Genesis 6:4

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
giants	הַנְּפִלִ֞ים ha.ne.fi.Lim	H5303	properly · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
earth	בָאָרֶץ֮ va.'a.Retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
days	בַּיָּמִ֣ים bai.ya.Mim	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
after	אַֽחֲרֵי 'a.cha.rei-	H310	properly · cardinal number, masculine plural construct
that	כֵ֗ן Khen	H3651	properly · adverb
when	אֲשֶׁ֨ר 'a.Sher	H834	who · relative particle
sons	בְּנֵ֤י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
God	הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
in	יָבֹ֜אוּ ya.Vo.'u	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
daughters	בְּנ֣וֹת be.Not	H1323	a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine plural construct
men	הָֽאָדָ֔ם ha.'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
bare	וְיָלְד֖וּ ve.yal.Du	H3205	to bear young · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
same	הָהֵם֒ ha.Hem	H1992	they (only used when emphatic) · definite article + personal pronoun, 3rd person masculine plural
men	הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים ha.gi.bo.Rim	H1368	powerful · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
old	מֵעוֹלָ֖ם me.'o.Lam	H5769	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
men	אַנְשֵׁ֥י 'an.Shei	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural construct
renown	הַשֵּֽׁם ha.Shem	H8034	an appellation · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in the…
Deuteronomy 3:11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the child…
1 Samuel 17:4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
2 Samuel 21:15-22 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines:…
Deuteronomy 2:20-21 (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;
Numbers 16:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congrega…
Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered a…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 6:4-5

We have here a further account of the corruption of the old world. When the sons of God had matched with the daughters of men, though it was very displeasing to God, yet he did not immediately cut them off, but waited to see what would be the issue of these marriages, and which side the children would take after; and it proved (as usually it does), that they took after the worst side. Here is, I. The temptation they were under to oppress and do violence. They were giants, and they were men of renown; they became too hard for all about them, and carried all before them, 1. With their great bulk, as the sons of Anak, Num 13:33. 2. With their great name, as the king of Assyria, Isa 37:11. These…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 6:4

giants--The term in Hebrew implies not so much the idea of great stature as of reckless ferocity, impious and daring characters, who spread devastation and carnage far and wide.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 6:4

There were giants in the earth - נפלים nephilim, from נפל naphal, "he fell." Those who had apostatized or fallen from the true religion. The Septuagint translate the original word by γιγαντες, which literally signifies earth-born, and which we, following them, term giants, without having any reference to the meaning of the word, which we generally conceive to signify persons of enormous stature. But the word when properly understood makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons of God; those were the nephilim, the fallen earth-born men, with the animal and devilish mind. These were the sons of God, who were born from above; children of the kingdom, because children of Go…

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John Gill on Genesis 6:4

There were giants in the earth in those days,.... That is, in the days before the sons of God took the daughters of men for wives, in such a general manner as before declared, or before the declension and apostasy became so universal; even in the times of Jared, as the Arabic writers (n) understand it, who say that these giants were begotten on the daughters of Cain by the children of Seth, who went down from the mountain to them in the days of Jared, see Genesis 5:20 the word "Nephilim" comes from a word which signifies to fall; and these might be so called, either because they made their fear to fall upon men, or men, through fear, to fall before them, because of their height and strength;…

The Church Fathers

The author of divine Scripture does not wish these giants to be understood, according to the custom of poets, as children of the earth, but rather it asserts that they were begotten of angels and women, and calls them by this name to express the size of their bodies.
— Ambrose of Milan, Noah and the Ark 4.8 (Treatises on Noah and David, page 34)

(Version 4.) Now there were giants upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown. For falling ones, or giants, Symmachus interpreted them as violent ones. And it is fitting for the name of falling ones to apply to angels and the children of the saints.
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

Strength of arm, swiftness of foot and comeliness of body—the spoils of sickness and the plunder of time—also awaken pride in man, unaware as he is that "All flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the field. The grass is withered and the flower is fallen." Such was the arrogance of the giants because of their strength. Such also was the God-defying pride of the witless Goliath.
— Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY 20, Of Humility

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Anakim — The descendants of Anak (Josh. 11:21; Num. 13:33; Deut. 9:2). They dwelt in the south of Palestine, in the neighbourhood of Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). In the days of Abraham (Gen. 14:5, 6) they…
Giants — (1.) Heb. nephilim, meaning “violent” or “causing to fall” (Gen. 6:4). These were the violent tyrants of those days, those who fell upon others. The word may also be derived from a root signifying…
Nephilim — (Gen. 6:4; Num. 13:33, R.V.), giants, the Hebrew word left untranslated by the Revisers, the name of one of the Canaanitish tribes. The Revisers have, however, translated the Hebrew gibborim, in Gen.…
Noah — Rest, (Heb. Noah) the grandson of Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-29), who was for two hundred and fifty years contemporary with Adam, and the son of Lamech, who was about fifty years old at the time of Adam’s…
Rephaim — Lofty men; giants, (Gen. 14:5; 2 Sam. 21:16, 18, marg. A.V., Rapha, marg. R.V., Raphah; Deut. 3:13, R.V.; A.V., “giants”). The aborigines of Palestine, afterwards conquered and dispossessed by the…
Son of God — The plural, “sons of God,” is used (Gen. 6:2, 4) to denote the pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6; 38:7 this name is applied to the angels. Hosea uses the phrase (1:10) to designate the gracious…
Giants · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Ship · .Of gopher wood — .Of gopher wood

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 6:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 6:4-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 6:4

Adam Clarke on Genesis 6:4

John Gill on Genesis 6:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 6:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 6:4-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 6:4

Adam Clarke on Genesis 6:4

John Gill on Genesis 6:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 6:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 6:1-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 6:4

Rashi on Genesis 6:4