TheNephilim (/ˈnɛfɪˌlɪm/;Hebrew:נְפִילִיםNəfīlīm) are mysterious beings or humans in theBible traditionally imagined as being of great size and strength, or alternatively beings of greatpower and authority.[1] The origins of the Nephilim are disputed. Some, including the author of theBook of Enoch, view them as the offspring ofrebellious angels and humans.[2][3] Others view them as descendants ofSeth andCain.[4][5][6]
This reference to them is inGenesis 6:1–4, but the passage is ambiguous and the identity of the Nephilim is disputed.[7][8] According toNumbers 13:33, ten of theTwelve Spies report the existence of Nephilim inCanaan prior to itsconquest by the Israelites.[9][10]
A similar or identicalBiblical Hebrew term, read as "Nephilim" by some scholars, or as the word "fallen" by others, appears inEzekiel 32:27 and is also mentioned in thedeuterocanonical booksJudith 16:6,Sirach 16:7,Baruch 3:26–28, andWisdom 14:6.[a][11][12]
TheBrown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon (1908) gives the meaning of Nephilim as "giants", and warns that proposed etymologies of the word are "all very precarious".[13] Many suggested interpretations are based on the assumption that the word is a derivative of Hebrew verbal rootn-p-l (נ־פ־ל) "fall".Girdlestone (1871, p. 91) argued the word comes from thehif'ilcausative stem, possibly indicating that the name 'Nephilim' is to be understood as 'those that cause others to fall down'.[14] Ronald Hendel states that it is a passive form: 'Ones who have fallen', grammatically analogous topaqid 'one who is appointed' (i.e., a deputy or overseer),asir 'one who is bound' (i.e., a prisoner),etc.[15][16] It is also argued that the "fallen" refer to those who "fell in battle", similar to thegibborim.[17]
The majority of ancient biblical translations – including theSeptuagint,Theodotion,Latin Vulgate,Samaritan Targum,Targum Onkelos, andTargum Neofiti – interpret the word to mean "giants".[18]Symmachus translates it as "the violent ones"[19][b][21] andAquila's translation has been interpreted to mean either "the fallen ones"[19] or "the ones falling [upon their enemies]."[21][22][c]
ArchaeologistG.E. Wright states that belief in the Nephilim, especially as giants, originated from the Hebrews’ contemplation ofTransjordianmegalithic structures andcyclopean masonry walls of Canaanite cities, with some being 18 feet thick. Nonetheless, he notes that ancient Canaanites were relatively short, before and after 3000 BC, with no significant findings of abnormally sized aborigines.[23] Biblical professor Brian R. Doak believes that Nephilim lore is apolemic against the tropes ofepic andheroism, commonly found in the worldviews of cultures similar to the Hebrews'.[24] J.C. Greenfield similarly believes that Nephilim lore is based on "the negative aspects of theApkallu tradition" inSumerian mythology.[25](pp 72–74) The Apkallu were sevenantediluvianculture heroes who were praised for their exceptional wisdom. In fact, some were called "the son ofEa".[25](p 73)
Brandet al. (2023)[17] argue that the Nephilim refer to elite or royal warriors from legendary antiquity, who do not necessarily have abnormal stature or divine parentage. They view the Nephilim in Numbers 13-14 as autochthonous elite warriors who dwelt in pre-Israelite Canaan.[17] Ellen White believes that their purpose, narratively speaking, is to die so thatGod's chosen, who are the "underdogs", could prevail.[26]
TheAnakites, who are associated with the Nephilim,[27] are mentioned in the EgyptianExecration texts of theMiddle Kingdom[28] (2055–1650 BC) as one of Egypt's political enemies in Canaan.[29]
In the Hebrew Bible, there are three interconnected passages referencing thenephilim. Two of them come from thePentateuch. The first occurrence is in Genesis 6:1–4, immediately before the account ofNoah's Ark. Genesis 6:4 reads as follows:
The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.[9]
Where theJewish Publication Society's translation simply transliterates the Hebrewnephilim as "Nephilim",[9] theKing James Version translates the term as "giants".[30]
The nature of the Nephilim is complicated by the ambiguity of Genesis 6:4, which leaves it unclear whether they are the "sons of God" or their offspring who are the "mighty men of old, men of renown".Richard Hess takes it to mean that the Nephilim are the offspring,[31] as does P.W. Coxon.[32]
The second is Numbers 13:32–33, where ten ofthe Twelve Spies describe the Anakites (aRephaite tribe) as descendants of the Nephilim:
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons ofAnak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.[9]
Outside the Pentateuch there is one more passage indirectly referencingnephilim and this is Ezekiel 32:17–32. Of special significance is Ezekiel 32:27, which contains a phrase of disputed meaning. With the traditional vowels added to the text in the medieval period, the phrase is readgibborim nophlim ("'fallen warriors" or "fallenGibborim"), although some scholars read the phrase asgibborim nephilim ("Nephilim warriors" or "warriors, Nephilim").[33][11][32] According to R.S. Hendel, the phrase should be interpreted as "warriors, the Nephilim" in a reference to Genesis 6:4. The verse as understood by Hendel reads:
They lie with the warriors, the Nephilim of old, who descended toSheol with their weapons of war. They placed their swords beneath their heads and their shields upon their bones, for the terror of the warriors was upon the land of the living.[11]
B.R. Doak, on the other hand, proposes to read the term as the Hebrew verb "fallen" (נופליםnophlim), not a use of the specific term "Nephilim", but still according to Doak a clear reference to the Nephilim tradition as found in Genesis.[12](p 622)
The earliest translations of the Hebrew Bible, theSeptuagint, composed in the 3rd or 2nd century BC, renders the said word asgigantes. In Greek Mythology the gigantes were beings of great strength and aggression but not necessarily of great size.[34] The choice made by the Greek translators has been preserved in Latin translation. TheVulgate, compiled in the 4th or 5th century AD, transcribes the Greek term rather than translating the Hebrewnefilim. From there, the tradition of the giant progeny of the sons of God and the daughters of men spread to later medieval translations of the Bible.[1]
The decision of the Greek translators to render the Hebrewnefilim as Greekgigantes is a separate matter. The Hebrewnefilim means literally "the fallen ones" and the strict translation into Greek would bepeptokotes, which in fact appears in the Septuagint of Ezekiel 32:22–27. It seems then that the authors of Septuagint wished not only to simply translate the foreign term into Greek, but also to employ a term which would be intelligible and meaningful for their Hellenistic audiences. Given the complex meaning of thenefilim which emerged from the three interconnected biblical passages (human–divine hybrids in Genesis 6, autochthonous people in Numbers 13 and ancient warriors damned in the underworld in Ezekiel 32), the Greek translators recognized some similarities. First and foremost, bothnefilim andgigantes possessed an ambiguous identity, being a mixture of the human and divine. They were also viewed with fascination and moral contempt. Secondly, both were presented as impersonating chaotic qualities and posing some serious danger to gods and humans. Lastly, bothgigantes andnefilim were clearly connected with the underworld and were said to have originated from earth, and they both end up closed therein.[1]
In1 Enoch, they were "great giants, whose height was three hundred cubits". Because 1cubit is 18 inches (46 cm), this would make them 450 feet (140 m) tall. However, this "three hundred cubits" is considered to be a translation error in Ethiopian version, by scholars, and the earlier Greek version is considered to be closer to the original than Ethiopian one: "The giants gave birth to Nephilim, and from Nephilim, 'Elioud' came out, and they were growing up according to their grandeur." This, indeed, matches other text likeBook of Jubilees 7:21-22 which states the three races of giants: Naphidim, Naphil, and Eljo. The correct translation of the verse about the giants' height in1 Enoch is rather about three races of giants including Elioud. Knowing this, John Baty, who published the Ethiopian version of Enoch in 1839, translated it exactly as the Greek text.[35]
TheQuran refers to thepeople of Ād inQuran 26:130 whom theprophetHud declares to be likejabbarin (Hebrew:gibborim), probably a reference to the Biblical Nephilim. The people of Ād are said to be giants, the tallest among them 100 ft (30 m) high.[36] However, according toIslamic legend, the ʿĀd were not wiped out bythe Flood, since some of them had been too tall to be drowned. Instead, God destroyed them after they rejected further warnings.[37] After death, they were banished into the lower layers ofhell.[38]
From the third century BC onwards, references are found in theEnochic literature, theDead Sea Scrolls,[39]Jubilees, the Testament of Reuben,2 Baruch,Josephus, and theBook of Jude (compare with2 Peter 2). For example:
Some Christian apologists, such asTertullian and especiallyLactantius, shared this opinion.
The earliest statement in a secondary commentary explicitly interpreting this to mean that angelic beings mated with humans can be traced to the rabbinicalTargum Pseudo-Jonathan and it has since become especially commonplace in modern Christian commentaries. This line of interpretation finds additional support in the text of Genesis 6:4, which juxtaposes the sons of God (male gender, divine nature) with the daughters of men (female gender, human nature). From this parallelism it could be inferred that the sons of God are understood as some superhuman beings.[2]
TheNew American Bible commentary draws a parallel to theEpistle of Jude and the statements set forth in Genesis, suggesting that the Epistle refers implicitly to the paternity of Nephilim as heavenly beings who came to earth and had sexual intercourse with women.[3][d] The footnotes of theJerusalem Bible suggest that the biblical author intended the Nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race". Superhuman, in this context, refers to the extremity of their wickedness.[e]
Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citingJesus's statement that angels do not marry.[41] Others disagree since Jesus also compared angels to men, thus implying the former's ability to have sex.[42] Angels are also never explicitly described as being incapable of marriage. The absence of marriage among angels can be thus compared to wilfulcelibacy.[43]
Evidence cited in favor of the fallen angels interpretation includes the fact that the phrase "the sons of God" (Hebrew:בְּנֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים; or "sons of the gods") is used twice outside of Genesis 6, in theBook of Job (1:6 and 2:1) where the phrase explicitly references angels. TheSeptuagint manuscriptCodex Alexandrinus reading of Genesis 6:2 renders this phrase as "the angels of God" whileCodex Vaticanus reads "sons".[44]
Another modern view that aligns with the fallen angel interpretation includes Nephilim being the offspring ofdemon-possessed men and women.[45]
The story of the Nephilim is further elaborated in theBook of Enoch. The Greek, Aramaic, and main Ge'ez manuscripts of 1 Enoch andJubilees obtained in the 19th century and held in theBritish Museum andVatican Library, connect the origin of the Nephilim with the fallen angels, and in particular with theegrḗgoroi (watchers).Samyaza, anangel of high rank, is described as leading a rebel sect of angels in a descent to earth to have sexual intercourse with human females:
And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: "Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children." And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: "I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin." And they all answered him and said: "Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing." Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it ...[46]
In this tradition, the children of the Nephilim are called theElioud, who are considered a separate race from the Nephilim, but they share the fate of the Nephilim.
Some believe the fallen angels whobegat the Nephilim were cast intoTartarus (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) (Greek Enoch 20:2),[f] a place of "total darkness". An interpretation is that God granted ten percent of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim to remain afterthe Flood, asdemons, to try to lead the human race astray until thefinal Judgment. Another similar view was proposed by Dr. Michael Heiser, anOld Testament scholar from theUniversity of Pennsylvania and theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison. In his bookThe Unseen Realm he states that the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim became what has been known as demons or unclean spirits.[48]
In addition toEnoch, theBook of Jubilees (7:21–25) also states that ridding the Earth of these Nephilim was one of God's purposes for flooding the Earth in Noah's time.[49] These works describe the Nephilim as being evil giants.
The New TestamentEpistle of Jude (14–15) cites from1 Enoch 1:9, which many scholars believe is based onDeuteronomy 33:2.[50][g][h][i] To most commentators this confirms that the author of Jude regarded the Enochic interpretations of Genesis 6 as correct; however, others[53] have questioned this.
References to the offspring ofSeth rebelling from God and mingling with the daughters ofCain are found from the second century AD onwards in both Christian and Jewish sources (e.g., RabbiShimon bar Yochai,Augustine of Hippo,Sextus Julius Africanus, and theLetters attributed to St. Clement). It is also the view expressed in the modern canonicalAmharicEthiopian Orthodox Bible: Henok 2:1–3
Orthodox Judaism has taken a stance against the idea that Genesis 6 refers to angels or that angels could intermarry with men.Shimon bar Yochai pronounced a curse on anyone teaching this idea.Rashi andNachmanides followed this.Pseudo-Philo (Biblical Antiquities 3:1–3) may also imply that the "sons of God" were human.[54] Consequently, most Jewish commentaries and translations describe the Nephilim as being from the offspring of "sons of nobles", rather than from "sons of God" or "sons of angels".[j] This is also the rendering suggested in theTargum Onqelos,Symmachus and theSamaritan Targum, which read "sons of the rulers", whereTargum Neophyti reads "sons of the judges".
Likewise, a long-held view among some Christians is that the "sons of God" were the formerly righteous descendants of Seth who rebelled, while the "daughters of men" were the unrighteous descendants of Cain, and the Nephilim the offspring of their union.[k] This view, dating to at least the 1st century AD in Jewish literature as described above, is also found in Christian sources from the 3rd century if not earlier, with references throughout theClementine literature,[55] as well as inSextus Julius Africanus,[6]Ephrem the Syrian,[56] and others. Holders of this view have looked for support in Jesus' statement that "in those days beforethe floodthey [humans] were ...marrying and giving in marriage" (Matthew 24:38, emphasis added).[57][self-published source?]
Some individuals and groups, includingSt. Augustine,John Chrysostom, andJohn Calvin, take the view of Genesis 6:2 that the "Angels" who fathered the Nephilim referred to certain human males from the lineage ofSeth, who were calledsons of God probably in reference to their priorcovenant withYahweh (cf.Deuteronomy 14:1;32:5); according to these sources, these men had begun to pursue bodily interests, and so took wives of "the daughters of men", e.g., those who were descended fromCain or from any people who did not worship God.
This also is the view of theEthiopian Orthodox Church,[58] supported by their ownGe'ez manuscripts andAmharic translation of theHaile Selassie Bible—where the books of1 Enoch andJubilees, counted as canonical by this church, differ from western academic editions.[l] The "Sons of Seth view" is also the view presented in a few extra-biblical, yet ancient works, includingClementine literature, the 3rd centuryCave of Treasures, and thec. 6th centuryGe'ez workTheConflict of Adam and Eve with Satan. In these sources, these offspring of Seth were said to have disobeyed God, by breeding with the Cainites and producing wicked children "who were all unlike", thus angering God into bringing about the Deluge, as in theConflict:
Certain wise men of old wrote concerning them, and say in their [sacred] books that angels came down from heaven and mingled with the daughters of Cain, who bare unto them these giants. But these [wise men] err in what they say. God forbid such a thing, that angels who are spirits, should be found committing sin with human beings. Never, that cannot be. And if such a thing were of the nature of angels, or Satans, that fell, they would not leave one woman on earth, undefiled ... But many men say, that angels came down from heaven, and joined themselves to women, and had children by them. This cannot be true. But they were children of Seth, who were of the children of Adam, that dwelt on the mountain, high up, while they preserved their virginity, their innocence and their glory like angels; and were then called 'angels of God'. But when they transgressed and mingled with the children of Cain, and begat children, ill-informed men said, that angels had come down from heaven, and mingled with the daughters of men, who bear them giants.
InAramaic culture, the termnephilim refers to the offspring ofOrion in mythology.[59] However, theBrown–Driver–Briggs lexicon notes this as a "dubious etymology" and "all very precarious".[60]
Fallen angels were believed byArab pagans to be sent to earth in form of men. Some of them mated with humans and gave rise to hybrid children. As recorded byAl-Jahiz, a common belief held that Abu Jurhum, the ancestor of theJurhum tribe, was actually the son of a disobedient angel and a human woman.[61][62]
Alleged discoveries of Nephilim remains have been a common source of hoaxing and misidentification.[63]
In 1577, a series of large bones discovered nearLucerne were interpreted as the bones of anantediluvian giant about 5.8 m (19 ft) tall.[64] In 1786,Johann Friedrich Blumenbach found out that these remains belonged to amammoth.[65]Cotton Mather believed thatfossilized leg bones and teeth discovered nearAlbany, New York in 1705 were the remains of Nephilim who perished ina great flood.Paleontologists have identified these asmastodon remains.[66][67]In 1869, theCardiff Giant, a hoax intended to fool believers in Nephilim, was supposedly discovered inCardiff, New York.[68]
The name and idea of Nephilim, like many other religious concepts, is sometimes used in popular culture. Examples include thegothic rock bandFields of the Nephilim;The Renquist Quartet novels byMick Farren;The Mortal Instruments,The Infernal Devices,The Last Hours,The Dark Artifices and other books inThe Shadowhunter Chronicles series byCassandra Clare; theHush, Hush series byBecca Fitzpatrick; the bookMany Waters byMadeleine L'Engle; and TV seriesThe X-Files andSupernatural.
In the video game seriesDarksiders, theFour Horsemen of the Apocalypse are said to be Nephilim, wherein the Nephilim were created by the unholy union of angels and demons. Dante and Vergil, the main characters of the gameDmC: Devil May Cry (2013), a reboot of the popular original seriesDevil May Cry, are also referred to as Nephilim; being the offspring of the demon Sparda and the angel Eva. In the trading card gameMagic: The Gathering, the Nephilim are interpreted as 'Old Gods' from before modern society.[69] InDiablo 3, the Nephalem were the first humans upon Sanctuary, created as a result of the union between angels and demons. They figure prominently in the plot ofAntarktos Rising[70] by author Jeremy Robinson. In the heist-themed first person shooterPayday 2, several paintings, artifacts, and far off visuals reference the Nephilim, and a secret ending to the game brings in alien technology supposedly left by the Nephilim. A creature referred to as "Nephilim" appears in season 2 of the Japanese animated seriesSymphogear.Nephilim is arole-playing game about powerful elemental entities reincarnating into human beings.[71] Nephilim feature into the plot ofIndiana Jones and the Great Circle with Indy encountering a secret order in theVatican whose members are giants alleged to be the descendants of Nephilim.[72][73]
There are several movies, videos, documentaries, and podcasts on Nephilim.[74][75]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)New docu-series to present rare, researched look at the Nephilim.
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