Génesis 6:4

4. Giants in the earth Literally, The Nephilim were in the land in those days, and also after that, ( or specially after that,) when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of man, and they bare children to them, these are the heroes ( Gibborim) who from the olden time were the men of name renowned, notorious men . There is no authority in the Hebrew for the translation giants. The word comes from the Sept., which renders Nephilim, γιγαντες , earth born, from which it has been supposed that the Nephilim were men of immense size and stature, Nephilim is derived from נפל , to fall, (fallo, σφαλλω ,) and this fall may be understood physically or morally. Some (Kimchi) understand it to mean those who caused men to fall, (through fear;) others, (Aq., Symm., Ges., Keil,) understand those who fell upon men, ( επιπιπτοντες ,) fierce and violent men . The word occurs in but one other passage, (Numbers 13:33,) where it is applied by the terrified spies to the sons of Anak . The word vividly pictures scenes of violence and bloodshed in the antediluvian world . Lewis supposes another derivation, making it mean famous men, corresponding to the Gibborim, who afterward arose from the marriage of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men,” and who, in the last clause of the verse, are called men of name.

Of old That is, in the old or ancient time; applied to the warlike heroes of the antediluvian epoch.

It is noteworthy that no mention is made of kings, rulers, or civil government of any kind in this antediluvian era. In this respect the record presents a remarkable contrast to all profane histories. The eye of the author was upon the moral rather than upon the political condition of man; he surveys the world not from a political or scientific, but from a spiritual, point of view.