One of the biggest unsolved mysteries in ancient history is how the giants returned after the flood. On this page I’ve created the ultimate list of every theory on the return of the Nephilim. Some are more popular (and more convincing) than others, but this list will give you an idea of the various ways that people have tried to solve this problem over the years.

 

Before we dive into the list of theories though, many people question whether or not the giants actually returned after the flood. Let’s quickly look at the best ancient evidence of post-flood sightings.

 

Post-Flood Giant Sightings Weren’t Isolated:

Stories of the giants’ post-flood return aren't just a biblical phenomenon; other civilizations claim to have spotted them after the flood as well.  Sumerians and Babylonians famously wrote of the giant Gilgamesh, a real historical king who was said to be two-thirds divine. In my research, I discovered that Gilgamesh may have been the first post-flood giant to appear in ancient writings. Not long after, Egyptians wrote about a giant who was too tall to enter a shrine to worship the gods (a).

 

A few centuries later, Egyptians claim to have spotted unusually tall warriors in Canaan (b) around the same time Joshua and the Israelites saw them in the book of Numbers (c). They claimed these giants were 4-5 cubits tall (approximately 6’ 10” to 8’ 6”). With the average height being about 5’ 6”, a 7-8 ft warrior would have been absolutely terrifying. It is no coincidence that Joshua and the Israelites battled giants in the same region during the conquest of Canaan.

 

So if the original giants were wiped out by the flood, how did they re-emerge after? Here's where things get fun, and honestly a bit weird. Below is a list of every theory I've come across ranked from the least commonly-held views to most commonly held.

 

Note: This is meant to be an objective, exhaustive list of theories that both scholars and the public are discussing, not a list of theories that I personally find persuasive. I think there are a few strong contenders here but I'll save my two cents on each theory for a future post.

 

Every Post-Flood Giant Theory Ranked by Popularity

 

15. Miscarriage/Strange Births (Fringe / Linguistic Theory) This theory suggests that the term "Nephilim" doesn't refer to a race of giants at all, but rather to "monstrous" births or congenital anomalies. It’s an attempt to explain the Nephilim through scientific means, identifying their size as the birth defect called “gigantism.” From this perspective, the appearance of Nephilim after the flood was simply the natural recurrence of rare genetic or developmental conditions.

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14. Noah as a Nephilim Carrier (Fringe Theory) A more controversial take from later Rabbis suggests that Noah himself possessed the "giant" gene. If you’re not familiar with the supernatural origin of the giants, the traditional and oldest interpretation views the giants as half-angel; the children of human women and angels called the Sons of God (see Genesis 6:1-4). The view that Noah was actually a giant himself seems to have been inspired by extrabiblical passages in the Book of Enoch and The Genesis Apocryphon, but it’s not directly from either book. Check out the passage from the Book of Enoch that inspired this view below:

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1 Enoch 106:5-6 (Lamech, Noah’s father is speaking): "l have begotten a strange son:" He is not like an (ordinary) human being, but he looks like the children of the angels of heaven to me;" his form is different, and he is not like us. His eyes are like the rays of the sun, and his face glorious.''lt does not seem to me that he is of me,' but of angels…'” (d)

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Lamech speculated that his wife Batenosh had an affair with an angel, implying that Noah himself was a Nephilim. To his credit, Noah was kind of unusual-looking. He was described as having white hair with red and white skin, looking nothing like his dad. Since they didn't have DNA tests back then, Lamech came up with another way to verify whether or not Noah was his son or fathered by an angel; ask Enoch. He was said to have “walked with God” and knew the mysteries of the angels, having read about them in the “heavenly tablets” (f). In that same chapter, Enoch answers that Lamech is indeed the father of Noah, and that Noah had been chosen to reboot the human race.

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Later, the Rabbis in Genesis Apocryphon elaborated even more:

 

“Then I considered whether the pregnancy was due to the Watchers and Holy Ones, or (should be ascribed) to the Nephil[im], and I grew perturbed about this child” (e).

 

In this story, Lamech goes on to confront his wife Batenosh and ask her if she had an affair with an angel. But she swears up and down that Noah is his son. The modern theory that Noah was a giant is rooted in this extrabiblical story and speculates that Batenosh lied about the affair. I provided the above background though to show that this conclusion doesn't actually come directly from either story; it's kind of its own thing.

 

13. Necromancy/Summoning (Fringe Theory) This view holds that the physical Nephilim were destroyed in the flood, but their disembodied spirits remained. Post-flood occultists and necromancers allegedly used ritualistic summoning to bring these spirits back into physical form.

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12. Pre-Adamic Humanoids (Fringe / Harmonistic Theory) This theory attempts to harmonize theology with paleoanthropology by suggesting that Nephilim were not supernatural hybrids, but surviving remnants of pre-Adamic hominids like Homo erectus or Neanderthals. In this view, these groups survived in isolated pockets or were misidentified by later ancient civilizations.

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11. The Sasquatch/Bigfoot Link (Fringe / Cryptid Theory) A popular theory in certain fringe and cryptid-hunting circles, this idea proposes that the Nephilim never truly went extinct but retreated into the deep wilderness. It suggests that modern sightings of creatures like Bigfoot or Sasquatch are actually encounters with the elusive, surviving descendants of the biblical giants.

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10. Extraterrestrial Origins (Fringe / Pseudoscientific Theory) Often associated with the "Ancient Aliens" hypothesis, this theory argues that the Nephilim were actually extraterrestrial beings, such as the Anunnaki. Their "return" after the flood is explained as subsequent visits to Earth via advanced spacecraft, where they once again interacted with human populations.

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9. Interdimensional Portals (Fringe Theory) This theory suggests that the Nephilim escaped the flood through portals to another dimension. The region of Bashan is often cited as a primary location where the giants crossed back into the physical realm. Interestingly, that region was thought of as the gateway to the underworld, possibly explaining how this theory originated.

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8. Ritualistic Possession (Fringe Theory) I’ve actually run across this theory on a couple well-known Biblical studies websites. Focusing on the spiritual over the genetic, this theory proposes that post-flood kings and leaders sought to recreate the original Nephilim by inviting demons to possess them during sexual rituals. This theory believes their children were "divine" or Nephilim-like due to this spiritual “indwelling” rather than by being literally fathered by angels.

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7. Traditional/Legendary Survival (Og) (Traditional / Jewish) Rooted in Jewish Midrash and folklore, this tradition suggests that Og was a pre-flood giant who survived the flood (g). Some legends claim he either tied himself to the front of the ark, was fed by Noah through a window, or was so tall that he simply stood in the shallowest parts of the floodwaters until the flood was over (h).

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6. The Seed War Theory (Scripture-Based Inference) The Seed War Theory views the return of the Nephilim as a strategic attack; a supernatural attempt to corrupt human DNA. The goal? To pollute the bloodline of humanity so the promised Messiah of Genesis 3:15 could not be born. In Christianity, it’s thought of as a strategy that fallen angels used to prevent Jesus from being born.

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Here's where this theory comes from. Genesis 3 sets up the expectation that one of Eve’s descendants would eventually “crush the serpent’s head” (in today’s terms, defeat Satan and put an end to spiritual evil on Earth). Theoretically if the fallen angels polluted Eve’s lineage with their own DNA, the “seed of the serpent” would overtake the “seed of Adam” and there would be no pure human lineage for the Messiah to emerge from. 

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The Seed War theory could also be combined with some of the other theories on this list, particularly theory #1.

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5. Regional/Localized Flood (Mainstream / Harmonistic Theory) This perspective argues that the flood was a localized or regional event rather than a global one (but still a very large flood). If the water only covered the known world or a specific region, then Nephilim outside of the flood zone would have survived naturally, explaining their presence in the land of Canaan later on.

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The local flood theory gets a bad rep in part because of the way the English Bible was translated. The English translation reads more like a clear worldwide flood, but the original Hebrew language actually leaves the door open for the possibility of a local/regional flood. If you want to see the case for a localized flood based on the original Hebrew language, click here to watch our YouTube video explaining it.

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4. Literary/Symbolic Motif (Mainstream / Academic Theory) Many modern scholars view the term "Nephilim" as a literary device used by ancient authors to describe terrifying or powerful enemies. In this view, the post-flood Nephilim weren't literal giants or hybrids, but a symbolic way for the Israelites to describe the intimidating warriors they saw in Canaan. In this theory the Israelites’ enemies weren't literal giants; they just seemed like giants. Some would say the Biblical authors were using the mythology of the day as an analogy. Others would call it exaggeration similar to the wild fish stories your uncle or your grandpa used to tell (ex: “I once caught a fish this big!”)

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3. Natural Genetic Variation (Mainstream / Academic Theory) This theory is very similar to the last theory with a slight twist. It puts forward the idea that the giants mentioned after the flood—such as Goliath or the Anakim—were simply exceptionally tall humans. It attributes their size to natural genetic variation, hormonal conditions (like gigantism), or selective breeding within certain tribes, requiring no supernatural explanation. What's interesting about this variation is that it acknowledges literal pre-flood giants, just not post-flood giants. The previous theory (#4) usually does not believe either pre-flood or post-flood giants were true supernatural Nephilim.

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2. Genetic Transmission (Hamite Line) (Mainstream / Scripture-Based Inference) A common literalist view, this theory is an inference made from examining the genealogies in the Bible. Because the post-flood Nephilim emerge from Noah’s son Ham’s descendants, this theory suggests that one of Noah’s daughters-in-law (often identified as Ham's wife) was part-Nephilim. 

Some suggest she was a carrier of these recessive "giant" genes and passed them on to her descendants, leading to the resurgence of the Nephilim traits in the line of Canaan.

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Somewhat related is the theory that post-flood giants were much shorter than pre-flood giants. As true Nephilim genetic information became diluted by human genes, they theorize that the original pre-flood Nephilim were enormous. I have a theory on where that view originated from that I'll share at some point in the future.

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1. The Second Incursion (Mainstream / Scripture-Based Inference) This is the most direct interpretation for many theologians. It suggests the Nephilim did go extinct during the flood, but returned when the angels bred with human women again. A second, separate group of fallen angels is believed to have committed the same transgression as the first group, mating with human women after the flood to produce a new generation of Nephilim.

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While no ancient writing confirms that the angels bred with human women again, there is a verse in 1 Corinthians 11 that opens the door for this as a possible explanation.  Something Paul said suggests he was concerned that the angels could be tempted by women and more angels could still fall. It’s a verse most people don’t even realize is connected to the giants until you have some background info that we explain in a video. Trust me, you’re going to want to hear this. Click on the video below. It'll drop you right in at the 7:00 min mark where this fascinating theory is explained.

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