Were the Nephilim in Genesis 6 aliens?

Question

Could Genesis 6:1-4 be talking about aliens? (ESV):

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

There's another question about what the word Nephilim means and it literally means "the fallen". So that could mean they "fell" or landed from outer space, right? Maybe that's why they lived so long, were mighty, and well-known.

Is this a possible interpretation?

Answer 1

Simply put, we don't know for sure, but we have clues!

We have three known facts about the Nephilim:

Their Name

The world "nephilim" comes from the Hebrew word nephiyl, which means "the fallen". What did they fall from? The Bible isn't clear about that.

It's possible that they fell from the sky (making them aliens) or from heaven (making them demons).

Regardless, it seems clear that the people who lived at that time called them "the fallen".

Lineage

Also, we know about their lineage: they are children of "sons of God" and "daughters of man":

Genesis 6:4 (NASB)
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

So, the Nephilim themselves weren't actually the angels/aliens/kings, but the children of these beings.

Size

Another thing we know about Nephilim is that they were tall--huge, even:

Numbers 13:33 (NASB)
We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.

So, clearly, they are very large.

Aliens?!

One possible interpretation of this is the one you mentioned: that nephilim are a race of alien-human hybrids.

However, due to the Numbers reference, many translate the word "nephilim" to "giants". Of course, their size was only an aspect of who they were, but not necessarily the primary aspect. It could very well be that they had wings like angels or big bulbous heads like aliens.

Unfortunately, we simply do not know what nephilim were and many theories abound. One of which is, actually, that they were human-alien hybrids.

Answer 2

The word that is translated as "God" in the phrase "Sons of God" can also mean can also mean leaders, judges, dictators etc.

It is also possible that the Nefilim and the "Sons of ..." are two different, but possibly connected groups. When the Nefilim were present, such and such happened.

The word Nefilim also means miscarried or aborted fetuses. Some have interpreted that there were incompatibilities between regular women and the "Sons of ..." that caused miscarriages. Others suggest that the women, the "Sons of..." or third parties purposely caused abortions. Whether to eliminate the children of the "Sons of..." or to eliminate the children of regular men is up for speculation

Answer 3

The Nephilim were the result of the intermarriage between the priestly people and the rebellious kings. The text gives us a split genealogy after the murder of Abel, priests serving God outside the garden, and Cain's false kingdom (he went and built a "fortress").

The sin of the sons "of God" (God was their authority) was marrying daughters "of men" (man as authority), and we know this is what it is talking about because it happens over and over throughout Bible history. These women were unconverted. Marrying such women was forbidden in the Mosaic laws for kings. It brought about Solomon's failure which destroyed Israel - under a Babylonian "flood." Omri in the northern kingdom also attempted to co-op Judah through intermarriage. Ezra and Nehemiah deal with such intermarriage as well. Finally, Jesus says His generation would soon be destroyed for such "marrying and giving in marriage."

James Jordan has a must-read article on this here, aligning with our own day. Basically, the Enoch factor is that the unrighteous achieve more than the righteous initially, because they resort to slavery and robbery (like Pharaoh, and Rehoboam). But it is short-lived. The only way paganism can continue (because it is unsustainable) is by co-opting the strength and integrity of a righteous culture. This is exactly what has happened in western culture. This is the "Nephilim factor."

So forget the aliens. The Nephilim were simply a race of men who were "like god" in a bad way - "mighty men." (Notice that David and Boaz are also mighty men, in a good way.) The serpent offered Adam a kingdom without priestly obedience first. "You shall be like God." The Nephilim were the fulfilment of this offer, a race of Cains, a sin that was now full grown (as James says) and ripe for judgment.