Is the Book of Giants in the Bible?
No. The Book of Giants is not in the King James Version or any Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox canon. It is a Second Temple Jewish text preserved only in fragments among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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The Book of Giants — Free PDF Study Guide
A clear, scholarly introduction to the Book of Giants — the fragmentary Qumran text that continues the story of Genesis 6 where the Book of Enoch leaves off. It names the giant sons of the Watchers, records their terrifying dreams of the coming flood, and sends the giant Mahaway flying to Enoch for an interpretation. This free guide reconstructs the narrative from the Dead Sea Scroll fragments and shows how it relates to 1 Enoch and the King James Bible.
An original Bible Sundays study companion. The Book of Giants survives only in Aramaic fragments from Qumran (caves 1, 2, 4, 6) and in a later Manichaean recension; no complete ancient text exists. This guide reconstructs the narrative and quotes Scripture from the King James Version.
What you get
Reconstructed narrative from the Qumran Aramaic fragments
The named giants — Ohyah, Hahyah, Mahaway, and Gilgamesh
How it continues Genesis 6:1–4 and 1 Enoch 6–16
The two dreams and Enoch's interpretation of judgment
Why it never entered any Christian canon
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What is the Book of Giants?
The Book of Giants is an Aramaic Jewish text of the second century BC, found in fragmentary form among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. It picks up the story told in Genesis 6:1–4 and expanded in 1 Enoch: the Watchers descended, took human wives, and fathered a race of giants. Where 1 Enoch narrates the crime and the judgment, the Book of Giants tells the story from the giants' own point of view — their violence, their fear, their prophetic dreams, and their doomed attempt to get a reprieve from Enoch himself.
The story the fragments preserve
Two giants, Ohyah and Hahyah — sons of the Watcher chief Shemihazah — each receive a nightmare. One sees a tablet washed clean by water, leaving only three names; the other sees a great tree uprooted with a single stump left standing. Terrified, the giants send their brother Mahaway on a flight to the ends of the earth to find Enoch, 'the scribe of interpretation.' Enoch reads the dreams plainly: the flood is coming, the giants will be destroyed, and only Noah's line will survive. One of the strangest details in all of Second Temple literature appears here — the name Gilgamesh, the hero of the Babylonian epic, listed among the giants.
How it relates to the Bible
The Book of Giants is not Scripture and was never treated as such by Jews or Christians. It is best read as an ancient commentary on Genesis 6:1–4, showing how some Jewish communities before Christ understood 'the sons of God' and 'the giants in the earth in those days.' That background matters for reading Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4, which both speak of angels who sinned and are now held in chains for judgment — language that assumes exactly the story world of Enoch and Giants. Read it for historical light on the New Testament, and weigh everything in it against the inspired text of the King James Bible.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Book of Giants say about the Nephilim?
It treats the giants as the offspring of the Watchers and human women, exactly as in 1 Enoch, and names several of them — Ohyah, Hahyah, and Mahaway — describing their violence on the earth and their dreams foretelling the flood that would destroy them.
Is the Book of Giants part of the Book of Enoch?
It is closely related but separate. Both come from the same stream of Jewish tradition about the Watchers, and in the Manichaean tradition Giants circulated as an Enochic book, but it is not one of the five sections of 1 Enoch.
When was the Book of Giants written?
Most scholars date the Aramaic original to the second century BC, roughly contemporary with the Book of Jubilees and the later sections of 1 Enoch.
Why is Gilgamesh named in the Book of Giants?
The name Gilgamesh appears among the giants in the Qumran fragments, showing that Jewish writers of the period knew Mesopotamian epic tradition and folded its famous hero into their own account of the antediluvian giants.
Is there a complete text of the Book of Giants?
No complete ancient copy survives. What we have are damaged Aramaic fragments from Qumran caves 1, 2, 4, and 6, plus later Manichaean versions in Middle Persian, Sogdian, and Uyghur that adapt the story.
Where can I read more about the Watchers?
Our free Book of Enoch PDF contains the complete R.H. Charles translation of 1 Enoch, including the Book of the Watchers (chapters 1–36), which is the fullest ancient account of the fallen angels and their offspring.
Can I share this study guide?
Yes. This Bible Sundays study guide is free to share for any personal, ministry, or educational purpose.
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