Good morning Deborah. I did get your answers for you last night, but in fact I see that His_nee (Jeff) did essentially answer your question for you with this:
The answer becomes clear in the structure if the sentence "There were Nephilim in the earth in those days (i.e. in the days of Noah); and also AFTER THAT, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men (Heb. gibbor, the heroes) which were of old, men of renown" / First it tells us that there were Nephilim in the land in those days
and also after that...then it goes on to tell us...
when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and had children with them. So yes, they did it twice. Before and after the flood. So Nephilim genes did not have to be upon the ark, (nor did they have a need to do it genetically at the time, that may have become an idea to them after Jesus came). I think what it all really come down to is who are the Sons of God? If we could look at the entire bible to get our context for this, is the only real way to do it. The other two views prevelant are that they were Nobles, which is an idea brought out through orthodox judaism I believe, or that the godly sons of Seth married the bad daughters of men. Let's revist all three and see if we can confirm or deny any such claim of the three choices.
Nobles?:
There is nothing in scripture that even hints at them being religious nobles. (Do you have any?)
How would religious nobles marrying the daughters of men, get the Lord angry enough to destroy the world anyway???
How would giants come from such a marriage anyway?
This has no scriptural support and makes no sense whatsoever.
The Sons of Seth?:
The big problem with this is that God said that the only people that were righteous were Noah and his sons!
How could Seths sons be godly and marry evil daughters of men at the same time?
If the issue was "mixed marriages" then the Wrath should have only been between Seths sons and their wives, yes?
God destroyed the entire earth sans Noah and his sons, why would He do this if Seths sons were so godly?
How did giants come these normal human marriages?
(Extrabiblically, Josephus did say that Seths sons were not godly, but I wont go there, stick to scripture.)
Nothing about the sons of Seth computes, sorry.
That leaves us with proving by context the fallen Angel view. Let's jump right in, shall we and use the entire bible for context and support?!
(Warning, new scriptures found!) Can we agree that the only truth in the universe is that which proceeds from the mouth of God? I think so.
Fallen Angels?:
Job 1:6
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them./(KJV)
We know that Satan came before God to ask permission to tempt Job, but notice that the Sons of God came with him.
Do human men typically come before the throne of God?
Does Satan hang out with men?
Here is a hint that these are fallen Angels.
Job 2: 1
2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord./(KJV)
Job 38:4-7
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?/(KJV)
God is speaking of the creation of the world here. The Sons of God were THERE. Who is suggesting that the sons of God are MEN and were present at the creation of the world?! Mankind did not exist yet! These were Angels brothers and sisters.
Daniel 3:23-25
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God./(KJV)
For clarity;
Daniel 3:23-25
23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”/(NIV)
Here we see the distinction between men and angelic/spiritual beings. As the KJV reads (singular) this could be Jesus Himself, or as the NIV reads, may be construed to be an Angel. (Take your pick). Either way the distinction is clearly there. They put 3 MEN in the fire, now there's 4 and the 4th looks...(like a spiritual being).
How did the king know which one was which? He had some sort of reference knowledge to draw upon. He knew, he stated it. He';s seen Angels before I think. One doesn't become king being a dummy. He didn't make this up, he knew what he was looking at. He knew men, he knew Angels.
Hosea 1: 10
10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God./(KJV)
Uh-oh, this is a prophecy! This speaks future tense...shall be called the sons of God. It is speaking of human men (Israelites, Gods people!). In the future they will be called the sons of God. Not until the resurrection day is my thought, but it does make the point that at that present time, men are not called sons of God.
John 1: 12
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:/(KJV)
Praise the Lord brothers and sisters! Here is our New Testament promise that us who believe have been given the power to become the sons of God! Huh. "To become" So I'm not now. This is future tense also. I wonder when this will be? Will it happen in the twinkling of an eye when we receive our new glorified bodies? Makes sense to me brothers and sisters. We wont be human anymore. Born from above. All of these scriptures indicate or even plainly tell us that sons of God are not human at all. Adam was also a son of God because he originated from God. All of Adam's descendants are sons of Adam.While we are in our physical bodies, we are not sons of God. We may be called sons of God in a spiritual sense, but this is on the inside, a renewing of our spirit, heart, and mind. We have the power to become the sons of God by being overcomers and keeping the faith until the end, where we will receive our glorified bodies and become the sons of God. We will not take on the role of sons of God until the return of the Messiah and we are sealed and changed.
So in all of the bible Angels, the Messiah, Adam, and born again believers are called and defined as "sons of God."
I prayed about this to our Lord Jesus Christ. I asked for it to be revealed to me the truth of this once and for all. That if I was wrong, to please show me because I certainly do not want to mis-represent the living God. I didn't realize these other scriptures were there before, but this is what I was given, and where I was led brothers and sisters. Please prayerfully consider these things. As distasteful as it is...it is the truth. Herein has scripture shown who are the Sons of God. Plenty of context, plenty of supporting scriptures. May I suggest that we follow Deborahs most excellent advice to stick with the scriptures if you choose to respond to this. This is a good discussion and we don't need name calling here. Bless you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.