What the Bible says about Giants
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 6:1-4 Some maintain that these verses assert that angels married women before the Flood and engendered a race of giants. This idea sounds like the sub-plot of a science fiction story! But can it be the truth? It is true that verse 2 states that the "sons of God . . . took wives for themselves of all whom they chose." These "sons of God," however, were not angels. The fact is that angels do not marry. Jesus tells us this clearly: "For in the resurrection they [humans] neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven" (Matthew 22:30; see Mark 12:25). Angels cannot cohabit nor reproduce with women. Angels are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:13-14). Women are human beings. Angels and women, then, are two different kinds of being. Kind reproduces after kind, and different species cannot breed. In his modern, perverted science—"falsely called knowledge" (I Timothy 6:20)—Satan encourages men to experiment with the crossing and mixing of the most unlikely creatures. For example, goats have been genetically altered by the insertion of a spider gene to produce silk products that God never intended in His original design. Right from the beginning, at the re-creation of the world (Psalm 104:30), God says that this is not to be. He establishes a strict law that each kind must reproduce only after its own kind (Genesis 1:11-12, 21, 24-25). This rule is also backed up and made clear by the context of our difficult scripture. In Genesis 6:3, God says, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh." He is speaking of fleshly mankind here, not angels. Although it is true that the children of these couples were "mighty," like their parents, they were still only human. It is true that angels are sometimes called "sons of God" (Job 1:6; 38:7). Remember, though, that angels "neither marry, nor are given in marriage." Secondly, the phrase "sons of God" sometimes refers to Christians, regenerated by God's Spirit but still human (John 1:12; Romans 8:14, 19; Philippians 2:15; I John 3:1-2). A third meaning refers to mankind in general, because all men are sons of God by creation: "I said, 'You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men . . .'" (Psalm 82:6-7). Although the King James and New King James versions have "children of the Most High," many other translations have "sons of the Most High." Additional verses use similar terminology to refer to humans (Malachi 2:10; Luke 3:38). Through Adam, then, every human being is a child of God. Since these "sons of God"—those who are the subjects of our difficult scripture—were obviously not regenerated Christians, and could not have been angels, it is evident that they were simply human members of mankind in general: Men who had forsaken God and were intermarrying in defiance of His law. We should note one final point. Genesis 6:4 reads, "There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." This verse shows that giants and extraordinarily mighty men existed after the sons of God married the daughters of men and implies that they existed beforehand as well. It does not state that such huge and powerful men were the result only of these marriages. Giants have existed throughout recorded history, before and after the Flood and down to modern times. Staff Did Angels Marry Human Women? Related Topics: Angels | Giants | Kind Reproduces Kind | Sons of God

Genesis 6:1-4 The opening verses of Genesis 6 have been a stumbling block for many Bible readers through the ages. Instead of scouring the Bible for scriptural clues to their true meaning, many have allowed their imaginations and faulty reasoning to invent sometimes wild and fantastic interpretations of them. They either ignore or do not realize that God's Word contradicts their readings of this passage. Many people believe that these “sons of God” were fallen angels who married beautiful, earthly women—“daughters of men.” This fanciful idea sounds familiar, a echo of classical mythology, in which the “gods” seduced human women, who afterward bore demigods who grew up to be “mighty men” and “men of renown.” It is a common theme in those Greek and Roman tales. The basic idea of this interpretation is that, as a result of these unions between angels and women, the children produced were called Nephilim, a Hebrew word that means “giants.” Apparently, through their natural gifts inherited from their angelic fathers, these half-angel/half-human beings became powerful, famous men, doers of great exploits. We have only to recall the stories of Hercules, Perseus, or Achilles to understand this explanation of these verses. It is surprising how many people across the breadth of religiosity believe this pagan understanding. It almost seems as if they want to believe it, not because it is true, which it is not, but because it is sensational and exciting like the old mythological stories that tickle the fancy rather than speak the truth. John Reiss Can Angels Marry Women? Related Topics: Can Angels Marry Women? | Giants | Greek Mythology | Men of Renown | Nephilim | Sons of God

Genesis 6:4 The Scriptures indicate that these giants died out. Not long after this, God sent a worldwide Flood to destroy "all flesh" upon the earth (Genesis 7:21). Since these giants were simply a natural, genetic variation of human beings, they died along with the rest of the earth's population. The only humans to escape that catastrophe were Noah and his family. Since Noah was of a stock of smaller people, most of his descendants were of his stature. However, some of the genes to produce giants survived through the wife of Ham, one of Noah's sons. Therefore, a number of the sons of Canaan (one of Ham's sons) were giants (Numbers 13:1-2, 32-33). In Deuteronomy 2:19-21, Moses records that God destroyed the giants who dwelt in Ammon so that the children of Lot could possess the land. Those giants - who apparently descended from Canaan through a man named Anak - eventually became extinct. King Og of Bashan was the last of them to inhabit Palestine east of Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:11). Another well-known biblical giant is Goliath of Gath (or "the Gittite"), whom the teenage David killed with a sling stone (I Samuel 17). Goliath's brother and sons were also men of great stature, and the Bible explicitly mentions that David and his men killed them all (II Samuel 21:15-22; I Chronicles 20:4-8). Both before and after the Flood, God was directly involved in the destruction of those giant men. The reason for their destruction is not stated directly, but like Goliath, those men seemed always to be in opposition to God and to His people Israel. Staff Related Topics: Anak | Flood | Giants | Goliath | King Og of Basham | Nephilim | Pre-Flood Culture | Pre-Flood Society

Genesis 6:4 "Giants" is the Hebrew word nephilim, which has little or nothing to do with being tall and muscular but refers to cultural leadership. God is describing the culture immediately before the Flood. Nephilim has to be seen in that context. These Nephilim - giants not in size but in influence - were establishing evil, deceitful, violent, and enslaving leadership. They were "men of renown," which literally means they were men of name. In other words, they had a reputation, but that term is used in a derogatory sense. These were not good characters. John W. Ritenbaugh Where Is the Beast? (Part Two) Related Topics: Giants | Men of Renown | Nephilim | Pre-Flood Culture | Pre-Flood Society | Sons of God

Find more Bible verses about Giants:
Giants {Nave's}
 

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