Note that the spelling of this
word in Genesis 6:4 is הַנְּפִלִ֞ים (without double yod, which makes a
difference)
It is problematic to translate
this word because it is not clear what it means. If we assume the word is
Hebrew in origin (which I don’t think is necessarily a safe assumption), the
root is נפל, “to fall”. This morphological pattern could be seen after the
same pattern as נביא, and perhaps נפיל could be translated as the “the fallen”.
However, this word is not
attested in singular, and we cannot be sure that it is even of Hebrew origin.
In the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, it has translated as
“giants”, but as this is uncertain, I’m more comfortable with the simply
transcribing the word, as most translations do. Nephilim
If you’re asking what the
Nephilim actually are, well that’s an entirely different matter for which
it would be helpful to consult a commentary. My belief is that they are
demi-gods (the offspring of humans and divine beings), similar to the demi-gods
in the mythologies of other peoples. Heracles, Perseus, Achilles, Gilgamesh,
Enkidu, etc. You know the types.
Wikipedia gives a decent overview
of the different interpretations of this passage. Nephilim - Wikipedia
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