Genesis 6:4

Memory Verse

There were Nephilim on the earth in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bore to them. These were mighty ones who were of old, highborn men of a name (Genesis 6:4).

Nephilim is a Hebrew word that means “fallen ones.” This term describes what was produced by the fallen angels who left their first estate to go after the strange flesh of the daughters of men (Jude 6, 7). These abominations were before and after the flood. They are known by different names, depending on the region and people. The Moabites called them Emim (Deuteronomy 2:11). The Ammonites referred to them by Zamzummim (Deuteronomy 2:20). Abraham fought against them when Chedorlaomer sacked Sodom (Genesis 14:5–16). Their presence in the Promised Land caused great fear among the Israelites (Numbers 13:33). They continued upon the earth until King David destroyed the last of them. The first one David destroyed was Goliath (1 Chronicles 20:4).

These fallen angels sought to corrupt the seed of the woman so that God’s promise against Lucifer, their leader, would fall (Genesis 3:15). The daughters of men bore these mutants to the fallen angels, producing giant men that were known as gods that could die. They were mighty ones, and ruled (highborn) with their might.

All of the Nephilim now reside in Hades, bound in Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4–5), and they will not be resurrected even unto final judgment for their works (Isaiah 14:9; 26:14). They are abominations produced by the fallen angels, and will therefore be cast into the lake of fire along with Hades at the end of the next age (Revelation 20:14).