Both 'nephilim' [plural: the nephilim] and the Rephaim [plural of Rephaite] refer to races of literal giants born on earth as the offspring of human women and Satan's demons. They are mentioned in the Bible, but in Hebrew, and since much of the Christian church became very anti-semitic and few Christian scholars could even read Hebrew this was not checked out . Biblical references were allegorized away and taught as referring to mythological beings, giants, ogres, or pagan idols, and were thus not discussed. However, it is being discussed now; follow the links below: a well-known Christian expositor Dr Chuck Missler has some especially challenging insights.

The concept of fallen angels is a Zoroastrian concept and did not originate with the Hebrews. The mythology of Satan as a fallen angel and the Nephilim conflicts with the simpler monotheistic theology of earlier Judaism as represented in the Torah. Jewish and Christian beliefs on this subject have been influenced by the "Book of Enoch", an apocryphal text that is not traditionally accepted in the Hebrew or the Christian Canon. It is likely that large parts of this book were originally written in Aramaic or Greek, not Hebrew and the term "Nephilim" is an Aramaic word. I have added a link to a compete article on the linguistics bleow. It was written by Michael S. Heiser PhD, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, University of Wisconsin-Madison. I have found no evidence that Dr. Missler can even read Hebrew or Aramaic. An excerpt follows - there is a link on this page to the entire article.

There's a lot said and written about the word nephilim. I know it may sound incredible, but practically all of it is wrong-even what's written by Old Testament scholars. It's a case of one scholar parroting what the scholar before him or her has said, and so on down the line. ..... I am speaking here of Genesis 6 alone, where the biblical text just describes the nephilim as the mighty men of renown. The other clans that spring from the nephilim are the enemies of Israel for sure (like the Anakim), and so could be seen as evil. The giants in the book of Enoch and other Jewish literature composed after the biblical material (as far as the existing texts we know about) are certainly evil....

This word is pronounced "nophelim" with long "o" (the raised dot between the first and second consonants, reading right to left as Hebrew requires), not the middle long "i" vowel as required. The vowels are different. You don't need to read Hebrew to tell that, either - it's visually obvious. This shows us that the word nephilim is NOT the active participle of Hebrew naphal. The practical point here is that nephilim cannot mean "those who fall" or "those who fall upon"-that meaning does not match the form, and the form does not match the meaning. Not only does the shape of the word deny this view, but there is no following preposition "upon" in Genesis 6:4 or Numbers 13:33 - a preposition that IS present elsewhere when this word occurs in descriptions of battle elsewhere. ....

I mention all this because it is most likely that nephilim comes from the ARAMAIC word naphal (same meaning, "to fall"). If that is the case, then the "full" spelling (with ythe middle yod) can be accounted for as a masculine plural participle IN ARAMAIC. However, even this option for "fallen ones" fails because it cannot explain why the nephilim were said to be giants-which is made explicitly clear in Numbers 13:33, where the giant Anakim are said to be descendants from the nephilim.

There is a better option for the base root of the word nephilim-and one that does indeed come from ARAMAIC. This option is superior because:

a. It accounts for the middle "i" / middle yod spelling;

b. It explains why Numbers 13:33 would link the giant clans of Moses' day to the nephilim of Genesis 6;

c. It explains why the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament used by Jesus, the apostles, and the early Church) reads "gigantes" (giants) for nephilim in these passages;

d. It explains why ALL other ancient Jewish texts from the Intertestamental period that reference the Genesis 6:1-4 event have the nephilim as giants;

e. It explains why all the Jewish and early Christian commentators prior to Augustine took the literal view of Genesis 6:1-4 (angelic-human cohabitation that produced giants).

This option is that nephilim comes from the Aramaic noun naphil (note the "i" in that noun between the "ph" and the "l" as required above by the long form of nephilim). The plural would be nephilin as with the other Aramaic option (and would read nephilim after being brought into the Hebrew Bible and "normalized" to Hebrew spelling)

In contrast to the above , an extract from the article "About the Nephilim" (website below) in the section "The Nephilim: Etymological Evidence" states: THE NEPHILIM: ETYMOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Who are these beings? A clue to their identity is found in their name--Nephilim. The word itself is Hebrew, and it is first used in Genesis 6:4. "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."

Commentators like Lange trace the word "Nephilim" to the root "Niphal" meaning "distinguished ones." This corresponds perfectly with the "men of renown" at the end of Genesis 6:4, nevertheless it is not a generally accepted translation.

Others have sought the root of the word in the Hebrew consonants "npl" as found in Psalm 58:8. Here it means "miscarriage." Accepting this theory, the Nephilim would be those superhuman beings that resulted from miscarriages. Genesis Rabbah (26:7) seems to confirm this translation when it states:

"Nephilim denotes that they hurled the word down, themselves fell (naflu) from the world, and filled the world with abortions (nephilim) through their immorality."

Most scholars, however, reject both these interpretations and trace the word "Nephilim" to the Hebrew root "Naphal" meaning "to fall." The Nephilim are the "fallen ones." A direct reference to the fallen angels who sired them. Some writers such as Ben Adam believe the word "Nephilim" refers to the fallen angels themselves and not to their offspring.

Because of some uncertainty in the translation of the Hebrew word, more and more Bible versions are now leaving the original word untranslated. Thus the New International Version renders the passage: "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days..." (Genesis 6:4). This also does justice to the fact that the definite article precedes the word in the original. "The Nephilim were on the earth..." The same definite article is also found in the other biblical passage where the word "Nephilim" occurs, namely, Numbers 13:33. "We saw the Nephilim there..."

(Taken from article "About the Nephilim" http://www.nephilim.nl/ )

This website s the above Question and both s in far greater detail than can be summarized here.

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