Nephilim
Encyclopedia
The Nephilim are the offspring of the "sons of God
" and the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4, or giants who inhabit Canaan
in Numbers
13:33. A similar word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel
32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors.
The term "Nephilim" occurs just twice in the Hebrew Bible
, both in the Torah
. The first is Genesis 6:1-4, immediately before the story of Noah's ark
:
The second is Numbers 13:32-33, where the Hebrew spies report that they have seen fearsome giants in Canaan:
"Nephilim" (נְפִילִים) probably derives from the Hebrew root npl (נָפַל), "to fall" which also includes "to cause to fall" and "to kill, to ruin". The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon gives the meaning as "giants" Robert Baker Girdlestone
argued the word comes from the Hiphil causative stem. Adam Clarke
took it as passive, "fallen", "apostates". Ronald Hendel states that it is a passive form "ones who have fallen", equivalent grammatically to paqid "one who is appointed" (i.e. overseer), asir, "one who is bound", (i.e. prisoner) etc.
reminds the prophet that he "destroyed the Amorites before you, whose height was as the height of cedar trees". Genesis 6:4 says "the nephilim were on the earth in those days (before the Flood), and also after", and most later compositions and translations, including the Septuagint, therefore understand the nephilim to be giants.
aic culture, the later term niyphelah refers to the Constellation of Orion
, and thus nephilim to the offspring of Orion in mythology
. However Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon notes this as a "dubious etymology" and "all very precarious".
J. C. Greenfield mentions that "it has been proposed that the tale of the Nephilim, alluded to in Genesis 6 is based on some of the negative aspects of the apkallu
tradition". The apkallu (sages) were seven in number, legendary culture-heroes from before the Flood, of human descent, but possessing extraordinary wisdom from the gods, and one of the seven apkallu, Adapa
, was therefore called "son of Ea", despite his human origin. The tradition of the Seven Sages became widespread in the 2nd and 1st millennia. However the seven apkallu do not fall, nor have offspring, and are not sons of the fallen.
:
Others do not take either view, and believe that they are not historical figures but are ancient imagery with questionable meaning.
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. The footnotes of the Jerusalem Bible
suggest that the Biblical author intended the Nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race". Genesis 6:4 implies that the Nephilim have inhabited the earth in at least two different time periods—in antediluvian
times "and afterward." If the Nephilim were supernatural beings themselves, or at least the progeny of supernatural beings, there is a theory that the "giants of Canaan" in Book of Numbers
13:33 were the direct descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim, or were fathered by the same supernatural parents.
Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citing Jesus' statement that angels do not marry. Others believe that Jesus was only referring to angels in heaven.
. The Greek, Aramaic, and main Ge'ez manuscripts of 1 Enoch and Jubilees
obtained in the 19th century and held in the British Museum
and Vatican Library
, connect the origin of the Nephilim with the fallen angel
s, and in particular with the egrḗgoroi (watchers). Samyaza
, an angel
of high rank, is described as leading a rebel sect of angels in a descent to earth to have sexual intercourse with human females:
According to these texts, the fallen angels who begat
the Nephilim were cast into Tartarus
(Greek Enoch 20:2), a place of 'total darkness'. However, Jubilees also states that God granted ten percent of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim to remain after the flood, as demons, to try to lead the human race astray (through idolatry, the occult, etc.) until the final Judgment.
In addition to Enoch, the Book 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. These works describe the Nephilim as being evil giants.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
identifies the Nephilim as Shemihaza and the angels in the name list from 1 Enoch. b Yoma 67, PRE22 and 1 QapGen ar ii 1 also identify the Nephilim as the angels that fell.
There are also allusions to these descendants in the Catholic
deuterocanonical books
of Judith 16:7, Sirach
16:7, Baruch
3:26–28, and Wisdom of Solomon
14:6, and in the non-deuterocanonical 3 Maccabees
2:4.
In the New Testament Epistle of Jude
14-15 cites from 1 Enoch 1:9, which many scholars believe is based on Deuteronomy
33:2. To most commentators this confirms that the author of Jude regarded the Enochic interpretations of Genesis 6 as correct, however others have questioned this.
interpretations such as 1 Enoch, Jubilees
, Philo
, in Second Temple Judaism
, and at Qumran
(e.g. Ogias the Giant
), orthodox Judaism has always taken a consistent line 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
and Nachmanides followed this. Pseudo-Philo
, Biblical Antiquities 3:1-3 may also imply that the "sons of God" were human. 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". This is also the rendering suggested in the Targum Onqelos, Symmachus
and the Samaritan Targum which read "sons of the rulers", where Targum Neophyti reads "sons of the judges".
Likewise, a long-held view among some Christians is that the "sons of God" who fathered the Nephilim spoken of in the text, were in fact 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. This view dates to at least the 3rd century AD, with references throughout the Clementine literature
, as well as in Sextus Julius Africanus
, Ephrem the Syrian
and others (see below, "In other texts"). Holders of this view have looked for support in Jesus' statement that "in the days before the flood they (humans) were marrying and giving in marriage"
Some individuals and groups, including St. Augustine
, John Chrysostom
, and John Calvin
, take the view of Genesis 6:2 that the "Angels" who fathered the Nephilim referred to certain human males from the lineage of Seth
, who were called sons of God probably in reference to their being formerly in a covenantal relationship with Yahweh
(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 from Cain or from any people who did not worship God.
This also is the view of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, supported by their own Ge'ez manuscripts and Amharic translation of the Haile Selassie Bible
- where the canonical books of 1 Enoch and Jubilees
differ from western academic editions. The "Sons of Seth view" is also the view presented in a few extra-Biblical, yet ancient works, including Clementine literature
, the 3rd century Cave of Treasures
, and the ca. 6th Century Ge'ez work The Conflict 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 the Conflict:
Anakim (or Anakites) are the descendants of Anak
, and dwelt in the south of Canaan, in the neighbourhood of Hebron
. In the days of Abraham
, they inhabited the region later known as Edom
and Moab
, east of the Jordan river. They are mentioned during the report of the spies about the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. The Book of Joshua
states that Joshua finally expelled them from the land, excepting a remnant that found a refuge in the cities of Gaza
, Gath, and Ashdod. The Philistine giant Goliath, whom David
later encountered, was supposedly a descendant of the Anakim.
Sons of God
Sons of God is a phrase used in Levantine Bronze and Iron Age texts to describe the "divine council" of the major gods.- The term "sons of God" :...
" and the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4, or giants who inhabit Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
in Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
13:33. A similar word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors.
Nephilim in the Hebrew Bible
(Translations according to New International Version. Note that translations frequently differ. In the King James Version of the Bible, "Nephilim" is translated as "giants" in the following examples.)The term "Nephilim" occurs just twice in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, both in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
. The first is Genesis 6:1-4, immediately before the story of Noah's ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
:
- 1. When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,
- 2. The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
- 3. 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."
- 4. 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 second is Numbers 13:32-33, where the Hebrew spies report that they have seen fearsome giants in Canaan:
- 32. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.
- 33. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of AnakAnakAccording to the Book of Numbers, during the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Anak was a well known figure, and a forefather of the Anakites who have been considered "strong and tall," they were also said to have been a mixed race of giant people, descendants of the Nephilim...
come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
Etymology
- This subject also relates to the etymology and meaning of the phrase "sons of God as well as the fallen ones.
"Nephilim" (נְפִילִים) probably derives from the Hebrew root npl (נָפַל), "to fall" which also includes "to cause to fall" and "to kill, to ruin". The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon gives the meaning as "giants" Robert Baker Girdlestone
Robert Baker Girdlestone
Canon Robert Baker Girdlestone was an Anglican priest, first principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and Hebrew scholar, best known for his reference work Synonyms of the Old Testament.-Life:...
argued the word comes from the Hiphil causative stem. Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke was a British Methodist theologian and Biblical scholar, born in the townland of Moybeg Kirley near Tobermore in Ireland...
took it as passive, "fallen", "apostates". Ronald Hendel states that it is a passive form "ones who have fallen", equivalent grammatically to paqid "one who is appointed" (i.e. overseer), asir, "one who is bound", (i.e. prisoner) etc.
Ezekiel's "mighty fallen": nephilim as ancient warriors
Ezekiel 32:27 speaks of "the fallen mighty (gibborim nophelim, גִּבֹּורִים נֹפְלִים) of the uncircumcised, which are gone down (yaradu, יָרְדֽוּ) to the grave with their weapons of war"; a change to the vowels would produce the reading gibborim nephilim.Numbers and Amos: Nephilim as giants
In Amos 2:9, while not using the word "nephilim", YahwehYahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
reminds the prophet that he "destroyed the Amorites before you, whose height was as the height of cedar trees". Genesis 6:4 says "the nephilim were on the earth in those days (before the Flood), and also after", and most later compositions and translations, including the Septuagint, therefore understand the nephilim to be giants.
Ambiguity in Genesis 6:4
The nature of the nephilim is complicated by the ambiguity of Genesis 6:4, "the sons of God joined with the daughters of mankind, who bore them children - they were the ancient warriors, the men of renown", which leaves it unclear whether they are the "sons of God" or their offspring who are the "ancient warriors". Richard Hess in The Anchor Bible Dictionary takes it as read that the nephilim are the offspring, as does P. W. Coxon in Dictionary of deities and demons in the BibleArguments from culture and mythology
In AramAram (Biblical region)
Aram is the name of a region mentioned in the Bible located in central Syria, including where the city of Aleppo now stands.-Etymology:The etymology is uncertain. One standard explanation is an original meaning of "highlands"...
aic culture, the later term niyphelah refers to the Constellation of Orion
Orion (constellation)
Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
, and thus nephilim to the offspring of Orion in mythology
Orion (mythology)
Orion was a giant huntsman in Greek mythology whom Zeus placed among the stars as the constellation of Orion....
. However Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon notes this as a "dubious etymology" and "all very precarious".
J. C. Greenfield mentions that "it has been proposed that the tale of the Nephilim, alluded to in Genesis 6 is based on some of the negative aspects of the apkallu
Apkallu
The Apkallu or Abgal, are seven Sumerian demigods said to have been created by the god Enki to give civilization to mankind. They served as priests of Enki and as advisors or sages to the earliest "kings" or rulers of Sumeria before the flood. They are credited with giving mankind the Me , the...
tradition". The apkallu (sages) were seven in number, legendary culture-heroes from before the Flood, of human descent, but possessing extraordinary wisdom from the gods, and one of the seven apkallu, Adapa
Adapa
Adapa was a Babylonian mythical figure who unknowingly refused the gift of immortality. The story is first attested in the Kassite period .-Roles:...
, was therefore called "son of Ea", despite his human origin. The tradition of the Seven Sages became widespread in the 2nd and 1st millennia. However the seven apkallu do not fall, nor have offspring, and are not sons of the fallen.
Genesis 6 - two interpretations
There are effectively two views regarding the identity of the Nephilim, which follow on from alternative views about the identity of the sons of GodSons of God
Sons of God is a phrase used in Levantine Bronze and Iron Age texts to describe the "divine council" of the major gods.- The term "sons of God" :...
:
- Offspring of Seth — The QumranQumranQumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
(Dead Sea ScrollDead Sea scrollsThe Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
) fragment 4Q417 (4QInstruction) contains the earliest known reference to the phrase "children of SethSethSeth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...
", stating that God has condemned them for their rebellion. (Nonetheless, a few commentators dispute the interpretation of this reference.) Other early references to the offspring of Seth rebelling from God and mingling with the daughters of Cain, are found in rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Augustine of HippoAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, Julius AfricanusJulius AfricanusJulius Africanus was a celebrated orator in the reign of Nero, and seems to have been the son of the Julius Africanus, of the Gallic state of the Santoni, who was condemned by Tiberius in 32 AD. Quintilian, who had heard Julius Africanus, spoke of him and Domitius Afer as the best orators of their...
, and the Letters attributed to St. ClementClementine literatureClementine literature is the name given to the religious romance which purports to contain a record made by one Clement of discourses...
. It is also the view expressed in the modern canonical Amharic Ethiopian Orthodox BibleBible translations (Amharic)Although Christianity became the state religion of Ethiopia in the 4th century, and the Bible was first translated into Ge'ez at about that time, only in the last two centuries have there appeared Translations of the Bible into Amharic.- Abu Rumi translation :...
.
- Offspring of angels — A number of early sources refer to the "sons of heaven" as "Angels". The earliest such references seem to be in the Dead Sea ScrollsDead Sea scrollsThe Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
, the Greek, and Aramaic Enochic literatureBook of EnochThe Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
, and in certain Ge'ez manuscripts of 1 Enoch (mss A-Q) and JubileesJubileesThe Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...
used by western scholars in modern editions of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. However, "Angels" in this context has sometimes been considered to be a sarcastic epithet for the offspring of Seth who rebelled (see above). The earliest statement in a secondary commentary explicitly interpreting this to mean that angelic beings mated with humans, can be traced to the rabbinical Targum Pseudo-JonathanTargum Pseudo-JonathanTargum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum of the Torah from the land of Israel . Its correct title is Targum Yerushalmi , which is how it was known in medieval times...
, and it has since become especially commonplace in modern-day Christian commentaries.
Others do not take either view, and believe that they are not historical figures but are ancient imagery with questionable meaning.
The fallen angels interpretation
The New American Bible commentary draws a parallel to the Epistle of JudeEpistle of Jude
The Epistle of Jude, often shortened to Jude, is the penultimate book of the New Testament and is attributed to Jude, the brother of James the Just. - Composition :...
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. The footnotes of the Jerusalem Bible
Jerusalem Bible
The Jerusalem Bible is a Roman Catholic translation of the Bible which first was introduced to the English-speaking public in 1966 and published by Darton, Longman & Todd...
suggest that the Biblical author intended the Nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race". Genesis 6:4 implies that the Nephilim have inhabited the earth in at least two different time periods—in antediluvian
Antediluvian
The antediluvian period meaning "before the deluge" is the period referred to in the Bible between the Creation of the Earth and the Deluge . The narrative takes up chapters 1-6 of Genesis...
times "and afterward." If the Nephilim were supernatural beings themselves, or at least the progeny of supernatural beings, there is a theory that the "giants of Canaan" in Book of Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
13:33 were the direct descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim, or were fathered by the same supernatural parents.
Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citing Jesus' statement that angels do not marry. Others believe that Jesus was only referring to angels in heaven.
In Second Temple Judaism
The story of the Nephilim is chronicled more fully in the Book of EnochBook of Enoch
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
. The Greek, Aramaic, and main Ge'ez manuscripts of 1 Enoch and Jubilees
Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...
obtained in the 19th century and held in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
and Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
, connect the origin of the Nephilim with the fallen angel
Fallen angel
Fallen angel is a concept developed in Jewish mythology from interpretation of the Book of Enoch. The actual term fallen angel is not found in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. Christians adopted the concept of fallen angels mainly based on their interpretations of the Book of...
s, and in particular with the egrḗgoroi (watchers). Samyaza
Samyaza
Samyaza also Semihazah, Shemyazaz, Sêmîazâz, Semjâzâ, Samjâzâ, Shemyaza, and Shemhazai. is a fallen angel of apocryphal Jewish and Christian tradition that ranked in the heavenly hierarchy as one of the Grigori...
, an angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
of high rank, is described as leading a rebel sect of angels in a descent to earth to have sexual intercourse with human females:
According to these texts, the fallen angels who begat
Human reproduction
Human reproduction is any form of sexual reproduction resulting in the conception of a child, typically involving sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. During intercourse, the interaction between the male and female reproductive systems results in fertilization of the woman's ovum by the...
the Nephilim were cast into Tartarus
Tartarus
In classic mythology, below Uranus , Gaia , and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato In classic mythology, below Uranus (sky), Gaia (earth), and Pontus...
(Greek Enoch 20:2), a place of 'total darkness'. However, Jubilees also states that God granted ten percent of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim to remain after the flood, as demons, to try to lead the human race astray (through idolatry, the occult, etc.) until the final Judgment.
In addition to Enoch, the Book 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. These works describe the Nephilim as being evil giants.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum of the Torah from the land of Israel . Its correct title is Targum Yerushalmi , which is how it was known in medieval times...
identifies the Nephilim as Shemihaza and the angels in the name list from 1 Enoch. b Yoma 67, PRE22 and 1 QapGen ar ii 1 also identify the Nephilim as the angels that fell.
There are also allusions to these descendants in the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible. The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are...
of Judith 16:7, Sirach
Sirach
The Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira , commonly called the Wisdom of Sirach or simply Sirach, and also known as Ecclesiasticus or Siracides , is a work from the early 2nd century B.C. written by the Jewish scribe Jesus ben Sirach of Jerusalem...
16:7, Baruch
Book of Baruch
The Book of Baruch, occasionally referred to as 1 Baruch, is called a deuterocanonical book of the Bible. Although not in the Hebrew Bible, it is found in the Septuagint and in the Vulgate Bible, and also in Theodotion's version. It is grouped with the prophetical books which also include Isaiah,...
3:26–28, and Wisdom of Solomon
Book of Wisdom
The Book of Wisdom, often referred to simply as Wisdom or the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, is one of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It is one of the seven Sapiential or wisdom books of the Septuagint Old Testament, which includes Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon ,...
14:6, and in the non-deuterocanonical 3 Maccabees
3 Maccabees
The book of the 3 Maccabees is found in most Orthodox Bibles as a part of the Anagignoskomena, while Protestants and Catholics consider it non-canonical, except the Moravian Brethren who included it in the Apocrypha of the Czech Kralicka Bible...
2:4.
In the New Testament Epistle of Jude
Epistle of Jude
The Epistle of Jude, often shortened to Jude, is the penultimate book of the New Testament and is attributed to Jude, the brother of James the Just. - Composition :...
14-15 cites from 1 Enoch 1:9, which many scholars believe is based on Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
33:2. To most commentators this confirms that the author of Jude regarded the Enochic interpretations of Genesis 6 as correct, however others have questioned this.
The descendants of Seth and Cain interpretation
Despite the apparent prevalence of EnochicBook of Enoch
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
interpretations such as 1 Enoch, Jubilees
Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...
, Philo
Philo
Philo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
, in Second Temple Judaism
Second Temple Judaism
Second Temple Judaism refers to the religion of Judaism during the Second Temple period, between the construction of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem in 515 BCE, and its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE This period witnessed major historical upheavals and significant religious changes that...
, and at Qumran
Qumran
Qumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
(e.g. Ogias the Giant
Ogias the Giant
Ogias the Giant, also known as The Book of Giants, is an apocryphal Jewish book expanding a narrative in the Hebrew Bible. Its discovery at Qumran dates the text's creation to before the 2nd century BCE.-Origin:...
), orthodox Judaism has always taken a consistent line 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
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
and Nachmanides followed this. Pseudo-Philo
Pseudo-Philo
Pseudo-Philo is the name commonly used for a Jewish pseudepigraphical work in Latin, so called because it was transmitted along with Latin translations of the works of Philo of Alexandria but is very obviously not written by Philo...
, Biblical Antiquities 3:1-3 may also imply that the "sons of God" were human. 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". This is also the rendering suggested in the Targum Onqelos, Symmachus
Symmachus
Symmachus can refer to several different people of Roman antiquity:*Symmachus the Ebionite , was the author of one of the Greek versions of the Old Testament;*Pope Symmachus, pope from 498 to 514....
and the Samaritan Targum which read "sons of the rulers", where Targum Neophyti reads "sons of the judges".
Likewise, a long-held view among some Christians is that the "sons of God" who fathered the Nephilim spoken of in the text, were in fact 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. This view dates to at least the 3rd century AD, with references throughout the Clementine literature
Clementine literature
Clementine literature is the name given to the religious romance which purports to contain a record made by one Clement of discourses...
, as well as in Sextus Julius Africanus
Sextus Julius Africanus
Sextus Julius Africanus was a Christian traveller and historian of the late 2nd and early 3rd century AD. He is important chiefly because of his influence on Eusebius, on all the later writers of Church history among the Fathers, and on the whole Greek school of chroniclers.His name indicates that...
, Ephrem the Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian was a Syriac and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is venerated by Christians throughout the world, and especially in the Syriac Orthodox Church, as a saint.Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as...
and others (see below, "In other texts"). Holders of this view have looked for support in Jesus' statement that "in the days before the flood they (humans) were marrying and giving in marriage"
Some individuals and groups, including St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
, and John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
, take the view of Genesis 6:2 that the "Angels" who fathered the Nephilim referred to certain human males from the lineage of Seth
Seth
Seth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...
, who were called sons of God probably in reference to their being formerly in a covenantal relationship with Yahweh
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
(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 from Cain or from any people who did not worship God.
This also is the view of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, supported by their own Ge'ez manuscripts and Amharic translation of the Haile Selassie Bible
Bible translations (Amharic)
Although Christianity became the state religion of Ethiopia in the 4th century, and the Bible was first translated into Ge'ez at about that time, only in the last two centuries have there appeared Translations of the Bible into Amharic.- Abu Rumi translation :...
- where the canonical books of 1 Enoch and Jubilees
Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...
differ from western academic editions. The "Sons of Seth view" is also the view presented in a few extra-Biblical, yet ancient works, including Clementine literature
Clementine literature
Clementine literature is the name given to the religious romance which purports to contain a record made by one Clement of discourses...
, the 3rd century Cave of Treasures
Cave of Treasures
The Cave of Treasures, sometimes referred to simply as The Treasure, is a book of the New Testament apocrypha.-Origin:This text is attributed to Ephrem Syrus, who was born at Nisibis soon after AD 306 and died in 373, but it is now generally believed that its current form is 6th century or...
, and the ca. 6th Century Ge'ez work The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan is a Christian pseudepigraphical work found in Ge'ez, translated from an Arabic original and thought to date from the 5th or 6th century AD....
. 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 the Conflict:
Related terms
In the Hebrew Bible, there are a number of other words that, like "Nephilim", are sometimes translated as "giants":- EmimEmimThe Emim was the Moabite name for one of the tribes of Rephaim. They are described in Deuteronomy chapter 2 as having been a powerful people, populous and having a successful kingdom. They were defeated by the Moabites, who occupied their land...
— the fearful ones - Rephaim — the dead ones
- Anakim — the [long]-necked ones
Anakim (or Anakites) are the descendants of Anak
Anak
According to the Book of Numbers, during the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Anak was a well known figure, and a forefather of the Anakites who have been considered "strong and tall," they were also said to have been a mixed race of giant people, descendants of the Nephilim...
, and dwelt in the south of Canaan, in the neighbourhood of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. In the days of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, they inhabited the region later known as Edom
Edom
Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...
and Moab
Moab
Moab is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan. The land lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over...
, east of the Jordan river. They are mentioned during the report of the spies about the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. The Book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
states that Joshua finally expelled them from the land, excepting a remnant that found a refuge in the cities of Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
, Gath, and Ashdod. The Philistine giant Goliath, whom David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
later encountered, was supposedly a descendant of the Anakim.
Nephilim in popular culture
- Ayn RandAyn RandAyn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
's magnum opus, the novel Atlas ShruggedAtlas ShruggedAtlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. Rand's fourth and last novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing...
, is known in Hebrew translation as "Mered HaNephilim" (מרד הנפילים, literally: the revolt/rebellion of the Nephilim) - Ancient astronautsAncient astronautsSome writers have proposed that intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth in antiquity or prehistory and made contact with humans. Such visitors are called ancient astronauts or ancient aliens. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of human cultures,...
theorists believe that the "sons of God" in Genesis 6:2, but not those after the flood, are actually Extraterrestrials. - In the film The Devil's TombThe Devil's TombThe Devil's Tomb is a 2009 horror film, directed by Jason Connery. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Ray Winstone and Ron Perlman. The film was released direct–to–video on May 26, 2009.-Plot:...
, Nephilim are portrayed as corrupted, fallen angels. - The Nephilim figure prominently in the Madeleine L'EngleMadeleine L'EngleMadeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
novel Many WatersMany WatersMany Waters is a 1986 novel by Madeleine L'Engle, part of the author's Time Quartet . The title is taken from the Song of Solomon 8:7: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it...
, primarily in an antagonistic role. - The Nephilim are featured in the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices book series by Cassandra ClareCassandra ClareCassandra Clare is an American author who has written the bestselling young adult saga The Mortal Instruments.- Personal life :Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Tehran. As a child Clare traveled frequently, spending time in Switzerland, England, and France...
as the offspring of angels and humans also known as "shadowhunters". - Episode 17 of the 5th season the television series The X-Files, entitled "All Souls", featured a plot involving Nephilim.
- Author Richard KadreyRichard KadreyRichard Kadrey is a novelist, freelance writer, and photographer based in San Francisco.Kadrey's novels are Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, Aloha From Hell, Metrophage, Kamikaze L'Amour, and Butcher Bird: A Novel Of The Dominion...
's "Sandman Slim" series feature a main character by the name of Stark (aka Sandman Slim) who discovers his magic and healing ability are the result of being a Nephilim. - In the video game El Shaddai: Ascension of the MetatronEl Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatronis an action video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles. It is developed and published by Ignition Entertainment. The development is led by Takeyasu Sawaki, who was a character designer in Devil May Cry and Ōkami. The game was released on April 28, 2011 in Japan, on August...
, the Nephilim are depicted as semi-humanoid, blob-like creatures that enjoy frolicking through the Tower of Babel. This belies their true nature, as the Nephilim are slowly consuming one another, growing more monstrous and threatening to consume the world. Enoch, the main character, must return the creatures to oblivion by purifying the souls of the Fallen Angels that parented them. - Fields of the NephilimFields of the NephilimFields of the Nephilim are an English gothic rock band formed in Stevenage, Hertfordshire in 1984. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Carl McCoy, saxophonist Gary Whisker, Tony Pettitt on bass, guitarist Paul Wright and drummer Alexander "Nod" Wright...
are a semi active goth rock band formed in 1984. - Author Zecharia SitchinZecharia SitchinZecharia Sitchin was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune...
wrote that that Nephilim were ancient astronautsAncient astronautsSome writers have proposed that intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth in antiquity or prehistory and made contact with humans. Such visitors are called ancient astronauts or ancient aliens. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of human cultures,...
from the planet NibiruNibiruNibiru may refer to:* Nibiru , a technical term in Babylonian astronomy* Nibiru, a pseudoscientific planetary object described by Zecharia Sitchin...
. - In the novel Angelology by Danielle TrussoniDanielle TrussoniDanielle Anne Trussoni is an American writer. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times Magazine, Telegraph Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review...
, Nephilim appear as the antagonists to a group of Angelologists, people who study angels, and the battle between the two groups to gain control of a powerful, sacred object. - In the debut novel of author Jason Jowett Versistasis, the Nephalim are time-travelling individuals, integral members of a collective, engaging on alien planets, in possession of host consciousnesses and breeding with the population.
- In the FallenFallen (2009 novel)Fallen is a 2009 young adult fantasy novel written by Lauren Kate. The novel revolves around a young girl named Lucinda Price "Luce" who is sent to Sword and Cross Reform School in Savannah, Georgia, after she is accused of murdering a boy by starting a fire. At the reform school, she meets Daniel,...
novels by Lauren KateLauren KateLauren Kate is an internationally bestselling author of young adult fiction. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages and include The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove and Fallen, which reached #3 on The New York Times Best Seller List for children's chapter books on January 8, 2010...
, a Nephilim is any person with angel DNA. The Nephilim featured in the novels attend Shoreline school near Mendocino, California, and have not yet made their final choice between good and evil. - In the mythology based game God of War IIIGod of War IIIGod of War III is an action-adventure video game released by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division for the PlayStation 3 in March 2010...
, Kratos kills Poseidon, leading to a flood that destroys all that is known to ancient Greece, similar to the flood that killed the Nephilim. - In the post-apocalyptic video game Darksiders. the Four Horsemen of the ApocalypseFour Horsemen of the ApocalypseThe Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John the Evangelist at 6:1-8. The chapter tells of a "'book'/'scroll' in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals"...
(referred to as War, Death, Fury, and Strife) are shown to be Nephilim and are the last of their kind after the Nephilim suffered devastating casualities during a war between Heaven and Hell centuries prior to the main storyline. The Nephilim are portrayed as tall, muscular demigods capable of incredible power, such as shapeshifting into giant demons and possessing incredible advanced weaponry. - In Magic:The Gathering's Ravnica block, the Nephilim are a group of giant monstrosities that wreck havoc on the titular plane. They are the symbols of Ravnica's past and were sealed away prior to the main storyline, but returned after consuming a dragon's corpse. Three of them are killed by Niv-Mizzet and Rakdos the Defiler.
- In the books by Becca FitzpatrickBecca FitzpatrickBecca Fitzpatrick is an American author, best known for having written the New York Times bestseller, Hush, Hush....
, Hush, Hush and Crescendo (novel)Crescendo (novel)Crescendo is a young adult paranormal romance novel by Becca Fitzpatrick. It was first published in 2010 as the sequel to her best-selling novel Hush, Hush. Crescendo spent ten weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list.-Plot summary:...
, fallen angels, Nephils and Nephilim are mentioned, as the main characters and conflicts form around these terms - In Thomas Sniegoski's series The FallenThe FallenThe Fallen may refer to:* "The Fallen", a song by the rock band Franz Ferdinand* "The Fallen", a song by the metal band Suicide Silence* The Fallen , a series of novels authored by Thomas E...
, Nephilim are referred to as the children of fallen angels and human women, who are eventually responsible for protecting the world from impending darkness. - In Tom EgelandTom EgelandTom Egeland is a Norwegian author. His great-grandfather was Jon Flatabø from Kvam in Hardanger, one of the pioneer authors of popular literature in Norway. Egeland's novels are published in 21 languages. His most famous novel is Relic, which deals with several of the same topics as The Da Vinci...
's book Gospel of Lucifer, Nephilim are referred to as mysterious extraterrestrials who came to the earth over 5000 years ago, to help us advance as societies by teaching us maths, physics and technology. - The rock band AFI's 5th album The Art of Drowning features a song called "The Nephilim"
- The UBI Soft MMORPG had a playable race called "Nephilim"
See also
- Ancient astronautsAncient astronautsSome writers have proposed that intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth in antiquity or prehistory and made contact with humans. Such visitors are called ancient astronauts or ancient aliens. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of human cultures,...
- Angelology (novel)
- CambionCambionIn medieval legend, a cambion is the half-human offspring of the union between a human male and a succubus, or of an incubus and a human female.-Creation:...
- Crescendo (novel)Crescendo (novel)Crescendo is a young adult paranormal romance novel by Becca Fitzpatrick. It was first published in 2010 as the sequel to her best-selling novel Hush, Hush. Crescendo spent ten weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list.-Plot summary:...
- CyclopsCyclopsA cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
- DemigodDemigodThe term "demigod" , meaning "half-god", is commonly used to describe mythological figures whose one parent was a god and whose other parent was human; as such, demigods are human-god hybrids...
- Edomites
- Giant (mythology)Giant (mythology)The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
- GrigoriGrigoriThe Watchers is a term found in the Old Testament Book of Daniel, and later sources, which is connected to angels...
- Hush, Hush (novel)
- KeniteKeniteKenites or Cinites , according to the Hebrew Bible, were a nomadic clan in the ancient Levant, sent under Jethro a priest in the land of Midian. They played an important role in the history of ancient Israel. The Kenites were coppersmiths and metalworkers. Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, was a...
s - Serpent seedSerpent seedThe doctrine of Serpent seed, dual seed or two-seedline is a controversial doctrine according to which the serpent in the Garden of Eden mated with Eve, and the offspring of their union was Cain. This belief is still held by some adherents of the Christian Identity theology, who claim that the...
- Sons of GodSons of GodSons of God is a phrase used in Levantine Bronze and Iron Age texts to describe the "divine council" of the major gods.- The term "sons of God" :...
- The Cain TraditionThe Cain TraditionThe Cain Tradition refers to the tale of Cain and Abel as seen in the Septuagint and the Vulgate.Traditions around the two brothers had started to develop already during the Old Testament time, arguing that descendants of Cain had had sexual intercourse with fallen angels, producing an offspring of...
- The Infernal DevicesThe Infernal DevicesThe Infernal Devices is a new series of novels by author Cassandra Clare, centering on a number of races, collectively known as Downworlders, introduced in her The Mortal Instruments series. This series takes place in Victorian England, ten years after the peace treaties between the demon-fighting...
- The Mortal Instruments (series)The Mortal Instruments (series)The Mortal Instruments is a series of four young adult science fiction and fantasy novels by author Cassandra Clare including City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels.-Publication history:...