583. 'The Nephilim' were called 'mighty' on account of their self-love. This too is clear from many passages in the Word where such people are called 'mighty', as in Jeremiah,

The mighty ones of Babel have ceased fighting; they are seated in their strongholds; their might is deserting them, they have become like women. Jeremiah 51:30.

Here also 'the mighty ones of Babel' stands for those who are eaten up with self-love. In the same prophet,

A sword against the liars, and they will go mad. A sword against her mighty ones, and they will be thrown into confusion. Jeremiah 50:36.

In the same prophet,

I have seen it. They have been thrown into confusion and are turning backward. Their mighty ones have been crushed and have surely fled, and they have not looked back - terror all around! The swift will not flee away, nor the mighty one escape. Mount your horses, and drive your chariots madly on; let the mighty ones go forth - Cush, Put, the Ludim. Jeremiah 46:5-6, 9.

This refers to persuasion resulting from reasonings. In the same prophet,

How do you say, We are mighty, and men of strength for war? Moab has been laid waste. Jeremiah 48:14-15.

In the same prophet,

The city has been taken and its strongholds, possession has been taken of it. The heart of the mighty ones of Moab on that day will be like the heart of a woman in labour. Jeremiah 48:41.

Chapter 49:22 similarly speaks of 'the heart of the mighty ones of Edom'. In the same prophet,

Jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and has reclaimed him from the hand of one mightier than himself. Jeremiah 31:11.

Here a different [Hebrew] expression is used for 'mighty'. The fact that the Anakim, who descended from the Nephilim, were spoken of as 'mighty ones' is clear in Moses,

You are crossing the Jordan today, going to dispossess nations greater and more numerous than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, Who will stand before the sons of Anak? Deuteronomy 9:1-2.

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.