Genesis 6:1–4 is short and puzzling. It introduces the sons of God, daughters of men, and the Nephilim. Then it moves straight to the flood. Many readers skip it. Others fill the gap with rumor and hype.
Matthew Goff’s paper, “When Monsters Walked the Earth,” helps us slow down and look at why some ancient Jews retold this scene so vividly in the Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36). Goff argues that Watchers turns the pre-flood world into a world of monsters. That shock factor, he says, taught clear moral boundaries about blood, food, sex, violence, and God’s rule after the flood.
This article reviews Goff with care. We’ll compare Genesis with Watchers, explain his “monster theory” frame, and weigh what is helpful for Bible readers today.
I’ve spent over two decades studying Genesis 6. My aim is simple: keep the Bible central, treat extra-biblical material as background, and avoid hype.
Genesis 6 as our baseline
What the text says
Genesis 6:1–4 (ESV) reads:
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
In four verses we meet three elements:
- Sons of God: in the Old Testament, this phrase most naturally points to heavenly beings (see Job 1:6; 38:7).
- Daughters of men: human women.
- Nephilim: often linked with “mighty men of old,” famous figures.
The passage is spare. It does not explain how these mighty men relate to the rise of evil in verse 5. Goff notes that this jump from “men of renown” to “wickedness” creates an exegetical question the Enochic story will rush to answer.
A lexical note: gigantes in the Septuagint
Goff highlights how the ancient Greek translation (Septuagint) renders both gibbōrîm and Nephilim as gigantes. In Greek myth, the gigantes rebel against the gods. That choice likely frames the Genesis figures negatively for Greek readers and may reflect a pre-Enochic trajectory that already saw the offspring as a problem.
This helps explain why later readers called them “giants.” But the Hebrew focus falls more on fame and impact than on height.
What the Book of the Watchers adds
The shape of the retelling
The Book of the Watchers, composed in the third century BC, expands Genesis with names, numbers, and a setting. Unlike Genesis, Watchers tells us there were 200 angels, lists twenty chiefs, and locates the descent on Mount Hermon.
Watchers is less interested in the flood mechanics (ark, animals, timeline) and more in what made the world so corrupt before the flood.
The giants in Watchers
Here the tone turns stark. The giants devastate the earth and commit cannibal violence. Goff quotes 1 Enoch 7: “They… devoured the men… ate the flesh of each other… and drank the blood.”
In other words, Watchers takes the ambiguous “mighty men” and re-casts them as the prime cause of the crisis that leads to the flood. Where Genesis is terse, Watchers is explicit.
Goff’s core claim in plain words
Goff reads Watchers through “monster theory.” In many cultures, monsters mark broken boundaries. They show a world out of place. They help communities tell stories about what must not happen, and why order and law matter.
By making the antediluvian world grotesque, Watchers explains why God’s post-flood world must have boundaries—especially about blood, food, sex, and violence. That “before and after” structure is central to Goff’s reading.
Eating, blood, and the order after the flood
This is one of Goff’s strongest insights. He argues that Watchers’ gruesome eating habits—devouring crops, then people, then each other, and drinking blood—set up the post-flood food and blood limits we see in Genesis 9. The monsters show what life looks like with no limits. God’s commands restore order to human life.
Put simply:
- Before: eating is violent, cannibal, blood-soaked.
- After: eating is permitted within boundaries; blood is prohibited (see Genesis 9:1–7).
Goff’s point is not that Watchers writes Genesis 9. Rather, Watchers dramatizes the “why” behind those boundaries by painting the “before” as monstrous.
As a pastorally minded note: Scripture gives the rule; Watchers gives a story that matches that rule. We should let Scripture lead, but we can recognize how a later Jewish writer used storytelling to underline the lesson.
Forbidden knowledge and gendered transgression
Watchers 8 also explains how evil spreads: the angels teach forbidden knowledge. Goff lists two streams:
- “Male” coded: metallurgy and weapons—knowledge that intensifies violence
- “Female” coded: cosmetics and ornamentation—beauty practices that the text frames as fueling lust and promiscuity
In the text’s androcentric mindset, both streams break social trust and deepen chaos.
This is not a statement about men and women today; it is an ancient text’s way to describe a total cultural breakdown. The point is excess and misuse—power without restraint and allure without wisdom.
Solving an exegetical problem
Goff argues that Watchers answers a question Genesis leaves open: How do the “mighty men of old” relate to the surge of evil that triggers the flood? Watchers removes the ambiguity and makes the connection direct: the giants are violent, cannibal, and blameworthy. That clarity helps explain why the flood is necessary.
From a Bible-first standpoint, it’s important to keep that straight: Genesis does not say this. Watchers does. But it explains how early readers could have processed Genesis 6 in their context.
Creation stories and the “return of the monstrous”
Goff then broadens the frame. In the ancient Near East, many creation stories celebrate a god who defeats a chaos monster and forms the world out of that victory (Enuma Elish with Marduk and Tiamat is the classic example).
Genesis 1 does something different. It gives us a calm, ordered creation by God’s word—no monster fight on the page. Goff suggests that Watchers “brings the monstrous back,” not in creation week, but in the pre-flood world, to explain why order and law now stand.
This contrast is helpful for readers: Genesis 1 hushes the combat myth; Watchers uses monster language to defend God’s post-flood order.
Hellenistic fears and why Watchers resonated
Why would such a grim story appeal to ancient readers? Goff places Watchers in the Hellenistic era, a time of foreign rule, cultural pressure, and deep anxiety for many Jews. In such seasons, stories about monsters often flourish. They let communities process fears, define boundaries, and resist assimilation.
This does not reduce Watchers to politics. It simply notes the fit: Watchers’ “monstrous” world made sense to people trying to hold their identity in a risky time.
Reception: how far did Watchers travel?
Watchers had reach. Goff points out:
- It supplies names, numbers, and places missing in Genesis (e.g., 200 angels; twenty chiefs; Mount Hermon).
- It influenced later Second Temple works (Jubilees, related Enochic sections).
- It shows a pattern we see hinted at in the New Testament: Jude and 2 Peter refer to angels who sinned and are kept for judgment (which matches the broad storyline, though not every detail).
Within Judaism, Torah texts were not yet fixed in the way later readers assume; there was a fluid textual world where authors told “similar but more expansive versions” of older stories. That’s the space in which Watchers lives.
For Christians today, Watchers is not Scripture. It is extra-biblical literature—important, ancient, and often insightful as background.
A balanced evaluation of Goff’s approach
Strengths
- Clarity on Genesis vs. Watchers
Goff shows how Genesis’ brevity invited explanation, and how Watchers answers the open question about the rise of evil. - Sharp focus on eating and blood
His link between the giants’ cannibalism and the post-flood boundaries of Genesis 9 is persuasive. The “monsters” make the case for God’s good limits. - Helpful use of monster theory
Monsters mark broken boundaries. Communities use them to teach norms. Here, the norm is humble eating, protection of life, and reverence for blood. - Sensitive cultural placement
Setting Watchers in a Hellenistic climate of anxiety explains its appeal without reducing it to mere politics. - Lexical insight on gigantes
Noting the Septuagint’s gigantes helps explain why later readers presumed the figures were villains, not heroes.
Cautions
- Scripture stays first
We must keep a firm line between what Genesis teaches and what Watchers imagines. Goff recognizes the textual fluidity of the period, but readers today need strong reminders not to let later expansions define doctrine. - Gendered coding is ancient rhetoric
Watchers’ gendered framing of weapons vs. cosmetics is the text’s worldview, not a biblical prescription for men and women today. We should read it as ancient rhetoric about excess. - Use Enoch as context, not canon
Jude and 2 Peter echo the broad storyline that angels sinned and are kept for judgment. That does not canonize Enochic details (names, heights, measurements, etc.). Our rule of faith stays with Scripture.
Interpretive balance for readers
Main views on Genesis 6
- Angelic view (our default): sons of God are heavenly beings; Nephilim are the fruit of a forbidden union. This best fits the language of bene elohim and aligns with the earliest Jewish and Christian readings.
- Sethite view: sons of God are the line of Seth; daughters of men are Cain’s line. A later reading that avoids the supernatural element.
- Royal view: sons of God are kings or rulers who abused power.
We present each view fairly. But the angelic view matches the Old Testament use of “sons of God” and explains the New Testament’s references to sinning angels held for judgment.
A word about “giants”
“Giants” is a common label, helped by the Greek gigantes. Still, the biblical stress is moral and spiritual corruption, not only size. When the spies later say they saw “Nephilim” in Canaan (Numbers 13:33), remember it’s a fearful report, not a divine comment. The idea of Nephilim remained in Israel’s cultural memory, but Scripture itself keeps the focus on God’s judgment of corruption. (See our Nephilim overview for more.)
Pastoral takeaways
- Start with Scripture
Genesis 6:1-4 is short on purpose. It opens a window and then closes it. We can honor that restraint. - Use extra-biblical sources as background
Watchers shows us how some Second Temple authors thought about Genesis 6. That can be illuminating. But it is not authoritative in and of itself. - Learn the boundary lesson
The monstrous “before” highlights why God’s “after” needs firm boundaries: respect for blood, limits on violence, and humble dependence on God. That fits the whole arc of Scripture. - Point to Christ
When the New Testament warns about false teaching and unrestrained living, it often recalls stories like this. Christ brings us out of chaos into peace. He fulfills what those post-flood boundaries pointed toward: a people governed by love of God and neighbor.
Frequently asked questions
Were the Nephilim literal giants?
Scripture emphasizes might, renown, and corruption. “Giant” becomes common in translation and tradition, especially after gigantes in Greek. Size is possible, but the moral problem is the point.
Did giants survive the flood?
Genesis 6:4 says “and also afterward,” and Numbers 13:33 has the spies report “Nephilim” in Canaan. Whether this means biological continuity or cultural memory is debated. The Bible’s emphasis is on God’s judgment of wickedness, not on lineages of height.
Is 1 Enoch Scripture?
Not in most Christian traditions.
Why do Jude and 2 Peter mention angels who sinned?
They affirm a real rebellion in the unseen realm and God’s judgment. That matches the broad storyline behind Genesis 6 without endorsing every detail in Watchers.
Conclusion: Reading Enoch with a Bible-first posture
Goff’s article helps modern readers see why a story like Watchers would take off in the Hellenistic period. Heightened monstrosity teaches boundary-keeping. Cannibal giants show why post-flood rules matter. And the calm creation of Genesis 1 stands in bolder relief when we see the “return of the monstrous” in pre-flood storytelling.
As Bible readers, we can appreciate that ancient context while staying anchored in Scripture. Genesis 6 invites humility. It shows a breach between heaven and earth that points us toward God’s judgment and, beyond that, toward the order and mercy He brings. In Jesus, we see the final answer to chaos by laying down His life and rising to make all things new.
Works cited and notes
- Matthew Goff, “When Monsters Walked the Earth: Giants, Monster Theory, and the Reformulation of Textual Traditions in the Enochic Book of the Watchers.” Key claims summarized above and cited in-text: abstract and thesis; cannibalism and blood/food norms; LXX gigantes; Mount Hermon and the 200 angels; forbidden knowledge and gendered transgression; Enuma Elish and the return of the monstrous; Hellenistic anxieties.
- Scripture: Genesis 6; Genesis 9; Numbers 13; Jude; 2 Peter.
- For background on Second Temple expansions and reception, see our internal Knowledge Base overview of the Watchers tradition and its influence on early Christian reading.
