THE NEPHĪLĪM, OR “GIANTS” OF GENESIS.6
The progeny
of the fallen angels with the daughters of Adam are called in Genesis 6 Ne-phīl-īm,
which means fallen ones (from nāphal, to fall) What
these things were can be gathered only from Scripture. They were evidently
great in size, as well as great in wickedness. They were superhuman,
abnormal beings; and their destruction was necessary for the preservation of
the human race, and for the faithfulness of Jehovah’s Word.
Gen 3:15.
And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise His heel.
This was why the Flood was brought “upon the world
of the ungodly”
2 Peter
2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eight person, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.
As prophesised by Enoch: Jude1:14, (Read
All verses.)
1:14 And Enoch also,
the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, The Lord cometh
with ten thousands of His saints.
But we read of the Ne-phīl-īm again in…
Num 13:33 And
there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we
were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
“There we saw the Ne-phīl-īm,
the sons of Anak, which come of the Ne-phīl-īm”. How, it may be asked, could this be, if they
were all destroyed in the Flood? The answer is contained in Gen 6:4. Were
we read: “ There were Ne-phīl-īm in
the earth in those days (i.e. in the
days of Noah); and also AFTER THAT, when the sons of God came in
unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became
[the] mighty men (Heb gíbbör,
the heroes) which were of old,
men of renown”. (Lit. men of the
name, i.e. who got a name and were renowned for their ungodliness). So that “after that”, i.e.
after the Flood there was a second irruption of these fallen angels, evidently
smaller in number and more limited in area, for they were for the most part
confined to Canaan, and were in fact known as the “ nations of Canaan”.
It was for the
destruction of these, that the sword of Israel was necessary, as the flood had
been before.
As to the date of this second eruption, it was evidently soon
after it became known that the seed
was to come through Abraham; for, when he came out from Haran …
Gen 12:6 (Note the numbers;) And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem,
unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
…and entered Canaan, the significant fact is
stated: “The Canaanite was then (i.e. already in the land).” and
in …
Gen 14:5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the
kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the
Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim.
They were already known as
“Rephaim” and “Emim”, and had established themselves at Ashteroth
Karnaim and Shavah
Kiriathaim. In ch 15:18-21 they are enumerated and named
among Canaanite Peoples: “ Kenites, and the Kenizzites,
and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites,
and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Gergashites,
and the Jebusites”. (Gen15: 19-21; cp. Ex . 3. 8, 17; 23:23. Deut 7;
20.17. Joshua 12:8).
These were to be cut
off, and driven out, and utterly destroyed (Deut 20:17 Joshua 3:10). But Israel failed in
this (Joshua 13:13; 15:63; 16:10; 17:18. Judges. 1:19; 20,28,29,30-36;
21-5, 3:1-7); and we know not how many got away to other countries to
escape the general destruction. If
this were recognised it would go far to solve many problems connected with
Anthropology. (The scientific
study of the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural
development of humans). As to their other names, they were called Anakim,
from one Anak which came of the
Ne-phīl-īm (Num 13:23) and Rephaim from Rapha, another notable one among them. As Rephaim they were well known, and are often mentioned: but, unfortunately, instead of this, their proper name, being preserved, it is variously translated as “dead”, “deceased”, or “giants”. These Rephaim are to have no resurrection. This fact is stated in Isa 26:14 (Where the proper name is rendered “deceased,” and v19, where it is rendered “the dead”). It is rendered “dead” seven times (Job 26:5. Ps 88:10. Prov 2:18; 9:18; 21:16. Isa 14:8; 26:19). It is rendered “deceased” in Isa 26:14.
It is retained as a proper
name “Rephaim” ten times (two being in the margin). Gen 14:5; 15:20. Joshua 12:15.(margin).
2 Sam. 5:18, 22,; 23:13. 1 Chron. 11:15; 14:9; 20:4 (margin) Isa 17:5. In all
other places it is rendered “giants”, Gen 6:4; Num 23:33; where it is Ne-phīl-īm;
and Job 16:14, where it is gibbōr. By reading all these passages the bible student may
know all that can be known about these beings.
It is certain that the
second irruption took place before Gen 14, for there the Rephaim
were mixed up with the five nations or peoples, Which included Sodom and
Gomorrha, and were defeated by the kings under Chedorlaomer. Their principal
locality was evidently “Ashteroth Karnaim”; while the Emim were
in the plain Kiriathaim (Gen 14:5).
Anak was a noted descendant of the Ne-phīl-īm; and Rapha was another, giving their name respectively to different clans. Anak’s father was Arba, the original builder of Hebron (Gen 35:27, Josh 15:13; 21:11); and this Palestine branch of the Anakim was not called Arbahim after him, but Anakim after Anak. They were great, mighty, and tall (Deut 2:10, 11:21; 22:23. 9:2), evidently inspiring the ten spies with great fear (Num 13:33). Og king of Bashan is described in…
Deut 3:11.
Their strength is seen in
the “gian”t cities of Bashan£ today; and we know not how far they
may have been utilised by Egypt in the construction of buildings, which is
still an unsolved problem. The Khabiri or confederates
rebuilt Arba seven years before the Egyptian Pharaohs of the
nineteenth dynasty built Zoan. (See note on Num13: 22.)
If these Ne-phīl-īm, and their branch of Rephaim, were associated with Egypt, we have an explanation of the problem, which has for ages perplexed all engineers, as to how those huge stones and monuments were brought together. Why not in Egypt as well as in the “Giant cities of Bashan” which exist as such to this day? Moreover, we have in these mighty men, the “men of renown,” the explanation of the origin of the Greek mythology. That mythology was no mere invention of the human brain, but it grew out of the traditions, and memories, and legends of the doings of that mighty race of beings; and was gradually evolved out of the “Heroes” of Gen 6:4. The fact that they were supernatural in their origin formed an easy step to their being regarded as the demi-gods of the Greeks.
Thus the Babylonian “Creation Tablets”, The Egyptian Book of the dead”, the Greek mythology, and heathen Cosmogonies, which by some are set on an equality with Scripture, or by others adduced in support of it, are all the corruption and perversion of primitive truths, distorted in proportion as their origin was forgotten, and their memories faded away.
Rev J.L. Porter D.D. 1877 explored the “Giant Cities”, and the link to this interesting site is below.
http://home.att.net/~warplover/08_bashan_and_its_giant_cities__index.html