Who Were The Nephilim, The Bible's Mysterious Race Of Giants?

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The three-verse Genesis account of the Nephilim only hints at the notion that the unions between the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" were a transgression. But later Jewish writers ran with that idea and expanded the cast of characters to include a rebellious and sinful band of angels called "the Watchers."

The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair
"The Sons of God Saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair" sculpture by Daniel Chester French depicts the beginning of the Nephilim. Daderot/Wikipedia/CC0 1.0

In the text known as the "Book of Enoch," likely written between 300 and 200 B.C.E., a group of 200 angels led by the angel Semjaza (or Samyaza) hatch a plot to take wives from the "beautiful and comely" daughters of men. They know that what they're doing is a "great sin," so they make a pact to follow through with it at all costs and suffer the consequences together.

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The rebellious angels are called by the Aramaic word iyrin, which is derived from a word meaning "awake." Therefore, iryin has sometimes been translated as "the awakened ones," but more often they're called "the Watchers" because their job as angels was to remain vigilant and watch over mankind. Later in The Book of Enoch, even the loyal angels are called Watchers, but the name is mostly associated with the bad guys.

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