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So, it seems you’re curious about Nephilim in the Bible. You very easily could have ended up on a site with not-so-reliable information (we’re looking at

OLD TESTAMENT Nephilim in the Bible So, it seems you’re curious about Nephilim in the Bible. You very easily could have ended up on a site with not-so-reliable information (we’re looking at you, Wikipedia!). But, here you are! And you’ll be better off for it because you won’t just learn reliable information on the Nephilim. We’re also going to teach you how to do the research yourself. Pick Reliable Resources for Researching Nephilim & Other Topics in the Bible First, we need to pick reliable resources for researching Nephilim in the Bible. We will want quality information, from good sources. Here are some easy tips to get started: Tips for telling a good source from a bad source Research the author — are they credible? Look at their citations — do they have any? Where did they get their information? Beware of overly dramatic language. Does the website and/or publisher appear professional and recommended by other professionals? Primary Sources on Nephilim Before jumping into secondary sources, let’s take a look at what the Bible says about Nephilim. This should be the first place you look. However, it can be tricky finding every reference without help. Thankfully, there are great tools that can help you accomplish this step in a few minutes. Use Olive Tree’s Search Feature Quickly search by tapping the magnifying glass icon. We’ve worked hard to make sure our search feature gives all the results you’re looking for. In fact, we could get into the knitty gritty of searching for specific variations of phrases… but that’s a different post. Right now, let’s see how many verses we can find containing “Nephilim.” Genesis 6:1-8, NIV “When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Numbers 13:31-13, NIV “But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’ And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’” Always read verses in context! Strong’s Tagged Bibles The search feature only looks for the word in the language you’ve searched in. In our case, we used English. But you can also search for the word in its original language, Hebrew, with a Strong’s Tagged Bible. First, tap on any word you want to look up. Right away, a definition will appear. Sometimes, words in the original language can have a different meaning than we expect! Dictionary entries like this one will make sure you are on the right track. Second, search the Strong’s number throughout the Bible (peep some of those in-depth search options we mentioned previously). You may or may not find new instances of the word being used. However, the verses we found in our first search really are the only ones that reference “Nephilim.” Secondary Sources on Nephilim Next, it can be good to look at secondary sources. These resources are created by people who have spent their lives academically studying the Bible. Start with academic resources that use simple sentences and quick blurbs. You’ll find notes like these in study Bibles. If you want more information, you can look into commentaries, finding one that fits your reading level and covers the topics you want. Using Study Bibles to Learn about Nephilim We’ve looked into a few popular study Bibles to find basic information on Nephilim. Here are some quotes we found. Nephilim. People of great size and strength. (see Nu 13:31-33; Dt 1:28 and note). The Hebrew word means “fallen ones.” They were viewed by people as “the heroes of old, men of reknown,” but in God’s eyes they were sinners (“fallen ones”) ripe for judgment. — NIV Study Bible Notes Did you catch the extra verse reference? Our search results didn’t pull up Deuteronomy 1:28, but the NIV Study Bible Notes said this verse references Nep...