Luther on “Nephilim” in Genesis 6:4

From Luther’s Works, 2:32-39

Moreover, there were giants upon the earth in those days.

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Moses continues his description of the sin and the guilt which led to the coming of the Flood. There was, in the first place, the fact that the sons of God fell away from the worship and Word of God and became entirely worldly, with the result that they corrupted not only the church but also the state and the home.

Now he adds that wickedness had increased to such an extent that there were giants on the earth. Moreover, he explicitly states that from the cohabitation of the sons of God with the daughters of men there were born, not sons of God but giants, that is, arrogant men who usurped both the government and the priesthood.

V 2, p 33 The pope does the same thing when he usurps both spiritual and temporal power. However, the chief evil would not lie in this if he made use of this usurped power only for the preservation of the state and the church. This is his greatest sin, that he misuses his power for the support of idolatry, for attacks on sound doctrine, and for tyranny even in the state. When the papists are reproved with the Word of God, they refuse to be reproved; they say that they are the church and cannot err, and they also rage against the godly with colossal brutality. Moses calls such men “giants,” who usurp powers, both of the state and that of the church, and sin without the least restraint.

The Book of Wisdom depicts such men. They say (Wisd. of Sol. 2:11): “Let our might be our law of right.” And in Ps. 12:4: “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is our master?” And in Ps. 73:4 ff.: “They are arrogant with unconcern, and when they use force on others, they boast of it.” Giants were such men as boldly opposed the Holy Spirit when He warned, entreated, taught, and reproved through Lamech, Noah, and the sons of Noah.

There is some argument about the origin of the word, and there are those who derive it from נָפַל, which means “to fall.”42 But they understand it in what is practically a passive meaning, namely, that when other men saw their huge bodies and their unusual size, they collapsed from fear. Let the rabbis make it their business to see whether this is true, for it is ridiculous to call them נְפִלִים because others fell. Others present this etymology: they were so called because they had fallen off from the common height of human beings. They appeal to the passage in Num. 13:33, from which it is clear that the נְפִלִים, or giants, had rather large bodies just as the עֲנָקִים and the רְפָאִים did. I am not judging who holds the more correct view, especially since it is an established fact that it is impossible to give an account of every word and to point out its origin.

Here another question turns up. Why did only those men who were born from the sons of God and the daughters of men deviate from the normal stature of human beings? But I have nothing in reply to this question except that in this passage the text states nothing about their stature. In Num. 13:33 it is stated: “We saw giants, the sons of עֲנָק from the giants; and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers.” There the hugeness of their bodies is pointed out, V 2, p 34 but not in this passage. Therefore they may be called giants for some other reason than the size of their bodies. To give my own opinion about the word, I believe that it should be explained neither in a neutral nor in a passive sense, but in an active sense; for although the verb נָפַל does not belong to the third conjugation, which is generally the proper one for transitive verbs, it is often used in the active sense.43 Thus in Joshua 11:7: “And Joshua and all his people of war came upon them by the waters of Merom וַיִּפְּלוּ בֶָּהֶם, and they fell upon them.” If you explain the verb יִפְּלוּ in a neutral sense, as though Joshua and his men had fallen before the enemy, the account will contradict this; for the meaning is that they fell upon them and suddenly overwhelmed them.

Therefore this passage—and any like it—induces me to conclude that they were not called נְפִלִים, because of the large size of their bodies, as the rabbis believe, but because of their tyranny and oppression. They raged violently, without any consideration for laws and decency, but exclusively in pursuit of their own pleasures and desires. Those who rule rightfully Scripture calls shepherds and princes.44 But those who rule through injustice and violence are properly called נְפִלִים, because they fall upon and oppress those who are beneath them.

Similarly, Ps. 10:9 says: “He oppresses, he lays low, חֵלְכָּאִים וְנָפַל בַּעֲצוּמָיו, and with his mighty ones falls upon the assembly of the poor.” There the Holy Spirit is speaking of the rule of Antichrist, who, He states, will rage in such a manner as to annihilate what he can; and if there is something he cannot annihilate, he will at least beat it down and later on with all his power crush what has been beaten down. For it is immaterial whether you render בַּעֲצוּמָיו “with his might” or “with his mighty ones.” This power, says the Holy Spirit, he uses only against those who are חֵלְכָּאִים, that is, poor and already victims of oppression. The others, who have a reputation because of their power, he worships, in order to win them for his side.

Such is my explanation of the giants or נְפִלִים in this passage, as being not men of huge mass of body, as in the passage in Numbers, but unruly and mischievous men, the way the poets depict the Cyclopes, who fear neither God nor men but pursue only their own desires and rely on their own power and strength. They sit in the V 2, p 35 place of supreme authority and have control over empires and kingdoms. They even arrogate spiritual power to themselves. Moreover, they employ that power against the church and against the Word of God as they please, etc.

At this point one should take note of the strange counsel of God, who directs us to respect the government, to obey it, to serve it, and to give it honor. Yet whenever they are threats and awful scoldings, these we see directed almost entirely against rulers, against kings and princes, as though God pursued them with a special hatred. Scripture commands us to honor the government, but it itself does not honor the government. Scripture overthrows it by threatening the most severe punishments. Scripture commands us to respect the government, but it itself appears to despise governments, inasmuch as it does not flatter but threatens them.

Did not Mary in her hymn sternly inveigh against princes (Luke 1:51–53): “He scatters the proud in the imagination of their hearts, He puts down the mighty from their thrones, and He sends the rich away empty”? If we believe that these statements are true, who would wish to be found among such men? For them certain destruction is ready and imminent. Who would not prefer to be of lowly station and to go hungry?

The second psalm likewise charges governments with a grave offense when it declares that with united forces and efforts they resist the Lord and His Christ and harass His kingdom (Ps. 2:1–2). Similarly Isaiah (25:2): “The city of the mighty He has turned into a ruin.” The whole Bible is full of statements of this kind.

Accordingly, Scripture does not bestow honor on the governments but threatens them with destruction and, as it were, makes them an object of open contempt. Nevertheless, it commands us most painstakingly to respect them, to give them honor, and to accord them every kind of service. Why is this?

Undoubtedly it is because the Lord Himself wants to be the only one to punish them, has reserved vengeance for Himself, and has not granted it to their subjects. Jeremiah, in chapter twelve (12:1),45 discusses how it happens that when the Lord is righteous, the way of the ungodly meets with success. But later he concludes (12:3): “Thou, O Lord, dost fatten them and prepare them for the slaughter.”

Accordingly, you may say that ungodly governments are like God’s V 2, p 36 swine. He fattens them; He gives them wealth, power, honors, and the obedience of their subjects. Therefore they are not molested, but they themselves molest and oppress others. They do not suffer violence; they inflict it on others. They do not give, but they take away from others until the hour comes when they are slaughtered like swine that have been fattened for a long time. Hence the German proverb which says that a prince is a rare bird in the kingdom of heaven: Fursten sind wildbrett im Himel. Accordingly, those men whom Moses designates in this passage by the detestable and ugly name נְפִלִים without a doubt held positions in the lawful government of the church and of the state. But because they do not make use of their office as they were bound, God brands them with the hateful word and disgraces them. Just as we in the corrupt state of our nature cannot make use of even the slightest gift without haughtiness, so God is most intolerant of haughtiness and puts down the mighty from their thrones, sends the rich away empty, etc.

Thus I take the word נְפִלִים in an active meaning, in the sense of tyrants, oppressors, and brigands. But I believe that here, as happens also in other languages, Moses transferred this word from the usage of his time to the time before the Flood, with a slight change in meaning; for just as those Anakim were tyrants who relied on their physical power, so these degraded descendants of the sons of God misused their power and prestige to oppress good men, as Moses will now explain.