Creating Giants

Nunc quaero qua ratione Cham illius improbi filium seniorem Scriptura fuisse memoraverit? Duo genera terrae, unum velut arenosum et pulverulentum, imo, ut expressius dicam, pulvis: aliud genus terrae fructiferum atque fecundum, hoc est, terra solidior et profunda. Quid igitur improbus nisi pulverem generat, ex quo generatio esse non possit? Ideoque Propheta pulverem impiis comparavit dicens: Non sic impii, non sic, sed tamquam pulvis quem projicit ventus a facie terrae. Eo quod etiam secundum altiorem sensum infecunda sit impiorum anima, quae fructus utiles generare non possit. Qua ratione etiam Chus Nembroth gigantem genuerit, qui erat venator ante Deum? Unde dictum est: Sicut Nembroth gigas venator ante Deum.Quid igitur aliud pulvis et arena generaret, nisi terrenum hominem; eo quod impius coelestibus terrena praeponat. Gigantes enim fabulae inducunt adversum supera voluisse pugnare, et terreno ascensu scandendum ad coelestia putaverunt. Altiore autem sensu illud significatur, quod qui terrenas diligit voluptates, eas sequitur, et putat his se posse ad Dei gratiam pervenire, et regnum coeleste hujusmodi erroribus deferendum, is adversum coelestia contumaci praeliatur affectu. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XXXIV Source: Migne PL 14.461a

Now I ask for what reason Scripture recalls the elder son of that shameful Ham. 1 Two types of earth there are, one is sandy and powdery, which I say is better expressed as dust, and the other type of earth is fruitful and fecund, that is, it is an earth more solid and deep. What, then, does the shameful give birth to but dust, from there is no generation? Therefore the Prophet compared the impious to dust, saying, 'No so with the impious, not so, but they are as dust which the wind casts forth from the face of the earth.' 2 Which understood according to a higher sense is the barren soul of the impious, which is not able to put forth useful fruits. For what reason did Chus sire the giant Nimrod, who was a hunter before God? Whence it is said, ‘Like Nimrod, a giant hunter before the Lord.’3 What shall generate dust and sand, unless a man of the earth? That impious one who prefers earth to heaven. For it is told that the giants of fable wished to fight against the heavens, and rising from the earth they thought to climb up to heaven. And this in a higher sense means that he who loves worldly pleasure, following such things, thinks that by these things he is able to come into the grace of God, and that the heavenly kindgom should defer to his errors, and such a one wars against the heavens in his insolent state. Saint Ambrose, Noah and the Ark, Chapter 34 1 Gen 10.6-7 2 Psal 1.4 3 Gen 10.9