Moses 7
And the giants of the land, also, stood afar off Moses 7:15
Genesis 6:1–4’s cryptic text has baffled readers of the Bible for ages, mentioning the appearance of mysterious “sons of God” and their “giant” offspring. Who were they? Where did they come from? Interpretations are fiercely debated regarding the identity of these beings, either fallen angels who married human women to create giants, or members of the covenant through Seth. The Book of Moses places biology secondary to priesthood covenants.
The identity of the scriptural giants is further complicated by the term Nephilim, which is derived from the Hebrew root naphal, meaning “to fall”. Rather than viewing these figures as gigantic hybrids, the Book of Moses and subsequent commentary frame them as “fallen ones”—men who had once held spiritual authority but became fallen tyrants because of sin.
Remarkably, while Joseph Smith’s account departs from the “Watchers” theory, it exhibits striking affinities with ancient Enoch traditions, such as the Qumran Book of Giants, containing thematic parallels that were virtually impossible for the Prophet to have accessed in 1830. By examining these redefinitions, we uncover a story not just of physical stature, but of the perennial conflict between covenant-keeping and the Mahan principle of seeking power through violence and gain.
Word Origin
Giants: There are several Hebrew words for “giants”. Nephilim (נפילים) is used in Genesis 6:4. Nephilim is derived from the Hebrew root naphal (נפיל), meaning “to fall,” leading many commentators to interpret the word as a spiritual condition of “fallen ones” instead of a reference to physical stature. Therefore, these may have been people who had apostatized or fallen away from the truth.
The problem started with the Greek Septuagint translators (c. 3rd century BCE) translating Nephilim as Gigantes (γίγαντες). This is how “fallen ones” became “giants” in English translations. As a side note, Nephi’s name has no connection to Nephilim (Bowen, Matthew L., “Internal Textual Evidence for the Egyptian Origin of Nephi’s Name”).
Nature of the Giants: Unlike the account in 1 Enoch, where giants are 450-foot-tall monsters born of angelic-human unions, the Book of Moses presents giants as a distinct, literal group already on the earth.
- Hostility Toward the Prophets: These giants are described as aggressive enemies who actively sought to take Noah’s life.
- Spiritual Midgets: While they may have possessed remarkable physical stature, they were spiritual pygmies who used their strength for evil rather than following God.
- More than Offspring: The Book of Moses clarifies these giants were not just the offspring of the unholy marriages between the covenant people and the wicked; they were also a separate group whose existence and hostility toward Noah provided further justification for the Great Flood.
- Threats to Noah: The Book of Moses records that giants sought Noah to take away his life, but he was preserved by the power of God. The Flood is often described as a necessary judgment to cleanse the earth of the “wickedness and violence” of the Nephilim.
- Anti-law: The Bible portrays giants as symbols of lawlessness, like Goliath. They are a chaotic, anti-law power that opposes divine order.
- Aspiring Spirits: The giants are characterized as “aspiring spirits” who sought to be great on earth in the same manner as God, often earning the title “men of name” or “renown” because they were obsessed with “making a name” for themselves through power and authority.
- Wickedness and Violence: Their rise is linked to a time when the earth was “filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11; Moses 8:20) and corruption, as they use their knowledge of divine secrets to establish an order on earth that contradicted God’s intentions.
Nature of the Sons of God
Sons of God is Benei Elohim (בן אלהים) in Hebrew. This phrase “sons of God” is tricky in these stories about giants, mainly because its meaning can be vague, leading to a major theological debate about whether it refers to divine angels or humans. How could non-physical beings such as angels or “Watchers” have physical relations, as stated in 1 Enoch and the Book of Giants?
Scholars hold two dominant views about the “sons of God”:
1. The Angelic or “Watcher” View
An interpretation, common in ancient Jewish texts like 1 Enoch and the Book of Giants, identifies a group of the sons of God as rebellious heavenly beings or angels. These angels were often called “Watchers”. God originally tasked them with observing and overseeing the functions of creation. However, they abandoned their charge, rebelled and swore an oath to take human women as wives.
Upon arriving on Earth, they fathered children with extraordinary abilities. The offspring of these unions were reportedly monstrous giants who laid waste to the earth, which ultimately led God to unleash the Great Flood. These angels were also held responsible for imparting “forbidden knowledge” to humans, including warfare, metalworking, and seduction techniques.
2. The Sethite or Priesthood View
Another interpretation, held by many early Church fathers and central to Latter-day Saint theology, identifies the sons of God as the godly descendants of Seth.
Hugh Nibley observed: “It is Joseph Smith Enoch which gives the most convincing solution: the beings who fell were not angels but men who had become sons of God. From the beginning, it tells us, mortal men could qualify as ‘sons of God,’ beginning with Adam. ‘Behold, thou [Adam] art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons.” (Moses 6:68). How? By believing and entering the covenant. ‘Our father Adam taught these things, and many have believed, and become the sons of God.’ (Moses 7:1.) Thus when ‘Noah and his sons hearkened unto the Lord, and gave heed … they were called the sons of God.’ (Moses 8:13.) In short, the sons of God are those who accept and live by the law of God” (“A Strange Thing in the Land: The Return of the Book of Enoch,” Ensign, Dec. 1976).
- Covenant Holders: According to the Book of Moses, the title was specifically earned by righteous mortal men who entered the holy order of the priesthood and obeyed God’s covenants. The Bible (KJV) uses the term “sons of God” eleven times in eleven verses. In the New Testament, it denotes followers of Jesus who worship Him. The same is true of the three times when used in the Book of Mormon and the six times when used in the Doctrine and Covenants.
- Adam and Noah: Adam is identified as the first “son of God” because he conversed with God and was in the Book of Life. Similarly, Noah and his sons were called “sons of God” because they hearkened to the Lord and gave heed to his voice.
- Violation of Oaths: Under this interpretation, the sin described in Genesis 6 was not a genetic breach by angels, but the betrayal of sacred priesthood oaths. In Moses 8:21, the “children of men” who rejected Noah’s preaching sarcastically called themselves “the sons of God” as they mocked his warnings. They forfeited that title of son of God by marrying those who lived according to a purely carnal order.
- Marrying Outside the Covenant: Elder Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “It was the daughters of the sons of God who were marrying the sons of men, which was displeasing unto the Lord. The fact was, as we see it revealed, that the daughters who had been born, evidently under the covenant, and were the daughters of the sons of God, that is to say of those who held the priesthood, were transgressing the commandment of the Lord and were marrying out of the Church. Thus, they were cutting themselves off from the blessings of the priesthood”. (Answers to Gospel Questions, 1:136–37.)
- Forfeit Eternal Blessings: The “sons of men” mentioned in the text were those who rejected these teachings, leading to a situation where the daughters of those “called the sons of God” (the covenant people) married the “sons of men” (the wicked), thereby forfeiting their exalted status.
- The Origin of Evil. The Book of Moses offers a different take on where evil comes from. Human corruption of sacred covenants, not angelic transgressions, accounts for the world’s deep moral decline. The Flood resulted from spiritual apostasy, not angelic corruption, as covenant daughters married the wicked, favoring the “carnal, sensual, and devilish” over God.
Conclusion
Understanding the Genesis account of “sons of God,” “daughters of men,” and “giants” shouldn’t be difficult when reading through the lens of restoration scriptures. Men, the “sons of God” who made covenants with God, broke these sacred promises to marry the “daughters of men,” outside the covenant, against God’s wishes (Genesis 6:4).
Translators mislabeled their offspring as “giants” rather than children of the “fallen ones”. This mistranslation created confusion. Therefore, some Bible readers assumed that humans couldn’t create giants, so they must spring from somewhere else. They gave these “sons of God” a new label, the “Watchers,” and assigned them supernatural characteristics. They imbued their offspring, the Nephilim, with superhuman physical attributes. I see no logic or scriptural support for such notions.
