Were the Nephilim really giant men? (Numbers 13:33)
Or like King Og (Deut. 3:11). The scriptures actually say his bed was literally 13.5ft. x 6ft.
Were these men actually a giant race? Or was the OT authors maybe intending that they were just larger-more muscular men compared to the Isrealites?
I haven’t seen any archaeological digs which would give us any idea…
They were men of renown (eg: of the name), so in one sense they were big because of their doings and not just their size.
The main impression I get from the account is that the author of Numbers understood it to be a unique and very bad development. The history is recording something that predates Abraham by a significant period of time – so the story really isn’t comparing Israelites to these men, but rather it would be a history viewed from the standpoint of someone like Noe.
There are two schools of thought on what happened at that time, as far as I know.
The first is that Angels broke a taboo and began marrying women – the second is that the Holy offspring of Seth began being seduced by women from Cain’s tribes.
Both of these ideas come from the phrase “The Sons of God saw” and “Daughters of men were beautiful”. (eg: Same logic as was used to deceive Eve and seduce her into sin.)
The interpretation saying that Angelic beings procreated is false in my opinion;
although – undoubtedly, in the time of Jacob,many unlearned people would have believed that.
But “Son’s of God” and the description “You are Gods” are both used by scripture to denote the civil authorities of the earlier times and places. The king was often called “god” (little g). In the biblical mentality, the word “god” is not equating such a person with the God of all – but rather a likeness to the messiah where these people bring the authority coming from God.
Even St. Paul (who was learned) remarks that all Governments come from God. (Even if they abuse their power, and require resistance in some ways…)
Moses was called a “god” in that sense by God himself; indicating that the authority of God went through Moses’ decisions over an above Aaron (Who was Moses’ elder brother.)
I also don’t wish to disclude the notion that Angels (or more properly, demons) were involved in the narrative given in the book of Numbers.
Demons can posses a human being to a certain extent, eg: in proportion to their receptiveness. In the case of a child, baptism includes an exorcism – not because the child has done any right or wrong, but on account of Original sin leaving them susceptible; But the exorcism itself is a Tradition which points to the problem of parents – in likeness to Adam and Eve – exposing their children to the power of devil.
So, in my view, there were two human parents involved, and at least one devil should the parents have purposely attempted to raise a child in wickedness.
The husbands might have been a ruling party from a foreign Government to the region Numbers is considering; Or The husbands might well be children of Seth, etc. Any of these possibilities would be reason for scripture to record them as “sons of God.” and/or princes.
As to whether or not something these people did caused the children to be physical giants; I don’t know. But there is nothing un-natural about some people become large on account of a change from poverty to good nutrition with a rich man.
I hope this gives you a few ideas of how to approach the problem. There may be more, but that’s all I really know on the subject at this time.
