What does Genesis say about the Nephilim?
Genesis briefly mentions the Nephilim in the days before the flood. The passage calls them mighty men and men of renown, but it does not give a detailed account of their origin, appearance, or family line (Genesis 6:4). That brevity has led to several interpretations among Christians.
Some understand the “sons of God” in the passage as fallen angels, while others understand them as human men from a godly family line. Faithful Bible readers have disagreed on that question for a long time. Yet whichever view someone takes, Genesis does not say that the Nephilim left descendants who continue through history.
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 which were of old, men of renown.
The flood matters
The clearest reason to be cautious about claims of Nephilim descendants is the flood itself. Genesis says that every living thing on land, apart from those preserved in the ark, was destroyed (Genesis 7:23). Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives were the human family preserved through that judgement.
So if the Nephilim were living before the flood, the Bible’s storyline gives no route for their pre-flood line to continue outside Noah’s family. Scripture never identifies Noah or his family as Nephilim, nor does it trace such a line after the flood.
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Why are Nephilim mentioned in Numbers?
When Israel’s spies returned from Canaan, some of them said they had seen Nephilim and compared themselves to grasshoppers beside the land’s inhabitants (Numbers 13:31-33). They also spoke of the Anakim, a people known for their great size. But this report came from frightened spies who were urging Israel not to trust God’s promise.
The Bible does confirm that Israel later encountered large, formidable people, including Anakim and King Og of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:11). Still, it never explains these people as descendants of the Nephilim from Genesis. The spies may have used “Nephilim” as a fearful comparison for terrifying giants, rather than as a careful genealogical claim.
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
What should we conclude today?
There is no biblical evidence that Nephilim descendants are alive today, despite dramatic claims sometimes made in books, videos, or online discussions. The Bible records extraordinary events and people, but it does not invite us to build certainty where it has not spoken clearly.
Even Goliath, the giant David faced, is presented as a Philistine champion, not as a Nephilim descendant (1 Samuel 17:4). The central message of Scripture is not a hidden race surviving in the world. It is God’s rescue of people through Jesus, and the call to trust him (John 20:31).