Biblical History of Man: From Creation to the Flood part 5

Here's the most difficult question for this time. 

What about the Nephilim who were on the earth before the flood?

To begin, let's read Genesis 6:1-5.
¹ Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

This short passage tells a very important story.  A group of "sons of God" took wives, whoever they desired to choose, and the children born in this relationship were called Nephilim.  We have to ask a bunch of questions when we talk about this passage.

Who are the "sons of God"?  The Hebrew words used here are B'nai Ha Elohim.  This phrase is used only a few other times in the Old Testament.
Job 1:6-7  ⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
Job 2:1-2 ¹Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. ² The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
Job 38:4-7 ⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding,
⁵ Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
⁶ “On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

(In Hosea 1 the phrase is used the final time in a prophetic passage about the church.)

The other usages of the English words "sons of the Lord", "sons of the Lord God", etc are different and use Adonai or Yahweh, not Elohim.

It seems obvious to me that B'nai Ha Elohim refers to heavenly beings...angels if you choose.  The NIV even translates the phrase as "angels" in Job, but translates the same words in Genesis as "sons of God".  Do you see how a translator's worldview or belief system influences his translations?

So.  We have angels who decided to select human women and have children with them.  Odd.  But when we allow scripture to interpret scripture, we have no other choice.

What about these Nephilim?  What do we know about them?
These are the offspring of this union of angels and man. 

Genesis 6 describes them as "mighty men" and "men of renown".
Mighty men...these are men who are characterised by tallness, strength, power, dominion, and possibly also tyranny and oppression.

Men of renown...these are men who are well-known, yet infamous.  They are distinguished by both size and wickedness.  They are legendary.  We all are aware of mythology that tells of men who are half-gods, men of superhuman ability and strength, men (and women) of large stature.  Remember that mythlogy usually has a true story as its beginning, but it has been enhanced and enlarged over time.

They are also described as "giants".