Bible Question: What were the Nephilim and what was their purpose here?

Question

Please, I don't want guesses. I'd like to have sources to the truth.

Answer 1

Nephilim
"(Gen. 6:4; Num. 13:33, R.V.), giants, the Hebrew word left untranslated by the Revisers, the name of one of the Canaanitish tribes. The Revisers have, however, translated the Hebrew gibborim, in Gen. 6:4, 'mighty men'" (Matthew G. Easton)

Dr. Henry M. Morris believes: "These 'giants' were the monstrous progeny of the demon-possessed men and women whose illicit activities led to God's warning of imminent judgment. The Hebrew word is nephilim ("fallen ones"), a term possibly relating to the nature of their spiritual 'parents,' the fallen angels. That they were also physical giants is evident from the fact that the same word is later used in connection with the giants in Canaan at the time of Joshua (Numbers 13:33) and by the fact that the word here was translated in the Septuagint by the Greek word gigantes. (Morris, The Defender's Bible)

Nephilim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Artists impression of a Grigori or "fallen one" and his human bride.In the Torah and several non-canonical Jewish and early Christian writings, nephilim (in Hebrew הנּפלים means the fallen [ones]) are a people created by the crossbreeding of the "sons of God" (beney ha'elohim, בני האלהים) and the "daughters of men". (See Genesis 6:1.) The word nephilim is loosely translated as giants or titans in some translations of the Bible, and is left as nephilim in others.

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-4, English Standard Version)
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 Other Hebrew words sometimes interpreted as "Giants"
2.1 Rephaim
2.2 Anakim
3 Nephilim in other works
4 Nephilim in parahistory
5 Cultural references to Nephilim
6 See also
7 External links



[edit]
Overview
The traditional Jewish view, deriving from the Book of Enoch, is that the fathers of the nephilim, the "sons of God", were the Grigori (also called the Watchers); however, there is some controversy on this point (Targum Jona than) [1]. Some commentators[citation needed] have suggested that the nephilim were believed to have been fathered by members of a proto-Hebrew pantheon, and are a brief glimpse of early Hebrew religion, most of the details of which was later edited out from the Torah, and that this passage may have offered monotheistic Hebrews a way to fit semi-divine pagan heroes into their cosmogony. Others, especially some Christians, suggest the "sons of God" were fully human. It is sometimes suggested that ridding the Earth of these nephilim was one of God's purposes for flooding the Earth in Noah's time, despite the fact that the nephilim are present in the Book of Numbers. However, given that the Bible does not state permanent nephilic extinction, it stands as reasonable, in this context, to consider that a similar "racial" development may have taken place after the flood. After all, the words "and also afterward" in Gen 6:4 could well be interpreted as referring to the postdeluvian era. In the Book of Enoch, Azazel is said to have been "bound hand and foot" under the desert sands of "Dudael" as punishment for his disobedience to God.

Despite the literal text of the Bible and its traditional interpretation, the idea that heavenly beings mated with humans is controversial, particularly among many Christians, who cite an interpretation of the teaching of Jesus in the Book of Matthew that Angels do not marry; however, they may take the verse in question out of context, because Jesus said that the resurrected do not marry in heaven, but are "as the angels". Others who find the idea of angels mating with humans as distasteful have suggested more figurative interpretations of the nephilim, such as the idea that they were the offspring of men possessed by demons. In light of the alien abduction scenario, some have speculated a form of artificial insemination being implemented.

Still others, including the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, take the view of Genesis 6:1 that the allusion refers to some men, from the godly lineage of Seth, called sons of God (an expression denoting those in covenant relationship with YHWH - cf. Deuteronomy 14:1; 32:5), began to pursue fleshly interests, and so took wives of the daughters of men, i.e., those who were descended of Cain. Not only is this unequivocally stated in most Orthodox versions of I Enoch and Jubilees, but this is also the view presented in a few extra-biblical, yet ancient works, particularly the Second Book of Adam and Eve.

[edit]
Other Hebrew words sometimes interpreted as "Giants"
In the Hebrew Old Testament, there are a number of other words that, like "Nephilim", are sometimes translated as "giants": Emim, Rephaim, and Anakim. This has led to a great deal of confusion, even to the point of medieval legends recounted in the Talmud of a giant stowing away on Noah's Ark. However, it is unlikely that these names in the Torah originally were meant to signify any antediluvian race that survived the Great Flood, and in all probability, they denoted groups of Canaanites.

[edit]
Rephaim
The Book of Joshua refers to "Og king of Bashan", who "had survived as one of the last of the Rephaim." The Rephaim may have been the same Canaanite group known to the Moabites as Emim, i.e., "fearful", (Deuteronomy 2:11), and to the Ammonites as Zamzummim. The second of the Books of Samuel states that some of them found refuge among the Philistines, and were still existing in the days of David. Nothing is known of their origin, nor anything specifically connecting them with Nephilim.

See also : Valley of Rephaim

[edit]
Anakim
In the Torah, the Anakim are the descendants of Anak, and dwelt in the south of Palestine, in the neighbourhood of Hebron. In the days of Abraham, they inhabited the region afterwards 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.

"The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." (Numbers 13:32-33, English Standard Version)
Note that it is more commonly suggested by traditional Jewish sources (such as the Midrash) that the spies saw large and powerful inhabitants in Canaan and because of their own fears, cowardice, and inadequate faith in YHVH, saw themselves as grasshoppers in the eyes of the Canaanites, whether they were actual 'giants' or not.

[edit]
Nephilim in other works
The story of the Nephilim is chronicled more fully in the Book of Enoch (part of Ethiopian biblical canon).

There are also allusions to these descendants in the deuterocanonical books of Judith, Sirach, Baruch, and Wisdom of Solomon.

[edit]
Nephilim in parahistory
There have been many interesting attempts to reconcile mythology with science; many have theorized that mythology can and does contain grains of truth in the form of a highly distorted "folk memory".

In this context, the Nephilim have been associated with everything from Atlantis to extraterrestrials in efforts to rationalize their literal existence. One theory is that Nephilim were actually surviving Neanderthals, or a Homo sapiens-Neanderthal hybrid.

It is believed by some people that modern man shared several thousand years of history with Neanderthals, and also that the Middle-Eastern region was home to some of the last surviving pockets of Homo sapiens neandertalensis or H. neandertalensis. Therefore, it is conceivable that a folk memory of these creatures survived by way of mythology. In addition, it appears that the very last Neanderthals adopted some of the technological and cultural innovations of their H. sapiens contemporaries. The theory is that surviving Neanderthals or hybrids might have been large, powerful men possessing the intellect and societal characteristics of our own species, which would explain their identification as "mightiest ones" and "men of renown." One flaw in this theory is that H. neanderthalensis were slightly shorter than H. sapiens. On the other hand, they were giants compared to their even shorter predecessors, Australopithecus and Homo habilis.

Zecharia Sitchin and Eric Von Daniken both claim that the Nephilim are our alien ancestors and that we were created by an Alien race. (see:Ancient astronaut theory)

David Icke has a similar theory, in which interdimensional reptilian beings somehow created offspring through genetic engineering, whose traits are large stature, light skin, and susceptibility to any form of hypnotic suggestion (which, he states, is when the demons possess their offspring and demand allegiance), and that this bloodline has been in control of the world from the days of Sumer to today.

Answer 2

The word Nephilim is not from the bible but from the Book of Enoch which is a false book about the Bible. Enoch was the great grandfather of Adam and yet the Book of Enoch was written about 3 thousand years later during the intertestamental period making it a fake. The Nephilim were supposed to be fallen angels which mated with women on earth but the Bible does not state that. It is a common belief for some people to interpret that giants came about from angels mating with women based on the Genesis chapter 6 passage that states that "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and they took wives for themselves." People sometimes want to make those angles out to be the so called Nephilim but that is just not evidenced by the scripture. What was really happening there is that as people multiplied on the earth from Adam and Eve they were mostly men and not women. A quick review of the first 6 chapters of the Bible shows this. It was when women became more significantly a part of the population that men notedly started marrying them. There already were some giants around then. Also Jesus said that in heaven men do not marry but are like the angels-which means that angels do not marry or reproduce. God made it so that man can only reproduce with his own kind just as animals can only reproduce after their own kind.

Answer 3

Disagree. It was the extend of human wickedness. But he made a provision to save a righteous man (Noah). I'm not an intellectual, but thank you for an interesting question. Genesis 6:5-8 5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.

Answer 4

Angels did materialize and took wemon and the children became giants that could not have children and they became extinct. Gen 6:2,4; The flood destroyed the trouble and violence this caused.

Job 38:4-7; Angels saw the foundation of the earth laid, John 17:3,5,24; Jesus eas with God before the world was. Luke 20:34-36l Angels do not die.

The earth existed and all else from the beginning, it was perfect in Eden, then all was lost with acts of angels and men, Jesus will make all new again in a certain period of time and it will all be back as it was meant to be with those there that appreciate it.

Answer 5

Fallen angels kicked out of heaven. They had children with the women on earth during that time. That's why God sent the flood, Only Noah wasn't of the gene pool of the Nephilim.

It's all in the Bible. Just look for the chapter of the flood. Might be a chapter or a few verses before it. But it's there.

Answer 6

The Christian disciple Jude wrote about them when he mentioned “the angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place.” (Jude 6) Why did they come to the earth? What wrong desire did Satan put in their heart to get them to leave the fine positions they had in heaven?

The Bible lets us know when it says: “The sons of the true God began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose.” (Genesis 6:2) Yes, the angels put on fleshly bodies, and they came to earth to have sexual relations with beautiful women. But such love affairs were wrong for angels. This was an act of disobedience. The Bible indicates that what they did was just as wrong as the homosexual acts of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Jude 6, 7) What resulted?

Well, babies were born to these angels and their wives. But the babies were different. They kept growing bigger until they became giants, wicked giants. The Bible calls them “mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame.” These giants tried to force everyone to be bad as they were. As a result, the Bible says that “the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time.” (Genesis 6:4, 5) So Jehovah brought the Flood. The giants, or “Nephilim,” and all the wicked people were drowned. But what happened to the angels that had come to earth?

They did not drown. They put aside their fleshly bodies and returned to heaven as spirit persons. But they were not allowed to become part of God’s organization of holy angels again.

Since the time of the Flood, God has not permitted these demon angels to take on fleshly bodies, so they cannot directly satisfy their unnatural sexual desires. Yet they can still exercise dangerous power over men and women.

Answer 7

The Nephilim ,Biblical Giants , Human/Angel Half breeds?, Human/Alien Half breeds ?, Fallen Angels, Demons, or all of the above ?
"Nephilim" is a Hebrew word whose basic meaning is "those who have fallen." . Alternate Translations dependant upon the context in which it is used "those who fall upon," in the sense of invaders or hostile and violent men, such as in Eziekel 32:20. " They will fall among those killed by the sword. .... "

The Hebrew word nephel is probably the root word from which Nephilim is derived- nephel means: "untimely birth, abortion, miscarriage". Nephilim would therefore be "Unnaturally begotten men" or bastards from "abortion" or "miscarriage"

"Some ... believe that the expression 'sons of God' refers to the 'godly line' of Seth, and 'daughters of men' to women from the line of Cain." - Commentary on the Living Bible

The subject of the Nephilim is one of the great puzzles of the Bible. The same general theme is found throughout ancient writings of many peoples and is not confined exclusively to the Bible. The Nephilim were apparently a race of impressive physical stature compared to the smaller Hebrews, from Numbers 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." This particular reference is glossed by a statement which implies that the offspring of Anak in Canaan were descended from the renowned Rephaim or Nephilim


The origination of the Nephilim begins with a story of the fallen angels. Originating in the Book of Enoch {Apocrypha} Shemhazai, an angel of high rank, led a sect of angels in a descent to earth to instruct humans in righteousness. {See Legends of the Jews } The mission lasted for a few centuries, but soon the soldiers/missionaries/angels became corrupted in their lusting after human females. After lusting, the fallen angels instructed the women in magic and conjuring, mated with them, and produced offspring, who would later be referred to as the Nephilim.



Enoch was probably as well known to the ancient readers as he is unknown to modern readers . Genesis says of him only that he "walked with God," and afterward "he was not, because God had taken him" (Gen. 5:24). This passage made Enoch an exalted figure of considerable fascination.

Another work concerned with the fallen Angels and Enoch , It was widely read in ancient Rome and Greece but only fragments of it, some un-translated exist today.

Answer 8

Look at Genesis 6 and Number 13.

Answer 9

they were un develloped adults of an Alien race i think
must be stuff on them in the search engine

Answer 10

if you really wanted truth then you whouldnt be christian. a nephilium is half angel half human. they are also known as giants.