literally wrote, “not the original Nephilim” followed by, “Nephilim size” followed by appealing to the, “not the original Nephilim” Goliath.
Next up is, “Some Nephilim may have had six fingers and toes (2 Samuel 21:20)” but that has nothing to do with, “Nephilim size” and it’s a non-sequitur to take one single Repha who lived centuries post flood and imagine a correlation to pre-flood Nephilim.
Then, “They were descendants of Anakim giants who were described as strong and tall like cedars (Amos 2:9).” Yet, he gets that from the only place he could, non-LXX versions of an unreliable sentence and Amos doesn’t say anything about Anakim.
Amos 2:9 says, “the Amorite…whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.” He was clearly just saying they were big and strong and not implying conducting a one-to-one ratio based mathematical calculation.
In fact, people who do measure cedars and claim Amorites were that tall never get around to a calculation correlating the strength of oaks—since they’re only interested in tall-tales. Plus, if they take it that incoherently literal then they have to conclude that Amorites had fruits and roots growing right out of their bodies.
Next, he wrote, “The Book of Enoch claims Nephilim were over 400 feet high” which he wrote after, you will recall, having written, “The Book of Enoch (7:2) describes giants 3,000 ells high (around 4,500 feet).”
His conclusion is, “they potentially ranged anywhere from 9 feet to over 400 feet tall!” which is unfounded. He ended that assertion with, “Even on the low end, they would have towered over average humans” and imagines that, “Their immense stature aligned with descriptions of being ‘mighty’ men and warriors. They must have had incredible strength to match their size.” Yet, history is peppered with mighty men and warriors who weren’t taller than the parochial average.
Aaron Chin then asks, “How did giant Nephilim exist?”—“How did Nephilim Nephilim exist?” yet, that section is premised on un-biblical tall-tales about Nephilim so he focuses on, “Given the much smaller stature of humans both then and now, how could giants like the Nephilim arise? There are several possible explanations” which he states as follows:
Supernatural origin – If the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 were angels/demons, their coupling with humans may have genetically altered humanity’s development, producing unnaturally large offspring.
Genetic anomalies – Rare gigantism disorders could have produced abnormally large humans exceeding seven or even nine feet at times.
Ideal environment – The pre-flood world environment may have been “hyperbaric” with greater air pressure and oxygen levels, promoting larger growth.
Diet/lifestyle – Their diet and living conditions could have promoted greater height and body mass.
While definitive evidence is unavailable, a combination of supernatural engineering and ideal living conditions most likely enabled Nephilim to grow remarkably large in stature compared to humans both before and after the flood.
Why merely assume that, “angels/demons,” it was Angels, not demons, would be “producing unnaturally large offspring” rather than unnaturally small?
There’s no biblical reason to even appeal to something as mundane as, “gigantism.”
Certainly, “The pre-flood world” may have been a factor in, “promoting larger growth” and my only point is that we’ve no data to back Aaron Chin’s assertions and assumptions about Nephilim’s size.
I’m unsure what, “Diet/lifestyle” would have, “promoted” 4,500ft.
“supernatural engineering” is an oddly sci-fi manner to refer to physical copulation. Again, perhaps it’s, “most likely” but we’ve no indication of it: merely un-biblical tall-tales by pop-Nephilologists.
He concludes by listing, “several key takeaways from the brief mention of Nephilim giants in Genesis 6”:
They were real creatures verified by archaeological finds.
They possessed great size and abilities beyond normal humans.
They were hybrid offspring of angelic/demonic beings and humans.
They were associated with violence and evil before the flood.
They significantly influenced the spreading wickedness on the earth.
Their judgment by God in the flood stands as warning about the inevitable judgment of evil.
There’s no way to correlate, “archaeological finds” to Nephilim.
There’s no reliable indication of, “great size and abilities beyond normal humans.”
Indications are, “They were hybrid offspring of angelic” not, “demonic,” “beings and humans.”
Indeed, “associated with violence and evil before the flood” which is part of why they didn’t survive—and there’s literally zero reliable indication that they returned—likewise with, “significantly influenced the spreading wickedness on the earth” and, “Their judgment by God in the flood” which brought them to a sudden and full end.
Sadly, he ends with, “The fact that giants once walked the earth reminds us of the accuracy of Scripture” which is a non-starter so we can’t rely on it do assist in reminding us of the accuracy of Scripture.
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