In Those Days and Afterward

Genesis 6:4 places the Nephilim on the earth in those days and also afterward. The additional phrase is small, but a great deal has been asked of it. Some readers take it to explain the presence of giants after the Flood.

The verse does not name the Flood as the boundary. Afterward might refer to the days just mentioned, the unions, or another period understood within the sentence. The word tells us that the account reaches beyond an earlier time, but it does not identify that time precisely.

This leaves room for a question about later giant traditions. It does not answer that question by itself. Before placing a post-Flood lineage on the phrase, we need an argument for what afterward means here.

For the present comparison, the important point is the difference between continuation and a calendar. Genesis gives us the first. A reconstruction must still justify the second.