
Robert Baker Girdlestone argued in 1871 the word comes from the hif'il causative stem, implying that the Nephilim are to be perceived as 'those that cause others to fall down'. Many suggested interpretations are based on the assumption that the word is a derivative of Hebrew verbal root n-p-l ( נ־פ־ל) "fall". The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon (1908) gives the meaning of Nephilim as " giants", and holds that proposed etymologies of the word are "all very precarious". Ī similar or identical biblical Hebrew term, read as "Nephilim" by some scholars, or as the word "fallen" by others, appears in the Book of Ezekiel 32:27 and is also mentioned in the deuterocanonical books Judith 16:6, Sirach 16:7, Baruch 3:26–28, and Wisdom 14:6. According to the Book of Numbers 13:33, ten of the Twelve Spies report the existence of Nephilim in Canaan, prior to its conquest by the Israelites. The main reference to them is in Genesis 6:1–4, but the passage is ambiguous and the identity of the Nephilim is disputed. Others view them as offspring of the descendants of Seth and Cain. Some view them as offspring of fallen angels and humans.

They are analogous to giants although in Hebrew, the word Nephilim directly translates to "the fallen ones".

The Nephilim ( / ˈ n ɛ f ɪ ˌ l ɪ m/ Hebrew: נְפִילִים Nəfīlīm) are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are described as being large and strong.

The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Hieronymus Bosch, based on Genesis 6:1–4
