Genesis 6:4

6:4 The Nephilim ¹  were on the earth in those days (and also after this) ²  when the sons of God were having sexual relations with ³  the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. ⁴  They were the mighty heroes ⁵  of old, the famous men. ⁶ 

Numbers 13:32-33

13:32 Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging ⁷  report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through ⁸  to investigate is a land that devours ⁹  its inhabitants. ¹⁰  All the people we saw there ¹¹  are of great stature. 13:33 We even saw the Nephilim ¹²  there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed liked grasshoppers both to ourselves ¹³  and to them.” ¹⁴ 

Deuteronomy 1:28

1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage ¹⁵  by describing people who are more numerous ¹⁶  and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven ¹⁷  itself! Moreover, they said they saw ¹⁸  Anakites ¹⁹  there.”

Deuteronomy 2:10

2:10 (The Emites ²⁰  used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites.

Deuteronomy 2:21

2:21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites ²¹  in advance of the Ammonites, ²²  so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place.

Deuteronomy 3:11

3:11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy ²³  that his sarcophagus ²⁴  was made of iron. ²⁵  Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath ²⁶  of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet ²⁷  long and six feet ²⁸  wide according to standard measure.) ²⁹ 

Deuteronomy 9:2

9:2 They include the Anakites, ³⁰  a numerous ³¹  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?”

Deuteronomy 9:1

Theological Justification of the Conquest

9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. ³² 

Deuteronomy 17:4-5

17:4 When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing ³³  is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates ³⁴  that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. ³⁵ 

[6:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).

[6:4]  ² tn This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.

[6:4]  ³ tn Heb “were entering to,” referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.

[6:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.

[6:4]  ⁵ tn The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.

[6:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).

[13:32]  ⁷ tn Or “an evil report,” i.e., one that was a defamation of the grace of God.

[13:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “which we passed over in it”; the pronoun on the preposition serves as a resumptive pronoun for the relative, and need not be translated literally.

[13:32]  ⁹ tn The verb is the feminine singular participle from אָכַל (’akhal); it modifies the land as a “devouring land,” a bold figure for the difficulty of living in the place.

[13:32]  ¹⁰ sn The expression has been interpreted in a number of ways by commentators, such as that the land was infertile, that the Canaanites were cannibals, that it was a land filled with warlike dissensions, or that it denotes a land geared for battle. It may be that they intended the land to seem infertile and insecure.

[13:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in its midst.”

[13:33]  ¹² tc The Greek version uses gigantes (“giants”) to translate “the Nephilim,” but it does not retain the clause “the sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.”

[13:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “in our eyes.”

[13:33]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in their eyes.”

[1:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”

[1:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).

[1:28]  ¹⁷ tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[1:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “we have seen.”

[1:28]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”

[2:10]  ²⁰ sn Emites. These giant people, like the Anakites (Deut 1:28), were also known as Rephaites (v. 11). They appear elsewhere in the narrative of the invasion of the kings of the east where they are said to have lived around Shaveh Kiriathaim, perhaps 9 to 11 mi (15 to 18 km) east of the north end of the Dead Sea (Gen 14:5).

[2:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:21]  ²² tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ²³ tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[3:11]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (’eres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”

[3:11]  ²⁵ tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.

[3:11]  ²⁶ sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.

[3:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “nine cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.

[3:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “four cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.

[3:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).

[9:2]  ³⁰ sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

[9:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[9:1]  ³² tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.

[17:4]  ³³ tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.

[17:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”