This paper will discuss Genesis Chapter 6 verses 1-4 as found in the New Oxford

Annotated Bible Genesis covers the narratives concernin! the ti"e of creation# $acob%s
ti"e in &!'pt# and later focuses on the patriarch Abraha" The literar' anal'sis of
(ocu"entar' )'pothesis *1+ is i"portant for readin! Genesis# however# this paper will
not focus on this h'pothesis# for the ar!u"ent we shall put forth is not at all dependent
upon who wrote the text ,e will e"phasi-e the reasons wh' this particular text was
included# but at this ti"e# ,& are not attentive in the source of this "aterial The
pericope of Genesis Chapter 6.1-4 is located in the /rehistor' of Genesis after the
Creation Narratives and before the 0lood Narrative 1p to this point in Genesis# Ada"
and &ve have been expelled fro" &den and burdened to a life of toil and hardship
The"es of "oralit'# 2nowled!e and sexualit' *3+ are prevalent before Cain had ta2en
Abel%s life As the boo2 pro!resses we see "ore linea!e e"er!e fro" the children of
Ada" and &ve Chapter 45 and 5# 6uic2l' covers a lon! period of ti"e and we are
introduced to Noah and his father 7ethuselah Chapter 54 we understand as a passa!e
that lin2s the previous chapters and the delu!e which is about to ta2e place in Chapter
54 &ventuall'# hu"anit' is restored 8althou!h not without proble"s9 and the stor'
continues up to Chapter :4 with the Generations of Abraha"
0or the purpose of this paper# we shall concentrate on a specific pericope which#
is vital for understandin! the previous and followin! chapters )owever# we are "ore
interested in this particular pericope# in it%s specific context. that is# who are the sons of
Gd# the dau!hters of "an# and lastl'# who are the Nephili" 7ore i"portantl'# we will
exa"ine wh' the' are included in the narrative# and the i"portance of their role in the
causalit' of the flood Therefore# we have deli"ited the text further to Chapter 6.1-4#
rather than Chapter 6.1-6 Thus# ;exe!etes select those ele"ents fro" the text the'
consider "ost i"portant for its structure The' then fill in the !aps with their own i"a!es
and establish networ2s of "eanin! with which the' cover the whole text< *=+
4n order to properl' contextuali-e our theor' in co"parison with other schools
of thou!ht with re!ard to this pericope# we "ust first present a contrast of existin!
theories on the "eanin! of Gen 6.1-4 But first# let us read what the text actuall' sa's.
;when the people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters
were born to them, the sons of Gd (Elohim) saw they were fair; and they took wives for
themselves of all they chose. Then the !"# ($%&%) said, '(y spirit shall not abide in
mortals so forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.) The
*ephilim were on the earth in those days+and also afterward+when the sons of Gd
(Elohim) went in to the daughters of humans who bore children to them. These were the
heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.<*4+

After readin! this# we "ust as2 the 6uestion. what is the correlation between the sons of
Gd and the dau!hters of "an with the Nephili"> 0urther"ore# what is the connection
between &lohi"?@),) ta2in! restorative action a!ainst hu"anit' b' li"itin! hu"an
life span and later wipin! out hu"anit' excludin! a "ere re"nant 4n addition# if the
0lood wiped out ever'one except Noah and his fa"il'# wh' does the text sa' that the
Nephili" continued to exist afterward ,e present the Nephili" in the Gree2 translation
as gigantes and the in )ebrew as Nephili" 0or the ti"e bein!# we shall call the"
Nephili" ,e "ust also as2 ourselves. 4f Gd?@),) had co""anded that Ada" and &ve
fill the earth# wh' would Gd?@),) punish hu"anit' for bein! too plentiful>
5an wolde presents an ar!u"ent that an increase in population had threatened
the established world order set in pattern at creation ,e see an increase in the breadth of
sin# startin! with two persons Ada" and &ve# later with Cain and Aa"ech%s sin# and
finall' a lar!e !roup of people *B+ ,ithin the breadth of hu"anit'# 5an ,olde also
points that within the specific pericope# three "aCor offenses were co""itted b'
hu"anit' as a whole and with specific !roups .
1 ,orld order is disrupted 8 presu"abl' because hu"ans are too nu"erous9
3 Dexual illicitness of Eta2in!% wo"en This presu"es the wo"en were ta2en violentl'
= /ol'!a"' in ta2in! as "an' wo"en as the sons of Gd pleased

)owever# she also notes that FGH "eanin! Efro" allE# should "ean that the sons of Gd had
"an' wo"en to choose fro" Therefore# the i"pendin! doo" could not have been
caused in the ta2in! of the wo"en# nor does the text it i"pl' the "arria!es were
pol'!a"ous ,e are then left with disruption of the created order as the cause to institute
Gd?@),) displeasure @et# "oral cate!ories had not 'et been established# so how is it
possible that these creatures and hu"ans could possibl' anno' Gd?@),) to the point of
brin!in! a shortened life span and the delu!e> /erhaps it is the Nephili" the"selves
which an!er Gd?@),)# but the text itself does not state the "oral nature of the
Nephili" onl' that the' were "i!ht' and stron! warriors of renown
5an ,olde presents a structure of hori-ontal and vertical axis )ori-ontall'# we
have the spread of hu"ans 86.19 and verticall' we have the "ix of divine and hu"an *6+
Therefore# if the proble" does not la' with the "oral or ethical aspects 8because
there is no Noachic Covenant or 7osoaic Aaw at this point9# neither is the proble" with
the sons of Gd?@),) choosin! fro" a variet' of wo"en# nor is there a proble" with
pol'!a"' 8as there was no established written order for "arria!e9# then the proble" "ust
la' with the Nephili" the"selves @et# ar!uabl'# the Nephili" have done nothin! wron!
and in fact were revered and 2nown for their !reat gibbor or warrior s2ills
,e present the proble" as such. "isce!enation or the interbreedin! of species
4n this case# it is the interbreedin! of the divine sons of Gd with the dau!hters of hu"ans
producin! offsprin! with unusual powers of !reat warriors. The Nephili" 4f we do a
prolepsis into the rest of the )ebrew and Christian Testa"ents# we see evidence of !iants
8so"eti"es translated as Nephili" or !i!antes9 bein! an i"portant part of the histor' of
4srael (avid sla's Goliath and thus replaces the line of !iants# the Iin! of O! is a !iant#
and of course# the /hilistines are 2nown for bein! of !reat stature 4t is evident that "an'
boo2s of the Bible ac2nowled!e the existence of !iants after the (elu!e as the' are
"entioned in Da"uel# (euterono"'# $oshua# $udith# Dolo"on and lastl' Baruch *J+ 4n
fact# 44 Da"uel 31.3K states that the !iants had extra fin!ers *L+But we "ust as2# are
there extra biblical sources concernin! these !iants or are the' Cust in the i"a!ination of
the )ebrew collective "e"or'> An interestin! boo2 called The Boo2 of Giants has been
found in the (ead Dea Dcrolls 8 henceforth called (DD9# as well as several fra!"ents fro"
the boo2 of &noch *M+
Gil!a"esh# the fa"ous Du"erian 2in!# clai"s to be a !iant in the Boo2 of Giants
80ra!"ent 4NB=1 0ra! 19 *1K+ 4t is interestin! to note the Du"erian word for 2in! is
lugal "eanin! bi! "an As we see a derivative of gal in Gilga"esh 8or Gilgal"esh>9#
we presu"e this is a pla' on his na"e or stature )oo2e clai"s that ;4n earl' )ebrew
tradition the "'th of the Nephili" was an aetiolo!ical "'th intended to explain the
existence of a vanished race of !iants< *11+
After the Boo2 of Giants found in the (DD# the Boo2 of &noch also pla's an
inte!ral role of understandin! who the Dons of Gd were# and wh' their Nephili" pro!en'#
were responsible for the final call for Cud!e"ent in Gd%s (elu!e
&noch is "entioned two ti"es in the Torah. Genesis 4.6-3= where is his linea!e
co"es fro" CainO and in Genesis B.31-3M where his !enealo!' co"es fro" Deth the third
son of Ada" and &ve &noch was the father of 7ethuselah# the lon!est livin! person to
have lived# but perished in the 0lood &noch is worth notin!# as he did not suffer death#
but Ewal2ed with Gd% "eanin!# he did not die This is fascinatin! as the onl' other
Biblical character 8includin! $esus9 not to suffer death was &liCah ,hat is "ore
fascinatin! are the Boo28s9 of &noch which have been discovered but were never
canonised# because &noch was not i"portant to rabbinic $udais"# but to co""unities li2e
those found in Nu"ran *13+
The contents of The Boo2 of &noch are a collection of writin!s b' un2nown
authors which have a "essa!e of Cud!e"ent with the pro"ise of punish"ent in the for"
of a flood *1=+ The second part of the boo2 deals with stran!e bein!s called the
,atchers# a !roup of advanced people who Eta2e the dau!hters of "en as wives% The
pro!en' of this !roup are "isfits and are called the Nephili" *14+ These Nephili" are
the reason Gd has finall' decided to do so"ethin! about these outra!eous bein!s# 'et
the' had "an' s2ills which the' tau!ht to "en *1B+ 0ro" this description# the' are a
!roup of people who have advanced technolo!' who do not live in the "ainstrea"
societ' Given this extra biblical wor2 with evidence of the Nephili"# we are posed to as2
the 6uestion. are the Biblical Nephili" and the &nochian Nephili" one in the sa"e
people> One can onl' presu"e the' are
)owever# in &noch%s case the ter" Esons of Gd% are replaced with the ter" ;The
,atchers< but their children with the dau!hters of "en are still called Nephili" The
Iin! $a"es version of the Bible used the ter" tshe ,atchers twice in the apocal'ptic
boo2 of (aniel 4 The &!'ptians also had a si"ilar !roup of people who were
inter"ediaries of !ods and hu"an called the 1rshu# which loosel' translated are ;The
,atchers<*16+ )ence forth# we shall call the sons of Gd EThe ,atchers% 4n the Boo2 of
&noch# he lists three !roups of bein!s. The watchers 8 who were once an!els but bred
with wo"en to produce !iants9# the Nephili" and the wo"en *1J+ Accordin! to the
&nochian description# the ,atchers were fro" a ver' distant land where a !reat
civili-ation with advanced technolo!' had been well established *1L+ The ,atchers and
the Nephili" ca"e to the area where &noch and his fa"il' lived and tau!ht "en how to
"a2e weapons# potions and enchant"ents and the secrets of the heavens 8 or astrono"'9
*1M+ 4t is curious to note that later in (euterono"' 3J.B a prohibition of the use of "etals
or the use of "etal with stone is stressed /erhaps this is fro" the technolo!' tau!ht to
the ancient )ebrews b' these Nephili" due to a ne!ative encounter The Boo2 of the
Giants in the (DD have a ne!ative attitude towards the Nephili" because the' possessed
secret 2nowled!e and were ruthless towards "en
4t is this ruthlessness which we h'pothesi-e is the cause of &lohi"?@),) wrath
which caused the flood @et# what could be so ruthless and ne!ative to cause a flood sent
b' the (ivine> Accordin! to &noch he was ta2en b' the an!el 1riel 8 the leader of all
an!els9 and Paphael to live with these ,atchers for a period of ti"e There he witnessed
unusual powers of astrono"'# technolo!' and societ' which "ade the" an advanced
societ' and "ust have see"ed !odli2e to those i!norant of the ,atcher%s capabilities
Thus# perhaps we can understand wh' the ,atchers have often been translated as Ethe
sons of !od%
&noch writes a !reat deal about his ac6uisition of technolo!'# but little is written
of his experience with the ,atchers ,hat he does sa' about the" is this. ;*the' are an+
unhol' civilisation< prior to the flood# but does not sa' an'thin! about the" post flood
)e also sa's the' perfor"ed perverse experi"ents involvin! the Nephili" and hu"an
wo"en# where over two hundred wo"en were i"pre!nated b' the !iants *3K+ 4n The
(DD 1GapGen section of the Tales of The /atriarchs# Noah%s father Aa"ech 6uestions if
he is in fact Noah%s father Aa"ech thin2s it is possible that a ,atcher is indeed Noah%s
parent and not hi"self /erhaps it is not coincidence that Aa"ech%s wife is na"ed
Bitenosh 8"eanin! (au!hter of 7an9*31+ as Bitenosh assures Aa"ech that she has never
lain with on of the Dons of )eaven Aa"ech !oes to his father 7ethusula# who !oes to his
father &noch 8who is not dead but Ewith Gd%9to as2 if &noch 2nows who the real father of
Noah is &noch reassures Aa"ech that he is indeed the father of Noah and nor the
Nephili" nor the ,atchers are NoahEs father Noah is dee"ed as ri!hteous and will be
!iven do"inion over the earth Do"e seed of doubt 8pun intended9 "ust have been in the
"inds of "an' fathers This is si!nificant as a father%s le!ac' would have been dependent
upon his children The Boo2 of &noch later includes in the dossier of ,atcher? Nephili"
technolo!' the abilit' to alter and exploit the fruits of the earth# interferin! with breedin!
of ani"als such as don2e's# asses# sheep# !oats and cows# and finall' "isce!enation of an
unna"ed species who were "onsters and turned on their "asters *33+ The Boo2 of
Giants also clai"s the ,atchers not onl' perfor"ed experi"ents on ani"als but also on
wo"en*3=+ The' were eventuall' corrupted because of their breedin! habits To us# this
sounds ver' "uch li2e ancient !enetic "odification but is there evidence of such a
"odification to ani"als in ancient ti"es>
The do"estication of ani"als has been considered a positive advance"ent for
societ' which has allowed se"i no"adic and no"adic peoples a place to live and !row a
stable source of food and an econo"' Thin2in! in /roto )ebraic ter"s# let us deliberate
what people in ancient ti"es would have thou!ht of this perversion of the created and
established order of life !iven b' Gd and as such# the do"estication of ani"als would
have been viewed as ver' ne!ative Ti"es have not chan!ed "uch toda' either 4"a!ine
the world is affected b' a disaster and hu"anit' tried to "a2e !eneticall' "odified sterile
seeds !rowO the survivors of this experience would tell stories of !reat co"panies who
ruled the earth and how the' were ruthless
Archaeolo!ical evidence found in $ericho# 4srael has been a plethora of rich
clues into ancient life 4t is one of the worlds oldest continuall' occupied for the last
11#KKK 'ears 0orensic evidence of ani"als have shown that a slow transfor"ation 8not
an evolution9 fro" wild ani"als such as the wolf# be-oars# Asiatic 7oufflan# boar# auroch
and wild cat were within a span of 1KK 'ears replaced b' do!# !oat# sheep# pi!# cow and
cat This transfor"ation or do"estication of these ani"als were not evolutionar' traits
but rather !enetic "anipulation to purposel' produce such ani"als Therefore# as these
chan!es were not innate# this is evidence that hu"ans were able to control the
interbreedin! of ani"als for their benefit This do"estication has been esti"ated to date
around M#KKK BC& Q?- 1KK 'ears Archaeolo!ists also provide evidence of !lobal
explosion of hu"an technolo!' around the sa"e ti"e# which in turn helped create a
co""on lan!ua!e of ani"al husbandr' *34+
Aet us assu"e the ,atchers had the 2nowled!e to do"esticate ani"als# and
Eperfor" perverse experi"ents% on ani"alsO the' would have disrupted the created order
of Gd%s creation Thus Cud!e"ent would fall upon the earth for the corruption ensued
fro" these "isfit Nephili" and ,atchers Geolo!' proves a co"et i"pact in the Ancient
Near &ast created a lar!e tsuna"i in the 7editerreanean which essentiall' flooded the
i""ediate areas includin! the lands of "odern 4srael# ancient Bab'lonia# Du"aria#
7esopota"ia and &!'pt Geolo!ical evidence places the date to M64K 'ears a!o 4t is not
a 6uestion of if the 0lood occurred# but rather when it occurred
,e find the datin! of this i"pact to correlate with the proposed ti"es of
do"estication of ani"als within 1KKK 'ears ,e ar!ue as the do"estication occurred first#
followed b' the 0lood# societies which did not accept the breedin! practices of the
,atchers and the Nephili" appropriate to the established and created order b' Gd would
have interpreted these catacl's"ic events to be considered (ivine Petribution The Boo2
of &noch and the Boo2 of the Giants tell how ;the !iants were holders of !reat
2nowled!e includin! all the hidden "'steries of nature and scienceRand interfered with
the breedin! of ani"als<*3B+ 4NB=K Col 3 of the Boo2 of Giants details that even the
Nephili" ac2nowled!ed the' had overstepped their boundaries and the' cannot
overco"e the forces of )eaven 8presu"abl' the' had astrono"ical 2nowled!e of the
co"et which would cause the flood9 with their advanced technolo!'
To conclude# we h'pothesi-e that the Dons of Gd# here called the ,atchers# were
actuall' an advanced civili-ation which were not part of "ainstrea" societ' The' had
the abilit' to !eneticall' "odif' ani"als for their own use 8 do"estication9 and were
2eepers of !reat weapon and astrono"ical 2nowled!e This 2nowled!e and technolo!'
would have "ade the" appear !odli2e and thus were revered and feared b' the /roto
)ebrews The ,atchers and atte"pted to breed with wo"en thus producin! the
Nephili" or !iants# thus disruptin! the created order of ani"als 8and plants9 as well as
hu"ans &noch# who Ewal2ed with Gd% was ta2en to a place with the ,atchers where he
learned technolo!' which would !ive hi" 2nowled!e of a co"et which would threaten
hu"anit'
The Nephili"# or !iants# continued to exist after the 0lood# althou!h the' realised the'
could not overco"e the forces of heaven despite havin! secret 2nowled!e The Bible
later "entions !iants# with Iin! (avid sla'in! the last of the Giants. Goliath The Boo2
of Giants and the Boo2 of &noch provide further insi!ht into the acitivies of the ,atchers
and the Nephili" The 0lood le!ends see" to be based on the "e"ories of real events
and is supported b' !eolo!ical and archaeolo!ical evidence
The Dons of Gd and the dau!hters of "an are specificall' "entioned in Genesis#
alon! with the Nephili" before the 0lood Narrative 4n our opinion# this pericope is
purposel' placed there to illustrate the correlation between the Dons of Gd breedin! with
the dau!hters of "an The 0lood did not happen because hu"ans followed
&lohi"?@),) co""and to fill the earth# but rather the 0lood happened because of
"isce!enation between the Dons of Gd and the dau!hters of "en# but also because of our
h'pothesis of the do"estication and interbreedin! of ani"als As with an' text in the
Bible# pericopes and texts are carefull' placed b' their redactors to indicate a theolo!ical
and so"eti"es scientific the"e 4t is up to the reader to find the "ultitude of "eanin!s
hidden in each text