Genesis 6:4
in Genesis 6The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The Nephilim were 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 were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 6
Commentary
26 notes on this verseA commentator
IrenaeusThe Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, Sections 18-19 · Written before 202.
And for a very long while wickedness extended and spread, and reached and laid hold upon the whole race of mankind, until a very small seed of righteousness remained among them: and illicit unions took place upon the earth, since angels were united with the daughters of the race of mankind; and they bore to them sons who for their exceeding greatness were called giants.
This site's exposition
The Nephilim were on the earth
The Hebrew word is nephilim, which the Septuagint rendered gigantes and the King James translators gave as giants. Their children became the mighty men of old, the men of renown, and the word turns up at Numbers 13:33. Joshua 11:22 leaves Anakim in Gath, and Goliath comes out of Gath.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
(Version 4.) Now there were giants upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown. For falling ones, or giants, Symmachus interpreted them as violent ones. And it is fitting for the name of falling ones to apply to angels and the children of the saints.
XIII. (58) "And there were giants on the earth in those Days." [Genesis 6:4] Perhaps some one may here think, that the lawgiver is speaking enigmatically and alluding to the fables handed down by the poets about giants, though he is a man as far …
A commentator
Philo of Alexandria-20–50
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GENESIS, I · Written before 50.
proposed
(91) Why it is said that the days of man shall be a hundred and twenty years? (#Ge 6:4). God appears here to fix the limit of human life by this number, indicating by it the manifold prerogative of honour; for in the first place …
A commentator
Philo of Alexandria-20–50
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GENESIS, I · Written before 50.
proposed
(92) On what principle it was that giants were born of angels and women? (#Ge 6:4). The poets call those men who were born out of the earth giants, that is to say, sons of the Earth.{11}{the Greek name Gigas is said to be derived …
All that we indubitably know, from the authentic Scripture in the Hebrew and Christian traditions, is the fact that in the period before the flood there were many giants, all of whom belonged to the earthly city in human society, and that there were sons of God descended from Seth who abandoned their holiness and sank down into this city of men. There is nothing surprising in the fact that giants could be born from men like that. In any case, they were not all giants, even though there were more giants before the flood than in all subsequent ages. They served a divine purpose in that they reveal to anyone who is wise that mere bodily magnitude and might have no more value than bodily beauty.
19 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers12 voices
Since the Son of God is always one and the same, He gives to those who believe on Him a well of water [springing up] to eternal life, but He causes the unfruitful fig-tree immediately to dry up; and in the days of Noah He justly brought on the deluge for the purpose of extinguishing that most infamous race of men then existent, who could not bring forth fruit to God, since the angels that sinned had commingled with them, and [acted as He did] in order that He might put a check upon the sins of these men, but [that at the same time] He might preserve the archetype, the formation of Adam. And it was He who rained fire and brimstone from heaven, in the days of Lot, upon Sodom and Gomorrah, "an example of the righteous judgment of God," that all may know, "that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire."
A commentator
Eusebius of CaesareaPreparation for the Gospel, BOOK V, CHAPTER IV · Written before 339.
proposed
But when they did nothing of this kind, but tried to make supplication to the evil daemons by a foul and licentious life and unseemly words, and by feeding on raw flesh, and rending victims asunder, and by human sacrifices, how was it even possible that doing such deeds, and pursuing practices pleasing to the wicked, they should be received as friends by the Supreme God, or by the divine Powers subject to Him, or by any good beings at all? But in fact it is manifest to all that he who practises the things that are dear to the wicked can never be a friend of the good. So then it was not to gods, nor yet to good daemons, but only to the wicked, that those of whom I have spoken paid worship. And this argument is still further confirmed by Plutarch, in the passage where he says that the mythical narratives told as concerning gods are certain tales about daemons, and the deeds of Giants and Titans celebrated in song among the Greeks are also stories about daemons, intended to suggest a new phase of thought. Of this kind then perhaps were the statements in the Sacred Scripture concerning the giants before the flood, and those concerning their progenitors, of whom it is said, 'And when the angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, they took unto them wives of all that they chose,' and of these were born 'the giants the men of renown which were of old.' For one might say that these daemons are those giants, and that their spirits have been deified by the subsequent generations of men, and that their battles, and their quarrels among themselves, and their wars are the subjects of these legends that are told as of gods.
A commentator
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews - Book I, Chapter 3, Section 1 · Written before 100.
proposed
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 …
Strength of arm, swiftness of foot and comeliness of body—the spoils of sickness and the plunder of time—also awaken pride in man, unaware as he is that "All flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the field. The grass is withered and the flower is fallen." Such was the arrogance of the giants because of their strength. Such also was the God-defying pride of the witless Goliath.
As long then as there continued that separation of the lines between them, the seed of Seth, as it sprang from an excellent root, was by reason of its sanctity termed "angels of God," or as some copies have it "sons of God;" and on the contrary the others by reason of their own and their fathers' wickedness and their earthly deeds were termed "children of men." Though then there was up to this time that holy and salutary separation between them, yet after this the sons of Seth who were the sons of God saw the daughters of those who were born of the line of Cain, and inflamed with the desire for their beauty took to themselves from them wives who taught their husbands the wickedness of their fathers, and at once led them astray from their innate holiness and the single-mindedness of their forefathers...From these sons of Seth then and daughters of Cain, as we have said, there were I born still worse children who became mighty hunters, violent and most fierce men who were termed giants by reason of the size of their bodies and their cruelty and wickedness. For these first began to harass their neighbours and to practise pillaging among men, getting their living rather by rapine than by being contented with the sweat and labour of toil, and their wickedness increased to such a pitch that the world could only be purified by the flood and deluge.
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 the punishments they occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and libations, of which things they stood in need after they were enslaved by lustful passions; and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate deeds, and all wickedness. Whence also the poets and mythologists, not knowing that it was the angels and those demons who had been begotten by them that did these things to men, and women, and cities, and nations, which they related, ascribed them to god himself, and to those who were accounted to be his very offspring, and to the offspring of those who were called his brother), Neptune and Pluto, and to the children again of these their offspring. For whatever name each of the angels had given to himself and his children, by that name they called them.
And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters.
When men multiplied on the earth, the angels of heaven came together with the daughters of men. In some copies I found "the sons of God."
The house of Cain, because the earth had been cursed so as not to give them its strength, produced small harvests, deprived of its strength, just as it is today that some seeds, fruits and grasses give strength and some do not.
A commentator
Book of JubileesBook of Jubilees Chapter 5, sections 1-11, Charles' 1913 translation · Written before -100.
proposed
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 …
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanNoah and the Ark 4.8 (Treatises on Noah and David, page 34) · Written before 397.
proposed
The author of divine Scripture does not wish these giants to be understood, according to the custom of poets, as children of the earth, but rather it asserts that they were begotten of angels and women, and calls them by this name to express the size of their bodies.
But there were giants in the earth in those days. The author of divine Scripture does not want those giants to be regarded as the children of the earth in the manner of poets, but asserts that they were generated from angels and women, whom he calls with this name, desiring to express their bodily magnitude. And let us consider, lest perhaps the giants are like humans who devote themselves to the worship of their flesh, but have no care for their souls: just like those who, according to poetic fable, are said to have had contempt for the gods because of the size of their bodies. Those who despise being valued differently, since they consist of both soul and body, and reject the strength of the mind which the soul holds as more precious, and present themselves as imitators of this flesh as heirs of maternal stupidity? Therefore, they labour in vain, arrogantly claiming heaven through their proud desires, and devoting themselves to earthly works, who, by choosing the lower and despising the higher communion, are condemned by a more severe punishment, as if they willingly subject themselves to more serious sins.
The Medieval Church2 voices
There were giants on the earth in those days. Giants are called men with immense bodies and excessive power, of which there were also many after the flood, that is, in the times of Moses or David, who have the name in Greek because, according …
After the sons of God entered the daughters of men, and they bore children, these were the mighty men of old, men of renown.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
There were giants in the earth in those days,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
There were giants in the earth - נפלים nephilim, from נפל naphal, “he fell.” Those who had apostatized or fallen from the true religion. The Septuagint translate the original word by γιγαντες, which literally signifies earth-born, and which we, following them, term giants, without having any reference to the meaning of the word, which we generally conceive to signify persons of enormous stature. But the word when properly understood makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons of God; those were the nephilim, the fallen earth-born men, with the animal and devilish mind.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Jas 1:17); but, by language suited to our nature and experience, He is described as about to alter His visible procedure towards mankind--from being merciful and long-suffering, He was about to show Himself a God of judgment; and, as that impious race had filled up the measure of their iniquities, He was about to introduce a terrible display of His justice (Ec 8:11).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Jas 1:17); but, by language suited to our nature and experience, He is described as about to alter His visible procedure towards mankind--from being merciful and long-suffering, He was about to show Himself a God of judgment; and, as that impious race had filled up the measure of their iniquities, He was about to introduce a terrible display of His justice (Ec 8:11).
Modern Voices1 voice
Some authorities suggest that this might be an allusion to the Sons of God who came down to corrupt the daughters of men, resulting in the Nephilim (Fallen Ones) of Genesis 6.
The words behind it
23 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַנְּפִלִ֞ים | hanefilim | the Nephilim | H5303 → | |
| הָי֣וּ | hayu | they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בָאָרֶץ֮ | vaaretz | on the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בַּיָּמִ֣ים | baiyamim | in the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָהֵם֒ | hahem | <the> those | H1992 → | 553 times |
| וְגַ֣ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אַֽחֲרֵי־ | ʾacharei- | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| כֵ֗ן | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָבֹ֜אוּ | yavou | they went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בְּנֵ֤י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנ֣וֹת | benot | [the] daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| הָֽאָדָ֔ם | haadam | <the> humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| וְיָלְד֖וּ | veyaldu | and they bore children | H3205 → | 496 times |
| לָהֶ֑ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| הֵ֧מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים | hagiborim | [were] the mighty [men] | H1368 → | 158 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מֵעוֹלָ֖ם | meolam | [were] from long ago | H5769 → | 438 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֥י | ʾanshei | [the] men of | H582 → | 566 times |
| הַשֵּֽׁם׃ פ | hashem | <the> name | H8034 → | 864 times |
הַנְּפִלִ֞יםthe Nephilim
hanefilimH5303 →
הָי֣וּthey were
hayuH1961 →3559 times
בָאָרֶץ֮on the earth
vaaretzH776 →2504 times
בַּיָּמִ֣יםin the days
baiyamimH3117 →2304 times
הָהֵם֒<the> those
hahemH1992 →553 times
וְגַ֣םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אַֽחֲרֵי־after
ʾacharei-H310 →715 times
כֵ֗ןthus
khenH3651 →771 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhen
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָבֹ֜אוּthey went
yavouH935 →2568 times
בְּנֵ֤י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנ֣וֹת[the] daughters of
benotH1323 →588 times
הָֽאָדָ֔ם<the> humankind
haadamH120 →551 times
וְיָלְד֖וּand they bore children
veyalduH3205 →496 times
לָהֶ֑םto <the> them
lahem
הֵ֧מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים[were] the mighty [men]
hagiborimH1368 →158 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
מֵעוֹלָ֖ם[were] from long ago
meolamH5769 →438 times
אַנְשֵׁ֥י[the] men of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
הַשֵּֽׁם׃ פ<the> name
hashemH8034 →864 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 13:33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw…
- Deuteronomy 3:11
(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 40:22
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
- 1 Samuel 17:42
When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome.
- Deuteronomy 9:2
The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?”
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Through
1 Samuel 17:4Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
it leads to
- Joshua 11:22
No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.
- Joshua 11:22
Through
Deuteronomy 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
it leads to
- Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
- 2 Samuel 12:26
Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
- Genesis 14:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies20
On this verse
About Genesis

This page draws on 23 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Noah and the Ark 4.8 (Treatises on Noah and David, page 34); Ambrose of Milan, On Noah and the Ark, Chapter IV; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 15.23; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY 20, Of Humility; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Book of Enoch, 1 Enoch, Chapters 6-8, 15, 16; Book of Jubilees, Book of Jubilees Chapter 5, sections 1-11, Charles' 1913 translation; Chuck Missler, Return of the Nephilim; Chuck Missler, The Gospel in Genesis (article); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 6.5.1; Eusebius of Caesarea, Preparation for the Gospel, BOOK V, CHAPTER IV; Irenaeus, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, Sections 18-19; Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.36.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Cassian, Conference 8, CHAPTER XXI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews - Book I, Chapter 3, Section 1; Julius Africanus, Fragment 2; Justin Martyr, The Second Apology, Chapter V; Philo of Alexandria, ON THE GIANTS and Philo of Alexandria, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GENESIS, I.
