View source for Nephilim

{{Short description|Beings from the Hebrew Bible}}
{{Other uses}}
{{distinguish|Nevi'im|Niflheim}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:The_Hell_and_the_Flood_P1.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|''The Fall of the Rebel Angels'' by [[Hieronymus Bosch]], based on Genesis 6:1–4]]
The '''Nephilim''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|f|ᵻ|ˌ|l|ɪ|m}}; {{Langx|he|נְפִילִים}} ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or humans in the [[Bible]] traditionally understood as being of great size and strength, or alternatively beings of great [[power (social and political)|power]] and authority.<ref name=":0" /> The origins of the Nephilim are disputed.  Some, including the author of the [[Book of Enoch]], view them as the offspring of [[fallen angel|rebellious angels]] and humans.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=NAB-p1370-footnotes/> Others view them as descendants of [[Seth]] and [[Cain]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{cite web |title=Genesis&nbsp;6:4 |translator=chabad.org |url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/8171/showrashi/true/jewish/Chapter-6.htm |via=chabad.org }}</ref><ref name=":6" />

This reference to them is in [[Book of Genesis#Primeval history (chapters 1–11)|Genesis&nbsp;6:1–4]], but the passage is ambiguous and the identity of the Nephilim is disputed.<ref name=":1">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Nephilim |encyclopedia =[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nephilim |access-date=2020-11-06 |lang=en}}</ref><ref name="Doedens">{{cite book |last1=Doedens |first1=J.J.T. |title=The Sons of God in Genesis&nbsp;6:1–4: Analysis and history of exegesis |date=2019 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004395909 |pages=75–76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPuiDwAAQBAJ&q=Nephilim+came+into |access-date=10 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref> According to [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]]&nbsp;13:33, ten of the [[Twelve Spies]] report the existence of Nephilim in [[Canaan]] prior to its [[Book of Joshua#Entry into the land and conquest (chapters 2–12)|conquest by the Israelites]].<ref name=JPS_1917/><ref>{{cite book |section=Numbers&nbsp;13:33 |year=1917 |title=The Holy Scriptures: A new translation |publisher=JPS |via=sefaria.org |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.13.33?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=bi&with=Navigation&lang2=en |access-date=2024-02-09 }}</ref>

A similar or identical [[Biblical Hebrew]] term, read as "Nephilim" by some scholars, or as the word "fallen" by others, appears in [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]]&nbsp;32:27 and is also mentioned in the [[deuterocanonical books]] [[Judith]]&nbsp;16:6, [[Sirach]]&nbsp;16:7, [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]&nbsp;3:26–28, and [[Wisdom of Solomon|Wisdom]]&nbsp;14:6.{{efn|
{{harvp|Hendel|1987}} presents the view that the word used in Ezekiel&nbsp;32 is explicitly the word "Nephilim", the same word used in other Bible books.<ref name=Hendel-1987/>
:
{{harvp|Doak|2013}} proposes an alternate view, that the actual term used in Ezekiel&nbsp;32:27 is a related, but different word, that is deliberately used to refer back to the traditional ideas about the Nephilim, but that it is ''not'' itself the explicit term "Nephilim".<ref name=Doak-2013/>
}}<ref name=Hendel-1987>{{cite journal |last=Hendel |first=Ronald S. |year=1987 |title=Of demigods and the deluge: Toward an interpretation of Genesis&nbsp;6:1–4 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=106 |issue=1 |page=22 |doi=10.2307/3260551 |jstor=3260551 }}</ref><ref name=Doak-2013>{{cite journal |last=Doak |first=Brian R. |year=2013 |title=Ezekiel's topography of the (un-)heroic dead in Ezekiel&nbsp;32:17–32 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=132 |issue=3 |pages=607–624 |jstor=23487889 |doi=10.2307/23487889 }}</ref>

==Etymology==
The [[Brown-Driver-Briggs|Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon]] (1908) gives the meaning of Nephilim as "[[giant]]s", and warns that proposed etymologies of the word are "all very precarious".<ref name="Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon' p.&nbsp;658">{{cite book |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Francis |editor2-last=Driver |editor2-first=S.R. |editor3-last=Briggs |editor3-first=Charles A. |year=1907 |title=A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament |page=658 }}</ref> Many suggested interpretations are based on the assumption that the word is a derivative of Hebrew verbal root {{lang|he-Latn|n-p-l}} ({{lang|he|נ־פ־ל}}) "fall". {{harvtxt|Girdlestone|1871|p=91}} argued  the word comes from the [[Hiphil|hif'il]] [[causative]] stem, possibly indicating that the name 'Nephilim' is to be understood as 'those that cause others to fall down'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Girdlestone |first=Robert Baker |author-link=Robert Baker Girdlestone |date=1871 |title=Synonyms of the Old Testament: Their bearing on Christian faith and practice |publisher=Longmans, Green <!-- Source for the scanned book? Not appropriate for citation. --- |others=Princeton Theological Seminary Library --> |place=London, UK |page=91 |lang=en |url=http://archive.org/details/synonymsofoldtes00gird |via=[[Internet Archive]] }}</ref> Ronald Hendel states that it is a passive form: 'Ones who have fallen', grammatically analogous to {{lang|he-Latn|paqid}} 'one who is appointed' (i.e., a deputy or overseer), {{lang|he-Latn|asir}} 'one who is bound' (i.e., a prisoner).<ref>{{cite book |last=Hendel |first=Ronald |date=2004 |chapter=The Nephilim were on the Earth: Genesis 6:1–4 and its ancient Near Eastern context |editor-last1=Auffarth |editor-first1=Christoph |editor-link1=Christoph Auffarth |editor-last2=Stuckenbruck |editor-first2=Loren T. |editor-link2=Loren Stuckenbruck  |title=The Fall of the Angels |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-9004126688 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fallangelsthemes00auff/page/n31 21–34] |url=https://archive.org/details/fallangelsthemes00auff |url-access=limited }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Marks |first=Herbert |date=Spring 1995 |title=Biblical naming and poetic etymology |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=114 |issue=1 |pages=21–42 |doi=10.2307/3266588 |jstor=3266588 }}</ref> It is also argued that the "fallen" refer to those who "fell in battle", similar to the [[Gibborim (biblical)|''gibborim'']].<ref name=":7">{{cite web |last1=Brand |first1=Miryam |last2=Galbraith |first2=Deane |last3=Keiser |first3=Thomas |last4=Nguyen |first4=Martin |last5=Paul |first5=Clarissa |last6=Pinkus |first6=Assaf |last7=Stinchcomb |first7=Jillian |year=2023 |title=Nephilim |series=Database EBR |url=https://www.degruyter.com/database/EBR/entry/MainLemma_5727/html?lang=en |website=de Gruyter (degruyter.com) }}</ref>

The majority of ancient biblical translations – including the [[Septuagint]], [[Theodotion]], [[Latin Vulgate]], [[Samaritan Targum]], [[Targum Onkelos]], and [[Targum Neofiti]] – interpret the word to mean "giants".<ref>{{cite book |last=van&nbsp;Ruiten |first=Jacques |year=2000 |title=Primaeval History Interpreted: The rewriting of ''Genesis''&nbsp;I–II in the ''Book of Jubilees'' |page=189 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-9004116580 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xxo82l7TeQC&pg=PA189 }}</ref> [[Symmachus (translator)|Symmachus]] translates it as "the violent ones"<ref name=Wright80-81>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Archie T. |year=2005 |title=The Origin of Evil Spirits: The reception of ''Genesis''&nbsp;6.1–4 in early Jewish literature |pages=80–81 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzh7LXv4sZkC&pg=PA81 |isbn=978-3161486562}}</ref>{{efn|
The [[ancient Greek|Greek]] translation reads {{lang|grc|{{math|'οι βιαιοι}} }}; the singular root {{lang|grc|{{math|βιαιος}} }} means "violence" or "forcible".<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Liddell |editor1-first=H.G. |editor1-link=Henry Liddell |editor2-last=Scott |editor2-first=R. |editor2-link=Robert Scott (philologist) |year=1883 |title=Greek–English Lexicon |publisher=New York, Harper |url=https://archive.org/stream/greekenglishlex00liddrich#page/282/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive (archive.org)}}</ref>
}}<ref name=Stackhouse>{{cite book |last=Stackhouse |first=Thomas |year=1869 |title=A History of the Holy Bible |page=53 |publisher=Blackie & Son |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hL0CAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58}}</ref> and [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]]'s translation has been interpreted to mean either "the fallen ones"<ref name=Wright80-81/> or "the ones falling [upon their enemies]."<ref name=Stackhouse/><ref name=Salvesen-1994-1998>{{cite conference |last=Salvesen |first=Alison |title=Symmachus readings in the Pentateuch |book-title=Origen's Hexapla and Fragments |conference=The Rich Seminar on the Hexapla |place=Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies |date=25 July – 3 August 1994 |page=190 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |publication-date=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xQDu27_HEIC&pg=PA190 |isbn=978-3161465758}}</ref>{{efn|
The rendering ''he fell upon, attacked'' [in Symmachus, Genesis 6:6] is something of a puzzle ... If it has been faithfully recorded, it may be related to the rendering of Aquila for the Nephilim in 6:4, {{lang|grc|{{math|οι επιπιπτοντες}} }}.<ref name=Salvesen-1994-1998/>
}}

== Origins of belief ==
Archaeologist [[George Ernest Wright|G.E. Wright]] states that belief in the Nephilim, especially as giants, originated from the Hebrews’ contemplation of [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordian]] [[Megalith|megalithic structures]] and [[cyclopean masonry]] walls of Canaanite cities, with some being 18&nbsp;feet thick. Nonetheless, he notes that ancient Canaanites were relatively short, before and after 3000&nbsp;BC, with no significant findings of abnormally sized aborigines.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wright |first=George Ernest |date=1938 |title=Troglodytes and giants in Palestine |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=305–309 |doi=10.2307/3259820 |jstor=3259820 }}</ref> Biblical professor Brian R. Doak believes that Nephilim lore is a [[polemic]] against the tropes of [[Epic poetry|epic]] and [[Hero|heroism]], commonly found in the worldviews of cultures similar to the Hebrews'.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Doak |first=Brian R. |year=2011 |title=The last of the Rephaim: Conquest and cataclysm in the heroic ages of ancient Israel |journal=Harvard University  |url=https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=ccs |via=[[George Fox University]] }}</ref> J.C. Greenfield similarly believes that Nephilim lore is based on "the negative aspects of the [[Apkallu]] tradition" in [[Sumerian mythology]].<ref name=vdToorn-Becking-vdHorst-1999>{{cite book |last1=van der Toorn |first1=Karel |last2=Becking |first2=Bob |last3=van der Horst |first3=Pieter Willem |year=1999 |title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |publisher=Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2491-2 |lang=en |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&q=apkallu }}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|pp= [https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&pg=PA72 72–74] }} The Apkallu were seven [[antediluvian]] [[culture hero]]es who were praised for their exceptional wisdom. In fact, some were called "the son of [[Ea (god Enki)|Ea]]".<ref name=vdToorn-Becking-vdHorst-1999/>{{rp|style=ama|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&pg=PA73 73]}}

Brand ''et al''. (2023)<ref name=":7"/> argue that the Nephilim refer to elite or royal warriors from legendary antiquity, who do not necessarily have abnormal stature or divine parentage. They view the Nephilim in Numbers&nbsp;13-14 as autochthonous elite warriors who dwelt in pre-Israelite Canaan.<ref name=":7"/> Ellen White believes that their purpose, narratively speaking, is to die so that [[Chosen people|God's chosen]], who are the "[[underdog|underdogs]]", could prevail.<ref name=White-2024>{{cite web |last=White |first=Ellen |year=2024 |title=Who are the Nephilim? |website=Biblical Archaeology Society (biblicalarchaeology.org) |url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/hebrew-bible/who-are-the-nephilim/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326102415/https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/hebrew-bible/who-are-the-nephilim/ |archive-date=March 26, 2024}}</ref>

The [[Anakim|Anakites]], who are associated with the Nephilim,<ref name=White-2023>{{cite web |last=White |first=Ellen |date=2023 |title=Who are the Nephilim? |website=Biblical Archaeology Society (biblicalarchaeology.org) |url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/hebrew-bible/who-are-the-nephilim/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827105203/https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/hebrew-bible/who-are-the-nephilim/ |archive-date=27 August 2023}}</ref> are mentioned in the Egyptian [[Execration texts]] of the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Wyatt |first=Nicolas |year=2001 |title=Space and Time in the Religious Life of the Near East |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-567-04942-1  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yz6vAwAAQBAJ }}</ref> (2055–1650&nbsp;BC) as one of Egypt's political enemies in Canaan.{{sfn|Wyatt|2001}}

==In the Hebrew Bible==
In the Hebrew Bible, there are three interconnected passages referencing the ''nephilim.'' Two of them come from the [[Torah|Pentateuch]]. The first occurrence is in Genesis&nbsp;6:1–4, immediately before the account of [[Noah's Ark]]. Genesis&nbsp;6:4 reads as follows:

{{quote|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 bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.<ref name=JPS_1917>{{cite book |title=Pentateuch |year=1917 |title-link=Torah |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |lang=en }}</ref>}}

Where the [[Jewish Publication Society of America Version|Jewish Publication Society's translation]] simply transliterates the Hebrew ''nephilim'' as "Nephilim",<ref name=JPS_1917/> the [[King James Version]] translates the term as "giants".<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis&nbsp;6 in parallel Hebrew–English format |url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0106.htm |website=Mechon Mamre (mechon-mamre.org) }}</ref>

The nature of the Nephilim is complicated by the ambiguity of Genesis&nbsp;6:4, which leaves it unclear whether they are the "sons of God" or their offspring who are the "mighty men of old, men of renown". [[Richard Hess]] takes it to mean that the Nephilim are the offspring,<ref>{{cite dictionary |author-first=Richard |author-last=Hess |year=1997 |orig-year=1992 |title=Nephilim |editor-last=Freedman |editor-first=David Noel |dictionary=The Anchor Bible Dictionary |place=New York, NY |publisher=Doubleday}}</ref> as does P.W. Coxon.<ref name=Coxon-1999-DoDDB>{{cite dictionary |author-last=Coxon |author-first=P.W. |year=1999 |title=Nephilim |editor1-last=van der Toorn |editor1-first=K. |editor2-last=Becking |editor2-first=Bob |editor3-last=van der Horst |editor3-first=Pieter Willem |dictionary=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |publisher=William B. Eerdmans |isbn=978-0802824912 |page=619 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&q=Nephilim |via=Google Books |access-date=5 June 2015 }}</ref>

The second is Numbers&nbsp;13:32–33, where ten of [[the Twelve Spies]] describe the Anakites (a [[Rephaite]] tribe) as descendants of the Nephilim:

{{quote|And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of [[Anak]], who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.<ref name=JPS_1917/>}}

Outside the Pentateuch there is one more passage indirectly referencing ''nephilim'' and this is Ezekiel&nbsp;32:17–32. Of special significance is Ezekiel&nbsp;32:27, which contains a phrase of disputed meaning. With the traditional vowels added to the text in the medieval period, the phrase is read ''gibborim nophlim'' ("'fallen warriors" or "fallen [[Gibborim (biblical)|Gibborim]]"), although some scholars read the phrase as ''gibborim nephilim'' ("Nephilim warriors" or "warriors, Nephilim").<ref>{{cite book |last=Zimmerli |first=W. |year=1983 |title=Ezekiel: A commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapters&nbsp;25–48 |publisher=Fortress |series=Hermeneia |location=Philadelphia, PA |pages=168, 176 |lang=en-us |translator-last=Martin |translator-first=J.D. }}</ref><ref name=Hendel-1987/><ref name=Coxon-1999-DoDDB/> According to R.S.&nbsp;Hendel, the phrase should be interpreted as "warriors, the Nephilim" in a reference to Genesis&nbsp;6:4. The verse as understood by Hendel reads:
{{quote|They lie with the warriors, the Nephilim of old, who descended to [[Sheol]] with their weapons of war. They placed their swords beneath their heads and their shields upon their bones, for the terror of the warriors was upon the land of the living.<ref name=Hendel-1987/>}}

B.R. Doak, on the other hand, proposes to read the term as the Hebrew verb "fallen" (נופלים ''nophlim''), not a use of the specific term "Nephilim", but still according to Doak a clear reference to the Nephilim tradition as found in Genesis.<ref name=Doak-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|p= [https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ccs/9 622]}}

==Interpretations==

=== Giants ===
{{Main|Giants (Greek mythology)}}
The earliest translations of the Hebrew Bible, the [[Septuagint]], composed in the 3rd or 2nd century BC, renders the said word as ''gigantes''. In Greek Mythology the gigantes were beings of great strength and aggression but not necessarily of great size.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hansen |first=William F. |year=2005 |title=Classical Mythology: A guide to the mythical world of the Greeks and Romans |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-530035-2 |lang=en |page=177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-NmaO-kM2UC&pg=PA177 }}</ref> The choice made by the Greek translators has been preserved in Latin translation. The [[Vulgate]], compiled in the 4th or 5th&nbsp;century AD, transcribes the Greek term rather than translating the Hebrew ''nefilim''. From there, the tradition of the giant progeny of the sons of God and the daughters of men spread to later medieval translations of the Bible.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Kosior |first=Wojciech |date=22 May 2018 |chapter=The fallen (or) giants? The gigantic qualities of the Nefilim in the Hebrew Bible |editor1-first=Magdalena |editor1-last=Waligórska |editor2-first=Tara |editor2-last=Kohn |title=Jewish Translation – Translating Jewishness |pages=17–38 |publisher=de Gruyter |lang=en |doi=10.1515/9783110550788-002 |isbn=978-3110550788}}</ref>

The decision of the Greek translators to render the Hebrew ''nefilim'' as Greek ''gigantes'' is a separate matter. The Hebrew ''nefilim'' means literally "the fallen ones" and the strict translation into Greek would be ''peptokotes'', which in fact appears in the Septuagint of Ezekiel&nbsp;32:22–27. It seems then that the authors of Septuagint wished not only to simply translate the foreign term into Greek, but also to employ a term which would be intelligible and meaningful for their Hellenistic audiences. Given the complex meaning of the ''nefilim'' which emerged from the three interconnected biblical passages (human–divine hybrids in Genesis 6, autochthonous people in Numbers&nbsp;13 and ancient warriors damned in the underworld in Ezekiel&nbsp;32), the Greek translators recognized some similarities. First and foremost, both ''nefilim'' and ''gigantes'' possessed an ambiguous identity, being a mixture of the human and divine. They were also viewed with fascination and moral contempt. Secondly, both were presented as impersonating chaotic qualities and posing some serious danger to gods and humans. Lastly, both ''gigantes'' and ''nefilim'' were clearly connected with the underworld and were said to have originated from earth, and they both end up closed therein.<ref name=":0" />

In [[1 Enoch]], the Nephilim were "great giants, whose height was three hundred cubits". Assuming 1 [[cubit]] is {{convert|18|in|cm}}, this would make them {{convert|450|ft|m}} tall. However, "three hundred cubits" is considered by scholars{{Who|date=April 2025}} to be a translation error in the Ethiopian version. The earlier Greek translation is considered to be closer to the original: "The giants gave birth to Nephilim, and from Nephilim, 'Elioud' came out, and they were growing up according to their grandeur." This matches with [[Book of Jubilees]] 7:21-22, which states that there are three races of giants: Naphidim, Naphil, and Eljo. Therefore, instead of being about the giants' height, the verse actually refers to the three races of giants including [[Elioud]]. Knowing this, John Baty, in his 1839 translation of the Ethiopian version of 1 Enoch, rendered that verse according to the Greek text.<ref>The Book of Enoch the Prophet. Wentworth Press, 2019. ISBN 978-0353916043.</ref> 

The [[Quran]] refers to the [[ʿĀd|people of Ād]] in [[Quran 26]]:130 whom the [[Prophets in Islam|prophet]] [[Hud (prophet)|Hud]] declares to be like ''jabbarin'' (Hebrew: ''gibborim''), probably a reference to the Biblical Nephilim. The people of Ād are said to be giants, the tallest among them {{convert|100|ft|abbr=on}} high.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Gabriel Said Reynolds |first=G.S. |last=Reynolds |year=2018 |title=The Qur'an and the Bible: Text and commentary |publisher=Yale University Press |place=New Haven, CT |isbn=978-0300181326 |page=256 }}</ref> However, according to [[Islam]]ic legend, the ʿĀd were not wiped out by [[Noah's Ark|the Flood]], since some of them had been too tall to be drowned. Instead, God destroyed them after they rejected further warnings.<ref>{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Hughes |year=1995 |title=Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-8120606722 |page=140 }}</ref> After death, they were banished into the lower layers of [[jahannam|hell]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Miguel Asin |last=Palacios |year=2013 |title=Islam and the Divine Comedy |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1134536504 |page=105 }}</ref>

===Fallen angels===
{{main|Fallen angel}}
[[File:The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair, by Daniel Chester French, modeled by 1918, carved 1923 - Corcoran Gallery of Art - DSC01065.JPG|thumb|upright|''The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair'', sculpture by [[Daniel Chester French]]]]
From the third century BC onwards, references are found in the [[Book of Enoch|Enochic literature]], the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]],<ref>{{cite book |section=[[Genesis Apocryphon]] |title=[[Damascus Document]] |id=4Q180}}</ref> [[Jubilees]], the Testament of Reuben, {{nobr|[[2 Baruch]]}}, [[Josephus]], and the [[Book of Jude]] (compare with {{nobr|2 Peter 2}}). For example:
: {{nobr|1 Enoch 7:}}[2]"And when the angels, [3]the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamoured of them, saying to each other, Come, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget children."
Some Christian apologists, such as [[Tertullian]] and especially [[Lactantius]], shared this opinion.

The earliest statement in a secondary commentary explicitly interpreting this to mean that angelic beings mated with humans can be traced to the rabbinical ''[[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan]]'' and it has since become especially commonplace in modern Christian commentaries. This line of interpretation finds additional support in the text of Genesis&nbsp;6:4, which juxtaposes the sons of God (male gender, divine nature) with the daughters of men (female gender, human nature). From this parallelism it could be inferred that the sons of God are understood as some superhuman beings.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last=Kosior |first=Wojciech |year=2010 |title=Synowie bogów i córki człowieka. Kosmiczny 'mezalians' i jego efekty w Księdze Rodzaju 6:1–6 |lang=pl |trans-title=The cosmic mis-alliance and its effects in Genesis 6:1–6  |journal=Ex Nihilo: Periodyk Młodych Religioznawców |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=73–74 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3472159}}
:
{{cite web |title=English translation of "The cosmic mis-alliance and its effects in Genesis 6:1–6" |date=30 May 2011 |translator-first=Daniel |translator-last=Kalinowski |url=http://acalyludpowieamen.pl/the-cosmic-misalliance-and-its-effects-in-genesis-61-6/ |url-status=dead <!-- presumed --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205081947/http://acalyludpowieamen.pl/the-cosmic-misalliance-and-its-effects-in-genesis-61-6/ |archive-date=2016-02-05 }}</ref>

The ''[[New American Bible]]'' commentary draws a parallel to the [[Epistle of Jude]] and the statements set forth in Genesis, suggesting that the Epistle refers implicitly to the paternity of Nephilim as heavenly beings who came to earth and had sexual intercourse with women.<ref name=NAB-p1370-footnotes>{{cite book |title=New American Bible |title-link=New American Bible |at=footnotes, p.&nbsp;1370, referring to verse&nbsp;6.}}</ref>{{efn|
"The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgement of the great day. Likewise, [[Sodom and Gomorrah]], and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."<ref name=NAB-p1370-footnotes/>
}} The footnotes of the [[Jerusalem Bible]] suggest that the biblical author intended the Nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race". Superhuman, in this context, refers to the extremity of their wickedness.{{efn|
The author does not present this episode as a myth nor, on the other hand, does he deliver judgment on its actual occurrence; he records the anecdote of a superhuman race simply to serve as an example of the increase in human wickedness which was to provoke [[Noah's Ark|the Flood]].<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Jerusalem Bible]] |chapter=Genesis&nbsp;6 |at=footnote }}</ref>
}}

Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citing [[Jesus]]'s statement that angels do not marry.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Matthew|22:30}}</ref> Others disagree since Jesus also compared angels to men, thus implying the former's ability to have sex.<ref>{{cite web |first=Bob |last=Deffinbaugh |title=The sons of God and the daughters of men |series=Genesis: From paradise to patriarchs |url=http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=67 |website=bible.org }}</ref> Angels are also never explicitly described as being incapable of marriage. The absence of marriage among angels can be thus compared to wilful [[celibacy]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Heiser |first=Michael S. |year=2021 |title=Who are the Nephilim and what is their origin? |url=https://www.logos.com/grow/who-or-what-were-the-nephilim/ |website=Logos (logos.com) }}</ref>

Evidence cited in favor of the fallen angels interpretation includes the fact that the phrase "the sons of God" (Hebrew: {{Script/Hebrew|בְּנֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים}}; or "sons of the gods") is used twice outside of Genesis&nbsp;6, in the [[Book of Job]] (1:6 and 2:1) where the phrase explicitly references angels. The [[Septuagint]] manuscript [[Codex Alexandrinus]] reading of Genesis&nbsp;6:2 renders this phrase as "the angels of God" while [[Codex Vaticanus]] reads "sons".<ref>{{cite book |last=Swete |first=Henry Barclay |title=The Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint |volume=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1901 |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/stream/oldtestamentingr01swetuoft#page/n40/mode/1up}} Greek text: "{{math|οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ}}"</ref>

Another modern view that aligns with the fallen angel interpretation includes Nephilim being the offspring of [[Demon possession|demon-possessed]] men and women.<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis&nbsp;6:4 commentary |website=Bible Ref (bibleref.com) |url=https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/6/Genesis-6-4.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326103401/https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/6/Genesis-6-4.html |archive-date=26 March 2024 }}</ref>

====Second Temple Judaism====
{{Main|Book of Enoch|Book of Jubilees|Watcher (angel)}}
{{see also|Second Temple Judaism}}
The story of the Nephilim is further elaborated in the [[Book of Enoch]]. The Greek, Aramaic, and main Ge'ez manuscripts of 1&nbsp;Enoch and [[Jubilees]] obtained in the 19th&nbsp;century and held in the [[British Museum]] and [[Vatican Library]], connect the origin of the Nephilim with the fallen angels, and in particular with the {{lang|grc-Latn|[[Watcher (angel)|egrḗgoroi]]}} (''watchers''). [[Samyaza]], an [[angel]] of high rank, is described as leading a rebel sect of angels in a descent to earth to have sexual intercourse with human females:
{{quote|And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 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 and beget us children." And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: "I fear ye will not 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 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing." Then sware they all together and bound themselves 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, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it&nbsp;...<ref>{{cite web |first=Timothy R. |last=Carnahan |title=Book&nbsp;1: Watchers |website=Academy for Ancient Texts (ancienttexts.org) |url=http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/ethiopian/enoch/1watchers/watchers.htm |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref>}}

In this tradition, the children of the Nephilim are called the [[Elioud]], who are considered a separate race from the Nephilim, but they share the fate of the Nephilim.

Some believe the fallen angels who [[human reproduction|begat]] the Nephilim were cast into [[Tartarus]] ({{nobr|2 Peter 2:4,}} Jude&nbsp;1:6) (Greek Enoch&nbsp;20:2),{{efn|
"He may be Uriel, if it is legitimate to compare {{nobr|1 Enoch xx. 2,}} according to which he was the angel set over the world and Tartarus ({{math|ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τοῦ Ταρτάρου}}). In 1&nbsp;Enoch, ''[[Tartarus]]'' is the nether world generally."<ref>{{cite book |first=R.H. |last=Charles |title=A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St.&nbsp;John |page=239 }}</ref>{{verify inline|date=December 2022|reason=quotation was missing a closing quotation mark }}{{full citation|date=July 2024|reason=year, publisher, ISBN}}
}} a place of "total darkness". An interpretation is that God granted ten percent of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim to remain after [[Noah's Ark|the Flood]], as [[demon]]s, to try to lead the human race astray until the [[final Judgment]]. Another similar view was proposed by Dr. Michael Heiser, an [[Old Testament]] scholar from the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]. In his book ''The Unseen Realm'' he states that the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim became what has been known as demons or unclean spirits.<ref>{{cite web |title=Where do demons come from? |website=logos.com |date=15 February 2021 |url=https://www.logos.com/grow/where-do-demons-come-from/ }}</ref>

In addition to ''Enoch'', the ''[[Book of Jubilees]]'' (7:21–25) also states that ridding the Earth of these Nephilim was one of God's purposes for flooding the Earth in Noah's time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=van Ruiten |first=J.T.A.G.M. |date=2022-05-20 |title=Primaeval History Interpreted: The rewriting of Genesis&nbsp;1–11 in the Book of Jubilees |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-49806-8 |page=226 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ighyEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA226 |lang=en }}</ref> These works describe the Nephilim as being evil giants.

The New Testament [[Epistle of Jude]]&nbsp;(14–15) cites from {{nobr|[[1 Enoch]] 1:9,}} which many scholars believe is based on [[Deuteronomy]]&nbsp;33:2.<ref>
{{cite book
 |editor-first=R.H. |editor-last=Charles
 |year=1912
 |title=Book of Enoch: Together with a reprint of the Greek fragments
 |place=London, UK
 |page={{mvar|lviii}}
}}
</ref><ref group=lower-alpha>
"1.9 In 'He comes with ten thousands of His holy ones'
the text reproduces the [[Masoretic]] of Deut.&nbsp;33:2 in reading {{script/Hebrew|אָתָא}} = {{math|ἔρχεται}}, whereas the three [[Targum]]s, [[Syriac versions of the Bible|the Syriac]], and [[Vulgate]] read {{script/Hebrew|אִתֹּה}} = {{math|μετ' αὐτοῦ}}. Here the [[Septuagint|LXX]] diverges wholly. The reading {{script/Hebrew|אתא}} is recognised as original. The writer of 1–5 therefore used the Hebrew text and presumably wrote in Hebrew."{{harvp|Charles|1912|p={{mvar|lviii}} }}
</ref>{{efn|
"We may note especially that 1:1, 3–4, 9, allude unmistakably to Deuteronomy&nbsp;33:1–2 (along with other passages in the Hebrew Bible), implying that the author, like some other Jewish writers, read Deuteronomy&nbsp;33–34, the last words of Moses in the Torah, as prophecy of the future history of Israel, and 33:2 as referring to the eschatological theophany of God as judge."<ref>
{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Bauckham |year=1999 |title=The Jewish world around the New Testament: Collected essays |page=276 }}
</ref>
}}{{efn|
"The introduction ... picks up various biblical passages and re-interprets them, applying them to Enoch. Two passages are central to it: The first is Deuteronomy&nbsp;33:1 ... the second is Numbers&nbsp;24:3–4."{{verify inline|date=December 2022|reason=this quotation was missing a closing quotation mark}}<ref>
{{cite book |first=Michael E. |last=Stone |year= |title=Selected studies in pseudepigrapha and apocrypha with special reference to the Armenian Tradition |series=Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha |volume=9 |page=422 }} {{full citation|date=July 2024 |reason=no date; no publisher; no ISBN / DOI }}
</ref>
}} To most commentators this confirms that the author of Jude regarded the Enochic interpretations of Genesis&nbsp;6 as correct; however, others<ref>
{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Green |year= |title=The second epistle general of Peter, and the general epistle of Jude |page=59 }} {{full citation|date=July 2024 |reason=no date; no publisher; no ISBN / DOI }}
</ref> have questioned this.

===Descendants of Seth and Cain===
References to the offspring of [[Seth]] rebelling from God and mingling with the daughters of [[Cain]] are found from the second century&nbsp;AD onwards in both Christian and Jewish sources (e.g., Rabbi [[Shimon bar Yochai]], [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Sextus Julius Africanus]], and the [[Clementine literature|Letters attributed to St.&nbsp;Clement]]). It is also the view expressed in the modern canonical [[Amharic]] [[Bible translations (Amharic)|Ethiopian Orthodox Bible]]: Henok&nbsp;2:1–3
: "and the Offspring of Seth, who were upon the Holy Mount, saw them and loved them. And they told one another, 'Come, let us choose for us daughters from Cain's children; let us bear children for us.{{'"}}

Orthodox Judaism has taken a stance against the idea that Genesis&nbsp;6 refers to angels or that angels could intermarry with men. [[Shimon bar Yochai]] pronounced a curse on anyone teaching this idea. [[Rashi]] and [[Nachmanides]] followed this. [[Pseudo-Philo]] (''Biblical Antiquities''&nbsp;3:1–3) may also imply that the "sons of God" were human.<ref>{{cite book |first=James L. |last=Kugel |title=Traditions of the Bible: A guide to the Bible as it was at the start of the Common Era |date=1998 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674791510}} {{page?|date=October 2022}}</ref> 
}} This is also the rendering suggested in the [[Targum Onqelos]], [[Symmachus (translator)#His translation|Symmachus]] and the [[Samaritan Targum]], which read "sons of the rulers", where [[Targum Neophyti]] reads "sons of the judges".

Likewise, a long-held view among some Christians is that the "sons of God" were the formerly righteous descendants of Seth who rebelled, while the "daughters of men" were the unrighteous descendants of Cain, and the Nephilim the offspring of their union.{{efn|
Later Judaism and almost all the earliest ecclesiastical writers identify the "sons of God" with the fallen angels; but from the fourth century onwards, as the idea of angelic natures becomes less material, the Fathers commonly take the "sons of God" to be Seth's descendants and the "daughters of men" those of Cain.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |title=[[Jerusalem Bible]] |chapter=Genesis&nbsp;VI |at=footnote }}</ref>
}} This view, dating to at least the 1st&nbsp;century AD in Jewish literature as described above, is also found in Christian sources from the 3rd&nbsp;century if not earlier, with references throughout the [[Clementine literature]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Kitãb al-Magāll, or the Book of the Rolls. One of the books of Clement |website=sacred-texts.com |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aa/aa2.htm |access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> as well as in [[Sextus Julius Africanus]],<ref name=":6">{{cite web |last=Methodius |first=Arn |year= |title=Fathers of the Third Century: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius, and minor writers |id=ANF06 |website=ccel.org |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf06.v.v.ii.html?highlight=cain,seth#highlight |access-date=5 June 2015 }}</ref> [[Ephrem the Syrian]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Commentary in Genesis |at=6:3 }}</ref> and others. Holders of this view have looked for support in Jesus' statement that "in those days before [[Noah's Ark|the flood]] ''they'' [humans] were ... ''marrying and giving in marriage''" ({{bibleverse||Matthew|24:38|NASB}}, emphasis added).<ref>{{cite web |first=Rick |last=Wade |title=The Nephilim |series=Answering e‑mail |website=probe.org |date=27 May 2005 |url=http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4223637/k.8840/Answering_Email.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331201021/http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4223637/k.8840/Answering_Email.htm |archive-date=31 March 2009 }}</ref>{{sps|date=December 2022}}

Some individuals and groups, including [[Augustine of Hippo|St.&nbsp;Augustine]], [[John Chrysostom]], and [[John Calvin]], take the view of Genesis&nbsp;6:2 that the "Angels" who fathered the Nephilim referred to certain human males from the lineage of [[Seth]], who were called ''sons of God'' probably in reference to their prior [[Covenant (religion)|covenant]] with [[Yahweh]] (cf. {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|14:1|HE}}; {{bibleverse-nb||Deut|32:5|HE}}); according to these sources, these men had begun to pursue bodily interests, and so took wives of "the daughters of men", e.g., those who were descended from [[Cain]] or from any people who did not worship God.

This also is the view of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The 'Holy Angels{{'}} |publisher=Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church |series=Sunday Schools Department |language=Amharic |url=http://www.mahiberekidusan.org/Default.aspx?tabid=98&ctl=Details&mid=371&ItemID=75 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727055448/http://www.mahiberekidusan.org/Default.aspx?tabid=98&ctl=Details&mid=371&ItemID=75 |archive-date=27 July 2011 }}</ref> supported by their own [[Ge'ez]] manuscripts and [[Amharic]] translation of the [[Bible translations (Amharic)|Haile Selassie Bible]]—where the books of [[1 Enoch]] and [[Jubilees]], counted as canonical by this church, differ from western academic editions.{{efn|
The Amharic text of Henok&nbsp;2:1–3 (i.e. 1&nbsp;En) in the 1962&nbsp;[[Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon|Ethiopian Orthodox Bible]] may be translated as follows:
: "After mankind abounded, it became thus: And in that season, handsome comely children were born to them; and the offspring of Seth, who were upon the Holy Mount, saw them and loved them. And they told one another, 'Come, let us choose for us daughters from Cain's children; let us bear children for us.{{'"}}
}} The "Sons of Seth view" is also the view presented in a few extra-biblical, yet ancient works, including [[Clementine literature]], the 3rd&nbsp;century ''[[Cave of Treasures]]'', and the {{circa|6th&nbsp;century}} [[Ge'ez]] work ''The [[Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan]]''. In these sources, these offspring of Seth were said to have disobeyed God, by breeding with the Cainites and producing wicked children "who were all unlike", thus angering God into bringing about the Deluge, as in the ''Conflict'':
{{quote|
Certain wise men of old wrote concerning them, and say in their [sacred] books that angels came down from heaven and mingled with the daughters of Cain, who bare unto them these giants. But these [wise men] err in what they say. God forbid such a thing, that angels who are spirits, should be found committing sin with human beings. Never, that cannot be. And if such a thing were of the nature of angels, or Satans, that fell, they would not leave one woman on earth, undefiled ... But many men say, that angels came down from heaven, and joined themselves to women, and had children by them. This cannot be true. But they were children of Seth, who were of the children of Adam, that dwelt on the mountain, high up, while they preserved their virginity, their innocence and their glory like angels; and were then called 'angels of God'. But when they transgressed and mingled with the children of Cain, and begat children, ill-informed men said, that angels had come down from heaven, and mingled with the daughters of men, who bear them giants.
}}

===Offspring of Orion===
In [[Aram (biblical region)|Aram]]aic culture, the term ''nephilim'' refers to the offspring of [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]] in mythology.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Peake's commentary on the Bible]] |year=1919 }}</ref> However, the [[Brown–Driver–Briggs]] lexicon notes this as a "dubious etymology" and "all very precarious".<ref name="Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon' p. 658">{{cite book |title=Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon |page=658}} {{full citation |date=July 2024|reason=full author name, edition, publisher, page? }}<br/> {{cite book |title=Strong's <!-- concordance? --> |volume=H |page=5307}} {{full citation |date=July 2024|reason=full author name, edition, publisher, page? }}</ref>

==Arabian paganism==
Fallen angels were believed by [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|Arab pagans]] to be sent to earth in form of men. Some of them mated with humans and gave rise to hybrid children. As recorded by [[Al-Jahiz]], a common belief held that Abu Jurhum, the ancestor of the [[Jurhum]] tribe, was actually the son of a disobedient angel and a human woman.<ref>{{cite report |last=Reed |first=Annette Y. |title=Fallen angels and the afterlives of Enochic traditions in early Islam |url=https://www.academia.edu/11883958 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Amira el-Zein |last=Islam |year=2009 |title=Arabs and Intelligent World of the Jinn |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0815650706 |page=35 }}</ref>

==Fossil remains of giants ==
{{further|List of tallest people#Disputed and unverified claims}}
Alleged discoveries of Nephilim remains have been a common source of hoaxing and misidentification.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=David |date=2019-01-20 |title=Are these giant human skeleton photographs real? |website=[[Snopes]] (snopes.com) |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/giant-human-skeleton-photographs/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |lang=en }}</ref> 

In 1577, a series of large bones discovered near [[Lucerne]] were interpreted as the bones of an [[antediluvian]] giant about {{cvt|19|ft|m|order=flip}} tall.<ref>{{cite book |year=1880 |title=Library of Universal Knowledge |publisher=American Book Exchange |volume=7 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DMVAAAAYAAJ&dq=Lucerne+1577&pg=PA64 }}</ref> In 1786, [[Johann Friedrich Blumenbach]] found out that these remains belonged to a [[mammoth]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Bondeson |first=Jan |year=1997 |chapter=Giants in the Earth |title=A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1501733451 |page=72 |doi=10.7591/9781501733451-005 |s2cid=194301745 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7591/9781501733451-005/pdf }}</ref> [[Cotton Mather]] believed that [[fossil]]ized leg bones and teeth discovered near [[Albany, New York|Albany]], New York in 1705 were the remains of Nephilim who perished in [[Genesis flood narrative|a great flood]]. [[Paleontologist]]s have identified these as [[mastodon]] remains.<ref>{{cite book |last = Rigal |first = Laura |year = 2001 |title = American Manufactory: Art, labor, and the world of things in the early republic |publisher = Princeton University Press |place=Princeton, NJ |isbn = 978-0691089515 |page = 91 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-aNPS9dAUrEC&pg=PA91 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Rose |first = Mark |date = November–December 2005 |title = When giants roamed the Earth |journal = [[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology]] |volume=58 |number=6 |url = http://archive.archaeology.org/0511/etc/giants.html |access-date = 15 October 2014 }}</ref>
In 1869, the [[Cardiff Giant]], a hoax intended to fool believers in Nephilim, was supposedly discovered in [[Cardiff, New York]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Feder |first=Kenneth L. |year=1995 |title=Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and pseudoscience in archaeology |publisher=Mayfield Pub |oclc=604139167 |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/604139167 }}</ref>

==In popular culture==
{{Main|Nephilim in popular culture}}
The name and idea of Nephilim, like many other religious concepts, is sometimes used in popular culture. Examples include the [[gothic rock]] band [[Fields of the Nephilim]]; ''[[Victor Renquist|The Renquist Quartet]]'' novels by [[Mick Farren]]; ''[[The Mortal Instruments]]'', ''[[The Infernal Devices]]'', ''[[The Last Hours]]'', ''[[The Dark Artifices]]'' and other books in ''[[The Shadowhunter Chronicles]]'' series by [[Cassandra Clare]]; the ''[[Hush, Hush (series)|Hush, Hush]]'' series by [[Becca Fitzpatrick]]; the book ''[[Many Waters]]'' by [[Madeleine L'Engle]]; and TV series ''[[All Souls (The X-Files)|The X-Files]]'' and ''[[Supernatural (season 8)#ep171|Supernatural]].'' Erich Anton Paul von Däniken (b. 1935), in his best-selling [[Chariots of the Gods]] (1968) claims that Nephilim were "skyfallers" from higher dimensions.

In the video game series ''[[Darksiders]]'', the [[four horsemen of the apocalypse|Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] are said to be Nephilim, wherein the Nephilim were created by the unholy union of angels and demons. Dante and Vergil, the main characters of the game ''[[DmC: Devil May Cry]]'' (2013), a reboot of the popular original series ''[[Devil May Cry]]'', are also referred to as Nephilim; being the offspring of the demon Sparda and the angel Eva. In the trading card game ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', the Nephilim are interpreted as "Old Gods" from before modern society.<ref name="MTG">{{cite web |title=Nephilim |publisher=MTG Wiki |url=https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Nephilim/ |access-date=25 June 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619142708/https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Nephilim }}</ref> In {{nobr|''[[Diablo 3]]'',}} the Nephalem were the first humans upon Sanctuary, created as a result of the union between angels and demons. They figure prominently in the plot of ''Antarktos Rising''<ref>{{cite book |title=Antarktos Rising |isbn=978-0979692901 |type=book seller |last1=Robinson |first1=Jeremy |date=June 2007 |publisher=Breakneck Books }}</ref> by author Jeremy Robinson. In the heist-themed first-person-shooter {{nobr|''[[Payday 2]]'',}} several paintings, artifacts, and far off visuals reference the Nephilim, and a secret ending to the game brings in alien technology supposedly left by the Nephilim. A creature referred to as "Nephilim" appears in season&nbsp;2 of the Japanese animated series ''[[Symphogear]]''. ''[[Nephilim (role-playing game)|Nephilim]]'' is a [[role-playing game]] about powerful elemental entities reincarnating into human beings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nephilim Roleplaying |website=Chaosium.com |url=https://www.chaosium.com/nephilim-roleplaying-pdf/ }}</ref> Nephilim feature in the plot of ''[[Indiana Jones and the Great Circle]]'', with the title character encountering a secret order in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] whose members are giants alleged to be the descendants of Nephilim.<ref name="Characters of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle">{{cite web |title=The Faces & Places of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle |url=https://indianajones.bethesda.net/en-US/faces-and-places |website=Indiana Jones and the Great Circle official website |publisher=Bethesda Softworks & Lucasfilm Games |access-date=17 January 2025}}</ref><ref name="Indiana Jones encounters giants & fallen angels">{{cite magazine |last1=Romano |first1=Nick |title=The Last of Us star Troy Baker now channels Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones in new game |url=https://ew.com/indiana-jones-troy-baker-the-great-circle-exclusive-8426963 |access-date=17 January 2025 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |publisher=InterActive Corp |date=18 January 2024}}</ref>


There are several movies, videos, documentaries, and podcasts on Nephilim.<ref>{{cite web |title=IMDb search on Nephilim |website=[[Internet Movie Database]] (IMDb.com) |url=https://www.imdb.com/find/?q=nephilim&ref_=nv_sr_sm/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Adam Eliyahu |last=Berkowitz |date=15 February 2022 |title=Evidence of 'biblical giants' found in northern Israel |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |type=video review |quote=New docu-series to present rare, researched look at the Nephilim. |url=https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-696572?utm_source=00e24904e6bc54c4c5dd4a4f8e88b88f35&utm_medium=jpostbow&utm_campaign=00d985fc08f6073e71cc3e516c31636989&utm_adtitle=Evidence+of+%E2%80%98biblical+giants%E2%80%99+found+in+northern+Israel&dicbo=v4-O34bPWV-1075783007 }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=10em}}
* [[Alien abduction]]
* [[Anakim]]
* [[Asura]]
* [[Book of Giants]]
* [[Cain tradition]]
* [[Cambion]]
* [[Changeling]]
* [[Demigod]]
* [[Emite|Emim]]
* [[Hybrid (biology)]]
* [[Incubus]]
* [[List of angels in theology]]
* [[List of giants in mythology and folklore]]
* [[Maryannu]]
* [[Neanderthal]]
* [[Nephele]]
* {{anli|Pre-Adamite}}
* [[Quinametzin]]
* [[Rephaim]]
* [[Serpent seed]]
* [[Titan (mythology)]]
{{div col end}}

==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==External links==
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Fall of Angels |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5998-fall-of-angels }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Angels |encyclopedia=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm |via=newadvent.org }}

{{Authority control}}

{{Creationism topics}}
{{Angels in Abrahamic religions}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Nephilim| ]]
[[Category:Angels in Christianity]]
[[Category:Angels in Judaism]]
[[Category:Arabian legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Bereshit (parashah)]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Classes of angels]]
[[Category:Demons in Christianity]]
[[Category:Demons in Judaism]]
[[Category:Fallen angels]]
[[Category:Giants in the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Mythological human hybrids]]
[[Category:Book of Jubilees]]
[[Category:Rephaites]]
[[Category:Warriors]]
[[Category:War in mythology]]