Who Were the Nephilim? The Nephilim (Hebrew: ?????

, Nefilim) were a race that came to dominate the antediluvian (pre-floo d) world, and are referred to in the Bible as the heroes of old, men of renown. They were reportedly the children born to the "Sons of God" by the "daughters of men". It is also most important to note that they are mentioned almost simultan eous to God's statement that He would destroy the earth by flood, and it seems f rom this association that their effect upon mankind was one of the primary justi fications that brought the destruction. "Nephilim" is rendered fallen, or possibly feller: a tyrant or bully. Severa l English translations rendered the word "giants", but of late translators seem to prefer leave it untranslated. The "giants" translation may have come from the Greek old testament where "nephilim" was "gegantes" which looks like "giant" bu t in modern Greek would be "titans". In Greek mythos, the titans were the supern aturally powerful offspring of gods and humans. In Genesis 6 , where the global flood is described, it states that the Nephi lim were also on the Earth afterward. Many therefore, assume that descriptions o f giants in the Bible are references to Nephilim bloodlines. However, the only s pecific mention of Nephilim on the earth after the flood is part of the bad repo rt from the spies in Numbers 13, a report that is called "bad" (or "evil") as in an unreliable source. "When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were bo rn to them, The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and th ey married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever , for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and tha t every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled wi th pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the f ace of the earth men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and bi rds of the air for I am grieved that I have made them." - Genesis 6:1-7 The Sons of God Main Article: Sons of God It is unclear what daughters of men. The ybrid race between two ght regarding the Sons the Sons of God were, but they are distinguished from the most obvious interpretation is that the Nephilim were a h distinct beings. There are at least three schools of thou of God.

The older view, held nearly unanimously by ancient writers prior to Augustin e of Hippo, is that the Nephilim were a hybrid race between certain fallen angel s, called the Benei Ha'Elohim("Sons of God") or The Watchers in extra-Biblical t raditions, and human women. While there has always been a minority of churchmen

who followed this view, it has been promoted recently by popular writers such as Stephen Quayle [1]. In The Genesis Record, Henry Morris states: The only obvious and natural meaning without such clarification is that these beings were sons of God, rather than of men, because they had been created , not born. Such a description, of course, would apply only to Adam (Luke 3:38) and to the angels, whom God had directly created (Psalm 148:2, 5; Psalm 104:4; C olossians 1:16). The actual phrase bene elohim is used three other times, all in the very ancient book of Job (1:6; 2:1; 38:7). There is no doubt at all that, i n these passages, the meaning applies exclusively to the angels. A very similar form (bar elohim) is used in Daniel 3:25, and also refers either to an angel or to a theophany. The term sons of the mighty (bene elim) is used in Psalm 29:1 and also Psalm 89:6, and again refers to angels. Thus, there seems no reasonable dou bt that, in so far as the language itself is concerned, the intent of the writer was to convey the thought of angels - fallen angels, no doubt, since they were acting in opposition to God s will.[2] The more recent view which has been the majority position in the church sinc e St. Augustine in the fourth century is that the Sons of God refers to the godfearing line of Seth; and thedaughters of men refers to the daughters of the unb elieving line of Cain. Variations on this theme include the idea, proposed by Me redith Kline, that the Sons of God were kings or priests who took any woman they chose to be their wife. Still others hold that the Sons of God were other created men. It is argued that the Bible does not describe every person that was created, but only key ind ividuals or situations are included within the text. Those holding to this posit ion call into question the origin of Cain's wife or those whom he feared would k ill him Genesis 4:14-17 . However, this view falls into conflict with Genesis, w hich states that Eve is the mother of all the living. Biblical references Several tribes are encountered in the campaign of the Five Kings in Abraham' s day that some argue might be Nephilim or hybrids of Nephilim. They are describ ed as having become several tribes occupying the lands around the Valley of Sidd im (Dead Sea) and evidently intermixed with the Canaanites. Genesis 14 and Deuteronomy 2 name these tribes as the Rephaim ("titans", chi ldren of "Rapha"), Zuzim or Zamzummim ("terrible ones"), Emim, Horites, and Anak im ("crushing tyrants"). The tribe of the Anakim are directly connected with the Nephilim in the false report of the spies described in (Numbers 13:33 ). The co ntext of the passages suggest that the other tribes of giants were relatives of the Anakim or other lines of Nephilim, particularly the Rephaim whose giant desc endant is described as living in Gath along with the Anakim Goliath and Lahmi (s ee below). The Rephaim are giants (in fact these peoples are generally described as being tall or large) and seem to have been thus matched with the Nephilim ba sed on theEnglish rendering of "giants" in Genesis 6. The tribe of the Anakim were descended from a giant named Anak, who was a so n or grandson of a giant named "Arba", from which the ancient city of Hebron was originally called "Kiriath Arba" or "The City of Arba" because "Arba was the gr eatest man among the Anakim"[2]. This tribe was so tall, that the weak-kneed spi es reported, "we are like grasshoppers to them." Scripture describes how the tribes of giants were fought and destroyed by th e tribes of normal men who replaced them, including the Israelites. Moses killed Og, king of the Rehpaim who lived on the Golan heights near Mt. Hermon. Og had a bed nine cubits long (13.5 to 15.5 feet, depending on which cubit was used) an d was called "last of the remnant of the giants"[3]. Og may be the source of the

word "ogre" in the English language. Joshua drove the three remaining sons of Anak out of Hebron in his first cam paignm. They evidently reoccupied the city of Hebron while Joshua was waging his campaign against Canaanite cities in the North. Caleb later retook Hebron and k illed the three giants[4]. Later David and Saul fought a remnant of smaller giants who had taken refuge in the Philistine city of Gath. They included Goliath, who was about nine feet tall, and his brother Lahmi "whose spear had a shaft like a weaver's rod". The l ast of the Gittite giants was slain, "In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha"[5]. The last Scriptural reference to the giants may be Isaiah 45:14 , which prop hecies that Sabean "men of stature" will become slaves in chains of the redeemed Israelites. The characteristics of these tribes described in Scripture: * Their height was two or three times the height of normal men. * They were associated with some kind of unholy intermixing before the F lood. * They were closely associated with the wicked Canaanites after the Floo d. * In one case they are described as having polydactyly (extra fingers an d toes). * Unlike the Canaanites, there are no examples of Nephilim who became fo llowers of God. Apocryphal references The Nephilim are described in great detail in the Book of Jubilees and Book of Enoch. Both of these books have been traditionally rejected as apocryphal by the European Church. However, they were both considered canonical by the Ethiopi c Church from the time of Christ until today, and the Book of Enoch was quoted i n the Biblical Epistle of Jude. Jubilees has the following to say about the sons of God and the Nephilim: "And in the second week of the tenth jubilee [449-55 A.M.] Mahalalel too k unto him to wife Dinah, the daughter of Barakiel the daughter of his father's brother, and she bare him a son in the third week in the sixth year, [461 A.M.] and he called his name Jared, for in his days the angels of the Lord descended o n the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the chi ldren of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth." Jubilees 4:15 "And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the f ace of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God saw t hem on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; an d they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them son s and they were giants. And lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh cor rupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that wa lks on the earth -all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they be gan to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagi nation of the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually. And God looked up on the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil before His eyes . And He said that He would destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth

which He had created. But Noah found grace before the eyes of the Lord. And aga inst the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and H e gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bin d them in the depths of the earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of the m, and are (kept) separate. And against their sons went forth a command from bef ore His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from und er heaven. And He said 'My spirit shall not always abide on man; for they also a re flesh and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years'. And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neighbour, and they began to sl ay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth. " - Jubilees 5:1-8 The Book of Enoch has the following to say about them: "It happened after the sons of men had multiplied in those days, that da ughters were born to them, elegant and beautiful. And when the angels, the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamoured of them, saying to each other, Com e, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget c hildren. Then their leader Samyaza said to them; I fear that you may perhaps be indisposed to the performance of this enterprise; And that I alone shall suffer for so grievous a crime. But they answered him and said; We all swear; And bind ourselves by mutual execrations, that we will not change our in tention, but execute our projected undertaking. Then they swore all together, an d all bound themselves by mutual execrations. Their whole number was two hundred , who descended upon Ardis, which is the top of mount Armon. That mountain therefore was called Armon, because they had sworn upon it , and bound themselves by mutual execrations. [Mt. Armon, or Mt. Hermon, derives its name from the Hebrew word herem, a curse.] These are the names of their chiefs: Samyaza, who was their leader, Urak abarameel, Akibeel, Tamiel, Ramuel, Danel, Azkeel, Saraknyal, Asael, Armers, Bat raal, Anane, Zavebe, Samsaveel, Ertael, Turel, Yomyael, Arazyal. These were the prefects of the two hundred angels, and the remainder were all with them. Then they took wives, each choosing for himself; whom they began to appr oach, and with whom they cohabited; teaching them sorcery, incantations, and the dividing of roots and trees. And the women conceiving brought forth giants, Whose stature was each three hundred cubits. These devoured all which th e labor of men produced; until it became impossible to feed them; When they turn ed themselves against men, in order to devour them; And began to injure birds, b easts, reptiles, and fishes, to eat their flesh one after another, and to drink their blood. Their flesh one after another. [Or, "one another s flesh." R.H. Charl es notes that this phrase may refer to the destruction of one class of giants by another.] Then the earth reproved the unrighteous. Moreover Azazyel taught men to make swords, knives, shields, breastplate s, the fabrication of mirrors, and the workmanship of bracelets and ornaments, t he use of paint, the beautifying of the eyebrows, the use of stones of every val uable and select kind, and all sorts of dyes, so that the world became altered. Impiety increased; fornication multiplied; and they transgressed and cor

rupted all their ways. Amazarak taught all the sorcerers, and dividers of roots: Armers taught the solution of sorcery; Barkayal taught the observers of the stars, Akibeel tau ght signs; Tamiel taught astronomy; And Asaradel taught the motion of the moon, And men, being destroyed, cried out; and their voice reached to heaven." - Enoch 6-7.