Who were the giants in the Old Testament?

Question

Gramps,

I have always wondered what it means in the Old Testament when it says “there were giants on the earth.” Who were these giants?

Alverne

Answer

Dear Alverne,

When it comes to the subject of giants in the Old Testament we have very little facts and the bulk revealed word on the subject is in the Old Testament. So that really just leaves various stories and myths. I’ll do what I can to summarize a few of the ideas, but please don’t take anything I am about to say as doctrine or even necessarily factual.

It appears that the stories of Giants begins in Genesis 6:2

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

The stories I read start to go separate ways in defining what a Son of God is. Some say they were mortal men (offspring of the Seth) who were suppose be righteous and know the ways of the Lord. Other stories say that they were fallen Angels. Whatever they were this was a bad thing that they did.

The offspring of these marriages are the giants. They are generally regarded as evil and some credit them with why evil got such a strong hold that the Lord caused the flood. Others go so far as to stay that they were such an abomination and twisting of what the Lord had planned that the giants don’t qualify for the resurrection and redemption offered by Christ

Then we fast forward past them getting around the flood or being restarted, stories differ on how this was done, to the time of Israel. David fights Goliath, then the nation of Israel fights repeatedly against nations of giants until finally the giants get wiped out.

That is a really brief attempt to summarize alot of varying and colorful stories.

Another option that is to be considered is that the stories of giants is more symbolic, and allegorical referring to mighty men. Or perhaps it is just ancient imagery with questionable meaning.

This is a subject that doesn’t have any clear answers, but I hope I helped satisfy your curiosity on the subject, or maybe sparked an interest in you to study more about it for yourself.

Gramps