Who were the Nephilim?
The term literally means "the fallen ones." Some say they were a race of giants, the offspring of angels and women, to which Goliath and Lahmi belonged. (This sounds too much like Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology for me.) Others say they were the sinful seed of Cain, who later appear as the Canaanites. Scholarship is divided, with the majority taking them to be a race of giants. One interesting matter is that the Bible says (Gen 6) that they were on the earth in the days before the Flood -- "and afterward." What does that mean?
I have shared my own thoughts in Genesis, Science and History (DPI, 2004), available in the Book and Audio section of this website, which is a book on Genesis. Do read the footnotes as well as the main text, and have fun!
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