Genesis 5:1-6:8

[alon]

This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 5:1-6:8
Haftara- Isaiah 30:8-15

D’rash: Genesis 6 introduces two interesting and much debated subjects, the “sons of God” and the “Nephilim.” Just who were these beings?

Genesis 6:1-2,4 When man (האדם; ha’adam) began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,  the sons of God (בני אלהים; benei elohim) saw that the daughters of man (בנות האדם; benot ha’adam) were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. … The giants [נפלים nephilim] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

One very popular view is these בני אלהים; benei elohim were fallen angels who rebelled against God’s authority. Their offspring then were the נפלים nephilim, fallen ones, the mighty men of old. However there is no scriptural corroboration for angels desiring or mating with humans. Nor were the “sons of God” ever called angels. Others see these beings as lesser gods who fall under the authority of the God of Israel: Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and [the Adversary] also came among them.

We have here a heavenly court in which “the sons of God (בני אלהים; benei elohim) came to present themselves before the Lord.” Later God asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth… when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God (בני אלהים; benei elohim) shouted for joy?” (Job 38:7). We see the “sons of God” as divine subjects in the Lord’s retinue. So they view Genesis 6 as saying these lesser gods abandoned their positions in the heavens and entered the earthly realm where they took human women.

Now, we need to define a term here. A “god” is any being (human or spiritual) who is in authority over others. And the Hebrews, as with all ancients lived in a world where there were many “gods,” both human and spiritual. So saying these were gods who came to earth takes nothing away from Eternal God, the God of Israel.

But I still disagree:

Numbers 13:32-33 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

So there were still Nephilim after the flood. Were “angels” still mating with people? If so, why are we not overrun with Nephilim right now? I would suggest this is not the case. Scripture refers to the Davidic king as God’s “son:”

2 Samuel 7:14a I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

Psalm 2:6-7 “As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    
today I have begotten you.

I believe the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 were rulers, probably the fiercest warriors, who “took women for themselves” as an abuse of power. These were men, probably large, strong men who could intimidate and, if needs be outfight other men. They took power and abused it, taking probably the most and best of everything, including women.

Going back to Numbers 33, who were these “the sons of Anak,” the Anakim?

Deuteronomy 9:2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’

They were a pre-Canaanite tribe, dwelling in the hill country of Judah and in the Philistine plain (Gaza):

Joshua 11:21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel.

Joshua 21:11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it.

They occupied the region south of Palestine, around Hebron:

Genesis 23:2  And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

Joshua 15:13 According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).

In Abraham’s time they occupied a region later known as Edom and Moab, east of the Yarden:

Genesis 14:5-6 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness.

They were conquered by Caleb (Joshua 25:14; Judges 1:20). However in Judges 1:10 their final conquest is ascribed to Judah. These were most likely remnants of the original occupants of Canaan, the same race as the Phoenicians. Their formidable appearance terrorized the Israelite spies. We all know the story of Goliath, but there were other Philistine giants whom David and his armies fought:

2 Samuel 21:15-22 There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary.  And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.” After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down. These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Deuteronomy says the Anakim are a branch of the Rephaim:

Deuteronomy 2:11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.

Deuteronomy 2:20-21 (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place,

Numbers 13:33 also classes them as Nephilim. However how many were Nephilim is not clear.

The name “Anakim” is from the root ‘anak' meaning ‘neck. The meaning of "bene ha’Anak" is not clear, some saying it means "the long-necked,” others "the necklace-wearers." They probably wore "neck-chains heaped upon neck-chains.” (Midrash Gen. R. 26.). The Anakim left no trace in history. Only the biblical accounts tell of them “in the beginning.”

We have a rough idea of the size of one biblical giant:

Deuteronomy 3:11 (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth [roughly 14 feet long and 6 feet wide], according to the common cubit. [A cubit was about 18 inches])

Giants are still with us today. Giantism today is usually caused by a hormonal imbalance, though it can be genetic, and can result in people with impressive height and especially girth. Andre the Giant was a contemporary professional wrestler who stood well over 7 ft. and had a girth equal to 3 large men. Other signs of giantism are enlarged hands and feet and changes in the shape of the face- protruding jaw and brow bone, enlarged nose, thickened lips, and wider spacing between the teeth. These can give a “giant” a fearsome demeanor and frightening appearance.

The Nephilim encountered by Melech Dovid, Joshua, and those in Genesis 6 were probably of the genetic variant; and I believe men, not sons of ‘angels.’ Men who abused their intimidating appearance, size and strength to gain power and use it to satiate their own lusts, whether that be for women or for blood; or both. Just my opinion.

Mekarot: Green Interlinear Bible, Biblical Archaeology Society, Israel Bible Center, Dr G Millikan, my father and others.
I also did an internet search on "giantism," which is a fascinating subject. i only scratch the surface here.

*(all scripture is from the English Standard version of the Bible)

Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 6:9-7:24
Haftara- Isaiah 54:1-17

Apostolic references will be given in the darashot

[mosheli]

I know that the angels theory is majorly disliked/disapproved by Jews (non-messianic).
My own personal view is that the Bene Elohim "sons of god" were fallen angels who "left their first estate", but the Nephilim "fellers, giants (of wickedness)" were Adamites/Cainites/Sethites who were "already in the earth", and the Gibborim "mighty" were offspring. Nimrod was a Gheber/Gibbor/Gever "mighty". (Though the same word is found in Proverbs 30:1.) Men began to call/defy name of the Lord in days of Seth/Enosh (and enosh/anesh/nasha means "(fallen/mortal) man"), and Lamech's wife is supposedly (and Bat-enos/Petenos "daughter of mortal/man" similar to Benot ha-Adam). The Sethites are portrayed as bad in Josephus, and Cainites are bad in the theory of sons of god and daughters of men being Sethites and Cainites.
The Benot ha-Adam "daughters of men" implies the sons of God were not Adamites.
Lots of ancient mythologies had "gods" coming from the sky/stars/heavens/space, and there is the modern ancient alien origins theory that aliens seeded or interfered with evolution.
Though Derek Prince suggested the sons of god bit was more like occult possession.
The strange genetics like 6 digits and gigantism etc might support "alien"/"angelic" genes.
Noah was "perfect in his generations" partly meaning his parents genes were not polluted (contrary to the Batenos legend). Unclean and clean animals may also point to that there was mixing with animals as well.
Some think the iron and clay mixing but not holding together in Daniel relates.

[alon]

Not a lot of replies to this one, which kind of surprises me since the subject is giants and the Nephilim. One reason I do not subscribe to the "fallen angels" theory is it is based on the book of "Enoch," a proven pseudepigraphic work. Another is that stories of giants appear in almost every culture. Moreover there is a LOT of physical evidence for them. Up until about the 20th century discoveries of giant skeletons in the US were very common. Many old newspapers have stories and even photos of excavated burial mounds with giant skeletons in them. They were also discovered in caves, both natural and man made in Mexico. And well documented excavated remains have been found in much of the world. There is even some extremely old film footage of a Japanese giant towering over a crowd of Japanese men at what looks to be just over twice their height and over two times their girth.

Giants in the Americas seem to be from eight to eleven feet tall, but were much larger in parts of Europe. In the Mediterranean regions in particular they could be upwards of thirty feet tall! There are legends that the very early Pharaohs in Egypt were a race of giants. It is also thought that giants are one reason for the many megalithic structures around the world. The earlier name for Stonehenge was "The Ring of the Giants, for example.

For some reason from the early 20th Century on the existence of artifacts such as the hundreds of giant skeletons have been hidden or covered up by many countries, the US in particular. The media makes no reference to any evidence of giants and mention of them is purged from our history books. Abraham Lincoln mentioned them in recorded remarks while awestruck, gazing on Niagara Falls, saying the early giant inhabitants had gazed on those very falls. And Josephus speaking of the conquest of ha'Eretz wrote:

"There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to any credible relations to other men."

Three of Columbus' captains reported sightings of giants inn North America, as well as Sir Francis Drake, Capt. John Smith, Alejandro Penada, and many other notable and credible eyewitnesses. Penada actually recorded a village of giants living with a race of pygmies! Magellan's official chronicler on his famous circumnavigation of the earth records an experience in Patagonia where they overwintered, "One day we saw a naked man of giant stature dancing, singing, and throwing dust on his head. ... He was so tall that we reached only to his waist, and he was well proportioned." As this man was responsible both to Magellan and to the king for a factual eyewitness account of events on the voyage this is considered an absolutely unimpeachable source, and next to the Bible itself the best factual source of an encounter with a giant.

Later Hernando DeSoto encountered many giants in the American Southwest. Several  tribes of normal men were ruled by giants. Many (at least of my generation and earlier) have heard of Chef Tuscaloosa, but few know he was a giant! Other Conquistadors, including Coronado and Cortez recorded encounters with giants as well. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who served  under Cortez was told and shown evidence of a race of giants  who once ruled  the Aztecs. But they were so wicked they were overthrown and killed. Other tribes of Central America told similar accounts of evil giants, in some cases cannibals who the tribes had united to overthrow and kill off. There are even fossilized footprints of giant feet, including one fully formed and well preserved very, very large footprint in South Africa. Modern "experts" say it was created  by natural erosion, however anyone looking at pictures of this fossilized print would  immediately (in my opinion)  declare them to be fools or tools (probably the latter, or even more likely both).

And finally a bizarre tale from 2002. Some US Special Forces soldiers came forward with a story that was supposed to be classified, but they just had to tell it. The short version is a giant attacked them, and they concentrated fire on its head for thirty seconds to finally bring it down. The remains were sent to the US for "study," and of course never seen again. Then there are the "Sasquatch" (or other local names) sightings around  the world. I leave you to ponder the veracity of these contemporary reports of possible hiding giants in the wild. However the fact giantism is still with us cannot be hidden or denied as it is well documented in medicine. And the evidence for earlier genetic races of giants all over the world is overwhelming. Evidence also exists that many if not most of these giants were warlike and  severely abused the power they had due to their size and countenance. Oddly, and I see no mention of this anywhere so it is only speculation, but there are no records of encounters with female giants. Maybe I just missed it ... who knows. But as I said, the subject is fascinating. And the historical and archaeological records clearly support the biblical stories of giants. There are however no credible records of "fallen angels" mating with human women.

        

 

[jimmie]

Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

Luke 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
Luke 20:35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

These passages seem to indicate that only children of this world can marry/procreate and angels do not. Thus I do not subscribe to the mixing of angle's and human's genes. The "sons of god" were likely kings/rulers who set themselves up as gods and took any "daughter of men" that they wanted by force if need be. This was done by the kings of Egypt, and others who claimed to be "sons of god"