Were the "Nephilim" and the "Sons of God" the same thing?

[TonyChanYT]

Genesis 6:4 New International Version

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—

At time=1: There existed the Nephilim.

and also afterward—

Afterward, at time=2

when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

The Nephilim were around at both times. The passage is very ambiguous. This is only one of the many possible interpretations.

The Nephilim
הַנְּפִלִ֞ים (han·nə·p̄i·lîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5303: Nephilim -- 'giants', name of two peoples, one before the flood and one after the flood

Wiki:

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."[9] Symmachus translates it as "the violent ones"[10][11][12] and Aquila's translation has been interpreted to mean either "the fallen ones"[10] or "the ones falling [upon their enemies]."[12][13]

the sons בְּנֵ֤י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of God
הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

In the Bible, are the "Nephilim" and the "Sons of God" the same thing?

The following says "No":

1. Pulpit Commentary
2. Keil and Delitzsch
3. Barnes
4. Matthew Poole
5. Gill

 

[Randy Kluth]

Genesis 6:4 New International Version


At time=1: There existed the Nephilim.


Afterward, at time=2


The Nephilim were around at both times. The passage is very ambiguous. This is only one of the many possible interpretations.

The Nephilim
הַנְּפִלִ֞ים (han·nə·p̄i·lîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5303: Nephilim -- 'giants', name of two peoples, one before the flood and one after the flood

Wiki:


the sons בְּנֵ֤י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of God
הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

In the Bible, are the "Nephilim" and the "Sons of God" the same thing?

The following says "No":

1. Pulpit Commentary
2. Keil and Delitzsch
3. Barnes
4. Matthew Poole
5. Gill

I have an added question about this. Do the "sons of God" infer people who have faith, as opposed to those who resisted the word of God?

 

[TonyChanYT]

I have an added question about this. Do the "sons of God" infer people who have faith, as opposed to those who resisted the word of God?

The term sons of God is polysemantic. Angels are called sons of God because they were created directly by God. Good angels, like Gabriel, have faith. Bad angels, like Satan, resist God.

 

[Randy Kluth]

The term sons of God is polysemantic. Angels are called sons of God because they were created directly by God. Good angels, like Gabriel, have faith. Bad angels, like Satan, resist God.

Yes, I agree. The term seems to apply equally to men and to angels who have faith.

Would you think, then, that in Genesis, the mixing of the "sons of God" with attractive women was an occasion in which people of faith compromised their faith for carnal reasons? Is this an early example, warning Israel, that compromise with pagan Gentiles will produce enemies?

Gen 6.1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

 

[TonyChanYT]

Would you think, then, that in Genesis, the mixing of the "sons of God" with attractive women was an occasion in which people of faith compromised their faith for carnal reasons?

I don't know. The verse has different interpretations.

 

[Grailhunter]

Profound statements and big implications but little information and lots of questions
But the Nephilim and any variants of the giants are not related to the sons of God.
They existed before this event and after and after the flood.

We do not know what the offspring of the sons of God did to be considered mighty men of renown.

Because it involved sex Christians automatically assume sin was involved. The whole sex equals.....dirty, nasty, and sinful and of the devil, thing.
But this was not just sex it was marriages….how does that work?

God did not say it was wrong.
What happened to the sons of God?
The scriptures do not say that God punished them or that the flood killed them.
What happened to the offspring of the sons of God?

The world of assumptions.
Who where the sons of God?
A lot of people think they were angels.
But then a lot people believe that angels cannot reproduce.
A lot of people think they were fallen angels but no biblical evidence of that.

 

[Randy Kluth]

I think this was an early indication of people who had faith deciding they could mix with unbelievers. The resulting children were people who reflected this mix, having what we might call "Viking spirit." Adventurism mixed with militantism is a danger in our world today as it was back then. And its roots are in an unhealthy mix between nobility and carnality.

 

[Aunty Jane]

Yes, I agree. The term seems to apply equally to men and to angels who have faith.

Would you think, then, that in Genesis, the mixing of the "sons of God" with attractive women was an occasion in which people of faith compromised their faith for carnal reasons? Is this an early example, warning Israel, that compromise with pagan Gentiles will produce enemies?

The mixing of materialized angels with “the daughters of men” resulted in freakishly gigantic offspring that were the product of an unholy union. They were extremely licentious and violent in nature…a product of pure evil, requiring God to eliminate them from existence as they were a very bad influence on mankind, and had no right to live.

These offspring were not sons of Adam, (for whom Christ would be sent as savior) produced in the natural way, but were sons of “the sons of God”……angels are not tangible beings and they are not designed to reproduce…they are all direct creations, so gender and sex were absent from their existence until the creation of lower earth-bound creatures who could become objects for their sensual pleasure, not being created to reproduce but obviously wanting to experience carnal pleasures of the flesh.


The ability of spirit beings to materialize is recorded in the scriptures, where we see angels who materialized in human form to deliver messages to God’s servants on earth. Gabriel for example appeared to Daniel as a man….and also to Mary some 500 years later. Abraham was also visited by angels in human form. These ate and drank the things provided by Abraham and his wife, so it is no stretch that materialized flesh may have been abused by these “sons of God” who sought to follow satan into rebellion.

These “offspring” were hybrids (non reproducing) as we see when cross breeding animals even today…the mixing of two related species creates the end of the genetic line, (like mules).
There is no record in the Bible of the Nephilim reproducing.

Gen 6.1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

The “Nephilim” were mortals and were completely wiped out in the flood. These “men of renown” were so named because they caused others to fall down like felled trees.

 

[Randy Kluth]

The mixing of materialized angels with “the daughters of men” resulted in freakishly gigantic offspring that were the product of an unholy union. They were extremely licentious and violent in nature…a product of pure evil, requiring God to eliminate them from existence as they were a very bad influence on mankind, and had no right to live.

These offspring were not sons of Adam, (for whom Christ would be sent as savior) produced in the natural way, but were sons of “the sons of God”……angels are not tangible beings and they are not designed to reproduce…they are all direct creations, so gender and sex were absent from their existence until the creation of lower earth-bound creatures who could become objects for their sensual pleasure, not being created to reproduce but obviously wanting to experience carnal pleasures of the flesh.


The ability of spirit beings to materialize is recorded in the scriptures, where we see angels who materialized in human form to deliver messages to God’s servants on earth. Gabriel for example appeared to Daniel as a man….and also to Mary some 500 years later. Abraham was also visited by angels in human form. These ate and drank the things provided by Abraham and his wife, so it is no stretch that materialized flesh may have been abused by these “sons of God” who sought to follow satan into rebellion.

These “offspring” were hybrids (non reproducing) as we see when cross breeding animals even today…the mixing of two related species creates the end of the genetic line, (like mules).
There is no record in the Bible of the Nephilim reproducing.

The “Nephilim” were mortals and were completely wiped out in the flood. These “men of renown” were so named because they caused others to fall down like felled trees.

Sounds pretty "fable-like to me. But then again, the Bible is filled with supernatural phenomena. I guess you take the understanding you're most comfortable with. And that's okay with me.

I try to avoid the occult and the sleazy material. But I'm not saying you're doing that. I think it's a legitimate question.

 

[Aunty Jane]

Sounds pretty "fable-like to me. But then again, the Bible is filled with supernatural phenomena. I guess you take the understanding you're most comfortable with. And that's okay with me.

I try to avoid the occult and the sleazy material. But I'm not saying you're doing that. I think it's a legitimate question.

According to my studies, this is the story that Genesis tells……”just as the days of Noah” Jesus said, would be the days of his return, (Matt 24:37-39)…..what do we see that was the same as Noah’s day? Sex and violence is everywhere…just trying to find a movie or a TV show that isn’t saturated with either or both is almost impossible. The computer games that children play are full of bloodlust and demonism…..are we in any doubt that we are in “the time of the end”? Just because the the sex and violence are on a screen, doesn’t alter the effect it has on the human psyche. Pornography has ruined many marriages. You become what you feed your mind on….

 

[Randy Kluth]

According to my studies, this is the story that Genesis tells……”just as the days of Noah” Jesus said, would be the days of his return, (Matt 24:37-39)…..what do we see that was the same as Noah’s day? Sex and violence is everywhere…just trying to find a movie or a TV show that isn’t saturated with either or both is almost impossible. The computer games that children play are full of bloodlust and demonism…..are we in any doubt that we are in “the time of the end”? Just because the the sex and violence are on a screen, doesn’t alter the effect it has on the human psyche. Pornography has ruined many marriages. You become what you feed your mind on….

True that is.