Good Teaching Needs a Fuller Picture

The YouTube channel Impact Video Ministries has quickly become a trusted voice for clear, creative, and biblically faithful content—with over 1 million subscribers and a mission that’s centered on making discipleship and apologetics both accessible and engaging. Their recent video, “EVERYTHING About the Nephilim in Under 20 Minutes”, is no exception.

In just under 20 minutes, they manage to walk viewers through Genesis 6, explore the major views about who the Nephilim were, and connect the dots to the giants in the land of Canaan and Goliath’s story—all while keeping the tone humble and the message focused: fear God, not fringe conspiracies.

And for that, they deserve real credit.

But for such a mysterious and theologically rich topic, even the best overviews have to skip some things. That’s where this article comes in. Not to tear down, but to build out. To fill in the gaps with Scripture, early Jewish and Christian commentary, and a few insights from modern scholars and historical theology that deserve a seat at the table.

We’ll explore the points where the video shines, highlight areas where its interpretations could go deeper, and offer readers a fuller, biblically grounded picture of the Nephilim—from their earliest mention in Genesis to their cultural memory in the time of David. Along the way, we’ll refer to ancient sources like 1 Enoch, Philo, Josephus, and the apostles, and thoughtfully consider more speculative ideas—like whether Nephilim traits survived the flood through Ham’s wife—with the care and caution these topics deserve.

If you watched the video and wanted to learn more, or if you’ve heard the word Nephilim but don’t know what to make of it—this deep dive is for you.

The Nephilim in Genesis — A Brief but Solid Start

Impact Video Ministries starts strong by anchoring their entire discussion in Genesis 6:4, the verse where the mystery of the Nephilim first unfolds:

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4, ESV)

This is the right place to start—and the video deserves credit for highlighting the core passage with clarity and without sensationalism. They rightly note that “Nephilim” is a Hebrew word that some Bibles translate as “giants”, while others retain the transliteration:

“In this passage, the word Nephilim translated in Hebrew is giants or fallen ones. And this comes from the root nafal, meaning to fall.” (Video, 04:36)

That’s a good surface explanation, but there’s more we can draw out.

Nephilim: Not Just Giants

The Hebrew root נָפַל (npl), meaning “to fall,” is widely believed to be the basis for the word Nephilim. So while “giants” is the rendering found in translations like the Septuagint and later in Latin (gigantes), it’s likely that the original term carried a more layered meaning: “fallen ones.” This has led many early Jewish and Christian writers to connect the Nephilim to fallen angels—or at least to something beyond the merely human.

Gibborim: Mighty Men of Renown—But Not Nephilim Themselves

The video also mentions the phrase “mighty men” (gibborim) in the Genesis 6:4 passage:

“In this passage, the term ‘mighty men’ or gaborim in Hebrew is describing an attribute of the Nephilim, and it highlights their strength and their status.” (Video, 05:05)

This is a slight overstatement. While the text says “These were the mighty men who were of old”, the Hebrew structure suggests that the offspring of the sons of God and daughters of men were the gibborim. The relationship between Nephilim and gibborim is not necessarily one of identity, but possibly offspring vs. reputation.

So it’s more precise to say that the Nephilim were present when these unnatural unions occurred, and that their offspring were renowned warriors or “mighty men.” Whether the Nephilim are the same as the offspring—or part of a separate class—is an area still debated.

Ancient Sources Confirm a Supernatural Context

The video chooses not to explore historical commentary—but doing so can help our understanding of how their legend grew over the centuries to what we know today. Here’s what we find in the ancient record:

• 1 Enoch 6–7 (see our Nephilim Sources Database) gives a full account of 200 “Watchers”—angelic beings—descending to earth, taking human wives, and producing giants. This tradition deeply influenced Jewish thought in the Second Temple period and appears to be the backdrop of New Testament references (Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4).
  
• Philo of Alexandria, a first-century Jewish philosopher, wrote that “some angels bent their attention toward mortal women, and seduced them,” resulting in children “exceeding in size and strength.” This reflects the angelic interpretation, widespread in Philo’s time.
  
• Josephus, the Jewish historian writing in the late first century, said that angels “mated with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good.” He even says the giants were remembered in his day (Antiquities 1.3.1).
  
• Job 1:6, 2:1, and 38:7 all use the term bene ha’elohim—“sons of God”—to refer to angelic beings. This matters because Genesis 6 uses the same phrase.
  
• Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4 both refer to angels who sinned, left their proper domain, and were judged by God. These texts almost certainly allude to the events of Genesis 6 as understood in the Enochic tradition.
  

This ancient and apostolic chorus reinforces a crucial point: Genesis 6 is not just a cryptic throwaway verse—it introduces a divine rebellion, a cosmic rupture that leads directly to the Flood.

I appreciate that Impact’s video doesn’t sensationalize—but when you strip Genesis 6 down to ‘giants = tall guys,’ you miss the deeper biblical theme: divine rebellion corrupting God’s creation. That’s why Genesis 6:5 follows with: ‘The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth…’ The Nephilim weren’t just big. They were a sign that something had gone terribly wrong.

Three Interpretive Views — Well Framed, But Not Equally Supported

One of the strongest aspects of Impact’s video is its clear and even-handed summary of the three major interpretations of Genesis 6:4. Within the first two minutes, they lay out the options simply and succinctly:

“Position 1 believes that the Nephilim were the offspring of fallen angels and people. Position 2 believes that the Nephilim were the offspring of Cain’s descendants and people. And position 3 believes that the Nephilim were not the offspring of those people, and they were just there on the earth at that time.” (Video, 02:02)

That’s a helpful primer for many viewers unfamiliar with the theological conversation. However, what the video doesn’t show is that these views don’t carry equal historical or textual weight. A closer look at Jewish history, early Christian interpretation, and even basic Hebrew grammar suggests one view stands out.

The Angelic (Supernatural) View — The Ancient Consensus

This is the oldest and most widely held interpretation in Jewish and early Christian sources: that the “sons of God” (bene ha’elohim) were supernatural beings—angels—who rebelled against God and crossed a forbidden boundary by taking human wives. This view held sway for centuries.

From the time of the Second Temple through the early church, this was the dominant understanding. It wasn’t fringe—it was mainstream.

We find it explicitly affirmed in key ancient sources:

• 1 Enoch (especially chapters 6–10), widely read among Jews in the Second Temple period, describes a group of angels called the “Watchers” who descended to earth, married human women, and fathered giants.
  
• Philo of Alexandria believed the “sons of God” were angels who “bent their attention toward mortal women” and produced massive, powerful offspring.
  
• Josephus records in Antiquities 1.3.1 that angels “mated with women” and produced a race of “violent and proud” men remembered even in his day.
  
• Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4 seem to refer directly to this tradition, speaking of angels who “left their proper domain” and were imprisoned as a result.

For a complete list of these sources and more, see Jake’s Nephilim Sources Database.

The Sethite/Cainite View — A Later Alternative

Position 2 in the video is what’s often called the “Sethite view.” This theory identifies the “sons of God” as the godly line of Seth and the “daughters of men” as the ungodly line of Cain. The idea is that intermarriage between these two groups diluted moral purity and led to the Nephilim’s emergence.

This view gained momentum with Augustine in the 4th century.

While this interpretation has had staying power, its support from the text itself is weak:

• The term bene ha’elohim always refers to divine beings elsewhere in the Old Testament (see Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7).
• Genesis 6 gives no indication of two moral “lines” or genealogical tribes. That is extrapolated from earlier chapters.
• The interpretation only began to gain traction centuries after the Hebrew Bible was complete.
  

The “Unrelated Giants” View — Textually Weak

The third view—that the Nephilim were simply already on the earth and unrelated to the sons of God—is the least developed of the three. It hinges on a hyper-literal reading of Genesis 6:4:

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men…”

Proponents argue that the Nephilim are mentioned before the sons of God act, implying they’re separate. 

This view has little historical support among early interpreters and fails to explain:

• Why the Nephilim are only mentioned in connection with this event.
• Why they reappear only in fear-filled accounts (like Numbers 13).
  

Presenting these views side-by-side is useful—but it’s equally important to know which view the original readers likely believed. The angelic interpretation wasn’t a conspiracy theory. It was their standard reading of the text.

The Numbers 13 Connection — The Video’s Turning Point

One of the strongest transitions in the Impact video comes when it moves from Genesis 6 to Numbers 13 and Deuteronomy 9. Many treatments of the Nephilim underplay this post-Flood reference—but this video doesn’t.

“The second place the word Nephilim is used is in the Book of Numbers… they said they saw the descendants of the Nephilim, also known as the Anakim… a strong people… of great height.” (Video, 05:50–06:32)

That connection matters. It highlights that the term Nephilim wasn’t just confined to the pre-Flood world—it resurfaced during Israel’s approach to Canaan. But the context of that resurfacing is everything.

In Numbers 13:33, the Israelite spies return from scouting the Promised Land and report:

“And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

It’s one of the most dramatic lines in the Old Testament—but it’s not a divine commentary. It’s a statement by fearful men, already retreating from faith and resolve. 

Not every line of Scripture is God’s perspective. Numbers 13 is a snapshot of human fear—not divine narration. That matters.

The spies’ mention of “Nephilim” may reflect folk memory or borrowed myth rather than literal genealogy. The name could have become a cultural shorthand for massive, intimidating warriors—regardless of actual descent.

This interpretive path, while not explored in the video, has become a serious possibility among scholars. In his paper Was Ham’s Wife of the Nephilim?, Richard B. Sorensen suggests that:

“The original Nephilim became part of ancient oral traditions, and their name may have been borrowed by later peoples to evoke fear or supernatural association.”

This “legendary reinterpretation” view fits well with the nature of ancient storytelling and tribal warfare. The giants in Canaan may have claimed Nephilim lineage (or had it claimed about them) to heighten their mystique.

A modern parallel appears in Amazon’s House of David series, where Goliath’s mother tells him that Nephilim blood runs in his veins—a line meant to explain his strength and destiny (read our review of that episode here). It’s a powerful narrative moment. But like many ancient myths, it may reflect more about fear and propaganda than DNA.

This is the missed opportunity in the video. By not considering that the post-Flood Nephilim references could be title, not taxonomy, it skips over a well-supported and biblically plausible reading. Not every “giant” has to be a literal Nephilim descendant. Sometimes, it’s the legend that’s giant.

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What About Ham’s Wife? — A Speculative Path

Perhaps the most curious claim in the video comes at timestamp 07:39, when the narrator offers one possible explanation for how Nephilim traits could have survived the flood:

“One theory suggests that the Canaanites inherited these Nephilim giant-like traits through Ham or possibly his wife because Ham was Canaan’s father. And after the flood, they settled in the land that would later bear his son’s name. However, we can’t be 100% sure without actual DNA…”

The caution is appreciated—but this is a theory with no biblical text behind it. Genesis never mentions anything unusual about Ham’s wife. It doesn’t even name her. The idea that she was secretly of Nephilim descent is a speculative construct, not a textual deduction.

That said, the view has been thoughtfully developed—especially by Richard B. Sorensen in his 2020 research paper. In Was Ham’s Wife of the Nephilim?, he writes:

“The possibility that Ham’s wife had Nephilim ancestry could explain the reappearance of large or violent individuals post-Flood, particularly among the Canaanites and other Hamite lines.”

Sorensen draws intriguing connections between:

• The cursed line of Canaan (Genesis 9),
• The rise of Nimrod, the first “mighty one on the earth” (Genesis 10:8–9),
• And even Gilgamesh, a demigod from Mesopotamian legend, whom some associate with Nephilim traits.

To his credit, Sorensen is clear that this theory is not provable. He labels it “genetic speculation”—a creative idea, not a firm doctrine. That’s an important distinction.

I don’t dismiss this kind of theory outright—it’s thoughtful. But it lives in the realm of ‘what if,’ not ‘thus saith the Lord.’

By comparison, more grounded alternatives that are more popular with theologians (like Tim Chaffey) over the years include:

• Second incursion theory: Drawn from 1 Enoch and hinted in some interpretations of 2 Peter and Jude, this view suggests that more angels fell after the Flood and repeated the Genesis 6 pattern.
  
• Cultural memory theory: As discussed in Section 3, this theory argues that warriors like the Anakim or Philistines weren’t literal Nephilim but adopted the name to project power. This fits ancient tribal behavior and lines up well with the biblical data.
  

Ultimately, while the idea of Nephilim traits surviving via Ham’s wife makes for fascinating discussion, it shouldn’t be presented as equally likely—or as the most plausible explanation. The Bible never tells us how or why the “giants” of Canaan appeared. So we’re best served by anchoring our view in what the text does say, and treating everything else as possibility—not proof.

Timeline Walkthrough — Clear, but Could Use Nuance

One of the more engaging parts of the video is the visual and chronological walk through the Nephilim narrative. From Genesis to Numbers, and from the wandering years to David’s mighty men, the video helpfully outlines how the idea of giants persists through several Old Testament books:

“So note here the order of the Nephilim lineage. First the Nephilim, then the Anakim, and lastly, the Philistines.” (Video, 09:28)

This framework helps viewers trace a storyline that often feels fragmented in Scripture. However, the conclusion drawn about David’s era may go further than the text allows. At 10:38, the video states:

“This is the last that we see of giants because after these four victories, no more giants are mentioned in Scripture, which signifies the conclusion of the Nephilim era.”

That’s one interpretation—but it’s not the only one.

Second Samuel 21 and 1 Chronicles 20 do record the defeat of several large warriors, some of whom are referred to as descendants “from the giants in Gath.” But nowhere does Scripture say these were the last giants—or that they were definitively Nephilim. It may mark the end of their military threat, but not necessarily the end of their memory or significance.

Conspiracies, Hidden Knowledge and Fear are Not of God

Of all the sections, the closing moments of the video offer some of its best commentary. Rather than indulging in wild speculation or Nephilim-based fear tactics, the team at Impact offers this grounded reminder:

“I should add that the most reliable account that we have about the Nephilim is from the Bible… The Old Testament actually only uses the name Nephilim two times.” (Video, 03:07)

That’s exactly the right approach. 1 Enoch and other Second Temple writings provide helpful context for how Jews of the time interpreted Genesis 6—but they don’t carry the authority of Scripture. The video wisely encourages reading those sources with care while grounding final authority in God’s Word.

Even more valuable is the encouragement to turn away from fear and conspiracies:

“So whether it’s a government, people that threaten us, demons, the Antichrist, giants, or even aliens… remember that our God is greater.” (Video, 15:28)

Jake’s Take: “This is the pastoral note so many Nephilim videos miss. It’s not about decoding hidden bloodlines—it’s about trusting the God who already defeated every enemy.”

This makes the video’s impact especially valuable.

What We’d Add — Key Themes the Video Skips

For all its strengths, the video does miss some key theological threads that can help viewers see Genesis 6 as more than an ancient oddity.

Spiritual Warfare and Cosmic Rebellion

Genesis 6 isn’t just about strange unions—it’s about spiritual powers crossing forbidden lines. It’s the first act of divine rebellion that spirals into the judgment of the Flood. The Book of Revelation (chapter 12), 2 Peter 2, and Jude 6 all return to this cosmic theme: angelic beings who reject God’s order and are cast down in judgment.

These aren’t just creepy stories—they form the theological basis for understanding why the world needed a reset, and why Jesus came to destroy “the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

The Watchers and Second Temple Context

Many early Jews were fascinated by the idea of the Watchers—heavenly beings who sinned, were bound in Sheol, and whose offspring caused great wickedness on the earth. That belief wasn’t fringe; it was mainstream Jewish thought during the intertestamental period, deeply influencing the apostles’ language.

The video could’ve briefly mentioned this, helping modern viewers connect biblical theology with its historical roots.

Flood, Babel, and Canaan — A Thematic Thread

Genesis 6 (Nephilim), Genesis 11 (Babel), and the conquest of Canaan all tell the same underlying story: human and spiritual rebellion met by God’s justice and redemption. That thread helps us read these stories not as disconnected legends but as part of a cohesive biblical worldview.

Scholars like Michael Heiser have done very interesting work in discussing what that may entail.

A Strong Start to a Deep Conversation

Impact’s Everything About the Nephilim in Under 20 Minutes is one of the better YouTube videos on the topic. It summarizes the key views clearly, uses Scripture as its foundation, and ends with encouragement and hope—something rare in this genre.

Here’s what it does especially well:

• Summarizes the three major views accessibly.
• Connects Genesis 6 to later texts like Numbers and 2 Samuel.
• Rejects conspiratorial fear and reminds believers of God’s power and love.
  

Here’s where it could improve:

• It over-simplifies the theological weight of Genesis 6.
• It skips over better-supported interpretations like second incursions or cultural memory.
• It gives too much airtime to the Ham’s wife theory without noting its speculative nature.
  

But all that said—this video opens a door. And for believers wanting to walk through it with their Bible in hand, there’s a whole world of Scripture, history, and theology waiting to be explored.