What are demons? The Bible describes them as unclean spirits, but what exactly is an unclean spirit? Are there Giants in the Bible? Where did they come from? Are they the angel-human hybrids? Who are the fallen angels? Why are they called Sons of God? Are they angels, the sons of God (a divine council), or giants? Are they connected to demons somehow?
The Bible first hints at the existence of unearthly beings aside from God in Genesis 6. They supposedly mated with human women, who gave birth to giants (or mighty warriors). In the Hebrew text, they are referred to as Nephilim. The word Nephilim ( נְפִיל) comes from the word naphal (נָפַל), which means to fall. Essential Nephilim means fallen ones. The word giants is translated from gibbor(גִּבּוֹר), which means mighty men. The term “giants” in our English Bibles comes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which uses the word “gigantes” (γίγαντες). Some interpret this phrase to mean mighty warriors or tyrannical kings rather than literal giants. Meanwhile, others view them as literal due to descriptions of other giant-like beings in later parts of the Bible, like Goliath and King Og. There is a theory that demons are the unclean spirits of those warriors or giants who died in the flood.
Gen 6:4 (NLT) In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.
Gen 6:4 (KJV) says, “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 (mighty warriors) which were of old, men of renown.”
The Sons of God are defined as either a separate set of heavenly beings making up a Divine Council (Job 1 & 2, Psalms 29 & 89) or a special class of angels (messengers). Many take the fallen angel view, even though the word “angel” is never used in Gen 6:4. Meanwhile, others argue that it is more likely that the Sons of God refer to another group within the Host of Heaven, distinct from the cherubim, seraphim, and angels. “Angel” is the Greek word for messenger, and angels primarily came to Earth with messages from God to humans in the Old Testament. The other heavenly hosts primarily appear in visions and divine revelations, remaining in God’s presence rather than leaving heaven to come to earth, as they are not messengers of God. In Genesis 6:4, some of these “Sons of God” acted in the rebellion of heaven and left their heavenly domain in rebelling against God (Jude 1:6). Whether or not they are classified as angels or a divine council, they fell from heaven. Hence, they are spiritual rebels nonetheless and should be seen as antagonists.
There is a theory on a connection between giants and demons. The first mention of demons or unclean spirits is in Deuteronomy 32:17, not in Genesis, so perhaps they first appeared after the flood. When the Giants died in the flood, it is suggested that their spirits (Rephaim) became demons. Since demons are also referred to as unclean spirits, they can be distinguished from the fallen ones (Nephilim) because they are defined as spirits rather than angels. The Hebrew word for angel is malak (מַלְאַךְ), meaning “messenger.” Unlike the disembodied unclean spirits we call demons, angels have bodies. Rephaim is the plural of raphah (רָפָה), which is often used in the Bible to refer to the spirits of the dead (Isaiah 26:13-14, Isaiah 14:9, Psalm 88:4-5, 10). In addition, the tribes of giants in Deuteronomy 2:10-11 are collectively referred to as Rephaites, and both come from the word rapha (רָפָא).
It’s hypothesized by some that the Rephaim (spirits) wandered the earth rather than staying in Sheol (hell). It is possible that this happened because they were hybrids, born from a heavenly being and a human, which gave them special privileges to wander the earth as spirits. It explains why demons can possess humans and animals. Angels have bodies and can even eat food (Genesis 18:1-8), but spirits, however, do not have bodies (2 Cor 5:3). Ever notice that angels never possess anyone in the Bible? Could this be because they have bodies? Meanwhile, demons are bodiless spirits, so they have to possess living beings to interact with the physical world directly. This theory explains why demons possess people; they may long to be a part of the natural world again. It makes sense that they are compatible with living beings because they are the shades of formerly living things. It also serves as an explanation for why ancestral worship is prohibited in the Bible, because if they can pose as the spirits of dead people they’ve inhabited. The main idea behind this theory is that angels have immortal heavenly bodies and can’t die; therefore, they can’t possess anyone, as they don’t become spirits. This means demons have to be separate beings that once had a body but lost it. Although some believe that the fallen ones can die because of the threat God made to the Sons of God in Ps 82:7, that they would “die like mortals.” This implies they “died” and lost their bodies when God kicked them out of his domain, causing them to become unclean spirits. I don’t know which of these theories is true, but I found them fascinating.
There are many theories on how the giants were formed. Some object to the idea of angels having sex because of what Jesus says to the Sadducees about the marriage after the resurrection in Matthew 22:22-33, Mark 12:18-27, and Luke 20:27-40. He said that after the resurrection of the righteous (when we get the new bodies for eternity), we will be like the angels in heaven, not given in marriage. He says that those who will inherit eternal life don’t become angels, but will be “like them.” In other words, believers will have eternal heavenly bodies, free from sexual desire for all eternity (possibly as eternal prepubescent children). However, Jesus said eternal humans will be celibate like angels in heaven; this doesn’t include fallen ones who were kicked out. Furthermore, if the Sons of God are not angels but a different class of being, then Jesus’ statement doesn’t apply ot them anyway, and may not apply to them.
The most common understanding believers have is that the Sons of God physically manifested on the earth, and then physically had sex with the women. We know that angels come to earth in bodies, as evidenced by many examples in the Old Testament, such as the two angels in Genesis 18 and 19 who rescue Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah, or the angels in Genesis 32:1 and the one in Joshua 5:13-15. So there isn’t anything ruling out heavenly beings appearing on earth physically and engaging in physical activity like sex and producing these giants. On the topic of giants, some object to the idea of literal giants and reject the notion that the Sons of God in Genesis 6 are supernatural beings, instead suggesting that they are merely human warriors with great reputations. They say the giants are just figurative language referring to legends about great people. Meanwhile, the other side believes that they are literal giants like Goliath, who measured to be about 9 feet (1 Samuel 17:4), as well as King Og of Bashan of the Rephaites, whose bed was 13 feet long (Deut 3:11).
Another idea is that the heavenly rebellious Sons of God taught human women advanced sciences like gene manipulation, which caused them to produce giants and corrupt the gene pool. During pregnancy, the mother’s conditions, like stress and intoxication, can have gene-altering effects on the baby through epigenetics, so they could have been normal human babies that were genetically modified. Maybe using “witchcraft” with drugs, aka Pharmakia. Pharmakia is the Greek word for “witchcraft,” and it is where we derive the English word “pharmacy.” People who view them as celibate angels but also believe in literal giants would likely prefer a view like this.
The main objection to a literal sexual reproduction with heavenly beings is whether or not heavenly beings can have sexual urges, based on what Jesus said. However, it is also possible their motives were not carnal pleasures at all, but an attempt to “save” humanity in their way, contradicting God’s plan. The main idea behind the heavenly rebel’s motivations throughout history is that they were just horny angels. This is associated with Paul’s statement in 1 Timothy 2:9, where Paul discusses women covering their hair for the sake of the angels. However, the traditions of that culture stipulated that only married women were expected to cover their hair, so I don’t think this was a universal spiritual revelation, as single women would be exposed. Otherwise, God would require all women everywhere to cover their hair lest giants appear on the earth again and again. However, there is another possibility that maybe these rebels were trying to “save” humanity.
The idea is that the Sons of God thought Cain was “the woman’s seed” that was going to save humanity according to the prophecy in Gen 3:15. After he killed his brother it became clear that he was not the messiah, which may have led them to the proper conclusion that the savior would need to a be sinless human born from a virgin who would defeat the serpent. While that is correct from the Christian messianic point of view, that doesn’t mean any heavenly spirit can make a messiah with a virgin. None of the Sons of God or angels in heaven can replace the Holy Spirit, who is a part of the Godhead himself. Doing this on their own would be a grievous act of rebellion. Their offspring end up being enhanced humans with the ability to stay on earth as unclean spirits (demons) even after their bodies are destroyed. There was no physical sex but rather a spiritual power overtook human women and got them pregnant, kind of like the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary in the gospels (Luke 2:35). This means that Genesis 6 involved “virgin births”, but these corrupt virgin births produce monsters instead of messiahs.
After the Genesis flood, some giant tribes, such as those mentioned in Deuteronomy 2. Therefore, demons (or other heavenly rebels) either engaged with human women again (either sexually, spiritually, or through genetic manipulation) to produce new giants, or they may have somehow survived the flood. One theory explaining the reappearance of giants is that Noah’s daughters-in-law carried Nephilim genes. A curious thing is that there are no female giants mentioned in the Bible, so maybe women are just carriers. This may play into why Jesus had to be born of a virgin, since many believe it is because male sperm carries the sin nature, so Jesus had to bypass having an earthly father to be sin-free. It’s possible that the mechanics for a giant physically can only manifest on the Y chromosome, but can be carried by an X. This is the case for diseases like hemophilia and Hunter syndrome. The alternative explanation is that these beings survived the flood. One may object because Genesis 6:21-23 states that everything that died was not on Noah’s Ark. Some interpret the flood narrative as only applying to normal creations of God, so these mutants were exceptions. Others argue that the flood was local, meaning that only the ancient Near East region was affected, not the entire world.
Whether or not it was through intercourse or gene editing is a mystery. I don’t think intercourse is entirely out of the question, though. Again, angels can walk the earth in humanoid forms and even eat food, as seen with Abraham in Genesis 18. So if they can eat, what else can they do? In Genesis 19, the men of Sodom tried to have sex with heavenly beings. Why would they think they could have sex with someone if it isn’t physically possible? Jude 1:6-7 compares Genesis 6 to Genesis 19, making a connection between the spirit beings’ desire to intermingle with humans in Genesis 6 and the same desire in Genesis 19, as seen in Sodom. Jude refers to the Sodomites craving “strange” flesh and some suggest that this implies they knew these men were otherworldly. Final Note: 2 Peter 2:4 mentions “fallen angels” as being held until the day of Judgment. This shows that demons can’t be the same as the fallen ones since demons are not in chains but rather wander the earth seeking to possess and oppress people (Luke 11:24-26). Meanwhile, according to Peter, these “fallen ones” are bound in Sheol (Tartarus or hell) awaiting Judgment Day.
A possible link to the 120 years of Genesis 6:3:
Most theologians and such have interpreted Gen 6:3 to mean that humans only have 120 years to live, however, many post-flood people lived way longer than that, even Abraham: 175 years old (Gen 25:7) and Isaac: 180 years old (Gen 35:28), Job: 140 years old (Job 42:16). There is another possible interpretation of the 120-year limit mentioned in Genesis 6:3. Gen 6:3 God says his spirit will not dwell with man forever, he also is flesh, and his days will be 120 years. The idea is that when it says, “he also is flesh”, the also implies that this verse is not about humans but about the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of mankind. He suggests that is why the text says “he ALSO is flesh”. This suggests a new kind of flesh that is separate and distinct from humanity, as indicated by the use of the word “also”.
Furthermore, it is mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Targum Jonathan’s commentary on Genesis 6:3 that God said this when Noah was 480 years old. One hundred twenty years later, Noah was 600, and it was then that God sent the flood, so a 120-year span was not a life span limit on humans but a clock before God would destroy the world because of the violence and the work of the fallen ones.
“In the year four hundred and eighty of Noah’s life, Noah reached the end of them. And God said: ‘My Spirit will not reside in man forever. Their days shall be fixed at one hundred and twenty years until the end of the waters of the flood.” [4Q252 1.1-3, see Devorah Dimant, “The Flood as Preamble: The Perspective of the Qumran Hebrew Texts,” pp. 110-122]
“And the Lord said by His Word, All the generations of the wicked which are to arise shall not be purged after the order of the judgments of the generation of the deluge, which shall be destroyed and exterminated from the midst of the world. Have I not imparted My Holy Spirit to them, (or, placed My Holy Spirit in them,) that they may work good works? And, behold, their works are wicked. Behold, I will give them a prolongment of a hundred and twenty years, that they may work repentance, and not perish.” [Targum Jonathan’s commentary on Genesis 6:3]
This idea originates from the ancient Jewish sages who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, predating Jesus’ time, so some may categorize it alongside the Apocrypha and view it as uninspired by God. Either way, this suggests that Jews before the time of Jesus believed the 120-year span was a reference to a countdown for the Flood. They are the new kind of flesh that “also” existed alongside humans, and they would be killed along with humans in the flood, 120 years later than this decree. This makes sense because it doesn’t conflict with the fact that humans are believed to be older than 120 years. I have a separate write-up about that here.
Resources:
Gen 6:4 in the Hebrew lexicon
Rapha (רָפָא) departed spirits
Rapha (רָפָא) Giant/Warriors tribes
The Bible Project podcast video on the subject
An article on Fallen Angels and Demons
Michael Heiser’s theories on demons
Genesis 6-11 Study
From Wikipedia (Rephaite):
“There are two main groups of etymological hypotheses explaining the origins of the biblical Rephaim. The first group proposes that this is a native Hebrew language term, which could be derived either from the root רפא or רפה. The first root, רפא, conveys the meaning of healing and is realized in words such as Hebrew rofe (a physician) or refuah (medicine). The second root, רפה, means being weak, and powerless.
The second group of etymological hypotheses treats the word rephaim as a loanword from some other ancient Semitic language. Among the proposals is the Akkadian rabu, a prince, but this explanation enjoys rather limited popularity. Far more support has been gained by the hypothesis which derives the Hebrew refaim from the Ugaritic rpum which denotes the semi-deified deceased ancestors who are mentioned in such sources as the so-called Rephaim Text (KTU 1:20–22).
Despite the clash between these hypotheses and although the modern translations clearly distinguish between Rephaites as one of the tribes (e.g. Book of Genesis 14:5; 15:18–21; Book of Deuteronomy 2:11–20) and rephaim as the inhabitants of the underworld (e.g. Book of Isaiah 14:9–11; 26:13–15), the same word is used in the original text. The use of rephaim in the Hebrew Bible suggests that behind the biblical narrative were the legends of some ancient indigenous peoples, who inhabited the valleys of the land of Canaan which was subject to the gradual Hebrew conquest.”
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