Reappearance of Nephilim After the Great Flood Explained
The Nephilim appear in Genesis 6:4 as figures present "in those days, and also after that," a phrase that has generated sustained interpretive attention because Numbers 13:33 describes giants in Canaan—the sons of Anak—as descendants of the Nephilim, long after the flood that Genesis 7–8 describes as destroying all land-dwelling life [8]. The Hebrew term nephilim derives from a root meaning "to fall," suggesting either "those who fall upon others" (violent aggressors) or "fallen ones" [1, 6]. The Genesis passage situates them in the antediluvian world, yet their apparent survival or reappearance poses a textual puzzle.
The Textual Problem
Genesis 6:4 states that Nephilim "were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men" [3]. The phrase "and also after that" (ve-gam acharei-khen) is syntactically ambiguous. Abraham Ibn Ezra, the medieval rationalist exegete, interpreted "after that" to mean "after the flood," explicitly connecting the antediluvian Nephilim to the postdiluvian Anakim: "After the flood. Behold, the sons of Anak (Num. 13:33) were originally from the family of the sons of God" [5]. This reading treats Genesis 6:4 as a parenthetical remark spanning both pre- and post-flood eras, not a statement confined to the generation immediately before the deluge [3].
Nachmanides (Ramban) acknowledged Ibn Ezra's interpretation but raised a biological difficulty: if the Nephilim were destroyed in the flood, their reappearance would require either that "the wives of Noah's sons were of their descendants and resembled them" or that Ibn Ezra's exegesis demands reconsideration [4]. The former option—genetic transmission through the wives of Noah's sons—offers one mechanism for continuity, though the text does not explicitly support it.
Alternative Interpretive Strategies
Some traditions resolve the difficulty by restricting "and also after that" to the immediate antediluvian context. Rashi, cited by Nachmanides, understood "in those days" as the generation of Enosh and "after that" as the period following the partial destruction of that generation, but still before Noah's flood [4]. On this reading, Genesis 6:4 describes two waves of Nephilim activity within the pre-flood world, not a post-flood reappearance.
John Gill, representing a Reformed Protestant perspective, noted that the term Nephilim might designate "those who fell upon others" (tyrants) or "those who caused others to fall" (corrupters), and that the phrase could refer to their presence "before the sons of God took the daughters of men for wives, in such a general manner" [6]. This interpretation treats the verse as retrospective, clarifying that giants existed even before the widespread intermarriage that precipitated divine judgment.
The Tyndale commentary suggests that the term nephilim in Numbers 13:33 may be used typologically rather than genealogically—the Israelite spies employed the term to describe giants "hostile toward God's people" who would likewise be destroyed, drawing a parallel to the antediluvian figures without asserting direct descent [7]. This approach treats "Nephilim" as a category of threatening giant rather than a continuous bloodline.
Rabbinic and Patristic Perspectives
Midrash Rabbah lists seven names for giants—Emim, Rephaim, Gibborim, Zamzumim, Anakim, Avim, Nefilim—each name reflecting a characteristic (e.g., Rephaim because "anyone who saw them, his heart would become soft like wax") [10]. This tradition treats "Nephilim" as one designation among several for giant peoples, which may imply that the term in Numbers 13:33 functions descriptively rather than as a claim of direct lineage from Genesis 6.
Patristic sources, as reflected in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, describe the antediluvian Nephilim as offspring of illicit unions between "righteous men" (or angels, in some readings) and women, whose violence precipitated the flood [9]. The emphasis falls on moral corruption and divine judgment rather than on mechanisms of post-flood survival, leaving the Numbers reference unaddressed in the excerpt.
The Dead Sea Scrolls' Genesis Apocryphon expands the Genesis narrative with additional dialogue about the birth of Noah, reflecting Second Temple interest in the Watchers and their offspring, though the preserved portions do not directly address the post-flood question [2]. The interpretive challenge remains: either the flood was not as comprehensive as Genesis 7:21 suggests [8], or the term nephilim in Numbers 13:33 functions as a comparative or typological label rather than a genealogical claim, or genetic continuity passed through the flood via Noah's family.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: 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 "wonder," and hence "monsters" or "prodigies." In Num. 13:33 this name is given to a Canaanitish tribe, a race of large stature, "the sons of Anak." The Revised Version, in these passages, simply transliterates the original, and reads "Nephilim." (2.) Heb. rephaim, a race of giants (Deut. 3:11) who lived on the east of Jordan, from whom Og was descended. They were ”
- Dead Sea Scrolls “Pesharim and Other Notable Texts (2nd-1st century BCE), section 6: though it was one of the last to be opened and published due to its extremely fragile condition. Written in Aramaic, it is a retelling of portions of the book of Genesis, expanding the biblical narratives with additional dialogue, description, and theological interpretation. Key Content The preserved portions cover material from Genesis 5-15, with particular attention to: The story of Lamech and the birth of Noah: Lamech suspects that his wife Bitenosh has conceived through a Watcher (fallen angel) rather than by him. The accou”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Rationalist)) “Abraham Ibn Ezra on Numbers 13:33: OF THE NEPHILIM. Its meaning 49 The meaning of the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who came of the Nephilim. is that they were of the Nephilim, who were in the earth in those days, and also after that when…came in (Gen 6:4). 50 The entire verse reads, The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them . Thus the Nephilim were descended from the “sons of God.” I have explained it 51 The meaning of and also after that . there. 52 And also after that refers to afte”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Kabbalistic/Philosophical)) “Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 6:4: IN THOSE DAYS. Rashi comments: “in the days of the generation of Enosh. AND ALSO AFTER THAT. Although they witnessed the destruction of the generation of Enosh when the ocean rose and flooded a third of the world, still they did not humble themselves and take a lesson from them.” Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained: “also after the flood, since the sons of Anak 503 Numbers 13:33. The giants. were of the family of bnei ha’elohim.” If so, we must say that either the wives of Noah’s sons were of their [the Nephilim’s ] descendants and resembled them or that ibn E”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Rationalist)) “Abraham Ibn Ezra on Genesis 6:4: [AFTER THAT.] After the flood. Behold, the sons of Anak (Num. 13:33) were originally from the family of the sons of God . 17 Thus we see that the descendants of the nephilim lived on after the flood.”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “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 Gen 5:20 the word "Nephilim" comes from a word which signifies to fall; and these might be so called, either becau”
- Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 6:4: 6:4 giant Nephilites (Hebrew nepilim): The term may mean “fallen ones.” The context implies that they were the offspring of the “sons of God” and would be destroyed in the flood. Numbers 13:31-33 uses the same term to describe other giants who were hostile toward God’s people and would also be destroyed (see also Deut 2:11, which connects the Anakite nepilim with another group called the repa’im).”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 7:21: And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground,.... Not everything, particularly trees; for after the flood was abated there was an olive tree, a leaf of which was brought to Noah by the dove, Gen 8:11 but all animals: both men and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven, and they were destroyed from the earth; this is repeated, partly for explanation of the preceding clause, and partly for confirmation of this general destruction, which might seem almost incredible; there never was such a destruction of creatures”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts, Epistles, Apocrypha, Decretals — CHAP. XXIX. -- THE GIANTS: THE FLOOD.: "All things therefore being completed which are in heaven, and in earth, and in the waters, and the human race also having multiplied, in the eighth generation, righteous men, who had lived the life of angels, being allured by the beauty of women, fell into promiscuous and illicit connections with these; [2] and thenceforth acting in all things without discretion, and disorderly, they changed the state of human affairs and the divinely prescribed order of life, so that either by pers”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 26:7: “The giants were on the earth in those days, and also thereafter, when the children of the great ones consorted with the daughters of man, and they bore them children; they are the mighty who were from ancient times, the men of renown” (Genesis 6:4). “The giants were on the earth in those days.” They were called by seven names: Eimim , Refa’im , Giborim , Zamzumim , Anakim , Avim , Nefilim . Eimim – as anyone who saw them, fear of them [ eimatan ] would descend upon them. Refa’im – as anyone who saw them, his heart would become soft [ rafeh ] like wax. Gi”