“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.”
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and afterward — when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. These children were the heroes of old, men of renown. The Nephilim (Hebrew: those who cause others to fall, or the fallen ones) appear here as evidence of a world where the boundary-crossing of verse 2 has produced a distorted kind of greatness — powerful, famous, feared. The world celebrates them; the narrative does not. Numbers 13:33 mentions the Nephilim again in the context of the spies' report from Canaan — they are presented as representatives of intimidating opposition. Isaiah 14:12 uses 'fallen' language in a context many associate with the origin of evil. The men of renown in this verse are a picture of human greatness divorced from God — celebrated by the world but not by heaven. The question the verse quietly raises: whose definition of greatness are you pursuing? The world has always celebrated its Nephilim. God's definition of greatness runs in a different direction entirely.
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