CHILDREN OF GOD AND NEPHILIM (GN 6,1-4)

Abstract

Nephilim are creatures described as the sons of God, brave, strong, but also as ordinary human beings depending on the text that is being consulted. This is a topic barely touched in Genesis (6, 1-4) and in Nm 13,33 so it is difficult to understand its identity. The aim of this article is to try to answer the questions who were these creatures? And, of course, what were they? Within Genesis the story of the Nephilim is intended to explain the corruption of the human spirit that led God to restart the world with Noah by sending a universal flood, however, it is not clear if the Nephilim are the sons of God nor why the union between them and the daughters of men is bad. As expected, there are different interpretations about the origin of these creatures, among which are, Nephilim are
angels, the offspring of Set, the offspring of Cain or kings who abused their power, however, none is perfect. On the other hand, within the biblical tradition it is also possible that the Nephilim are the offspring of Anac but, like the previous ones, it is not definitive. The reality is that the existence of this story is the result of a mixture of traditions that were united without being completely polished and pieced together, hence, it is not yet possible to know the origin of the so called “Nefilim” and “sons of God”.