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[[File:Hieronymus Bosch - The Fall of the Rebel Angels (obverse) - WGA2572.jpg|thumb|right|195px|''The Fall of the Rebel Angels'' by [[Hieronymus Bosch]] is based on {{bibleref2|Genesis|6:1–4}}]]
The '''Nephilim''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|f|ᵻ|ˌ|l|ɪ|m}} ({{Lang-he-n|נְפִילִים}}, ''nefilim'') were the offspring of the "[[sons of God]]" and the "daughters of men" before the [[Genesis flood narrative|Deluge]], according to {{bibleref2|Genesis|6:1–4}}.
A similar or identical [[biblical Hebrew]] term, read as "Nephilim" by some scholars, or as the word "fallen" by others, appears in {{bibleref2|Ezekiel 32:27}}.<ref>For the view that "Nephilim" appear explicitly in Ezekiel 32, see Hendel, Ronald S. “Of Demigods and the Deluge: Toward an Interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4”. ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', vol. 106, no. 1, 1987, p. 22. {{jstor|3260551}}.</ref><ref>For the view that the term "Nephilim" does not appear explicitly in Ezekiel 32:27, but that a related word is used to deliberately refer to the traditions about Nephilim, see Doak, Brian R. "Ezekiel's Topography of the (Un-)Heroic Dead in Ezekiel 32:17–32". ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', vol. 132, no. 3, 2013, pp. 607–624. {{jstor|23487889}}.</ref>
{{quote|When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.|Genesis 6:1–4, New Revised Standard Version}}
The word is loosely translated as ''[[giant]]s'' in some Bibles and left untranslated in others. The "sons of God" have been interpreted to be [[fallen angel]]s according to some classical Judaic explanations.
According to {{bibleref|Numbers|13:33}}, they later inhabited [[Canaan]] at the time of the [[Book of Joshua#Entry into the land and conquest .28chapters 2.E2.80.9312.29|Israelite conquest of Canaan]].
{{quote|The Lord said to Moses, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites" ... So they went up and spied out the land ... And they told him: "... Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of [[Anak]] there." ... So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."|Numbers 13:1–2; 21; 27–28; 32–33. New Revised Standard Version.}}
==Etymology==
The [[Brown-Driver-Briggs]] Lexicon (1906) gives the meaning of nephilim as "[[giant (mythology)|giant]]s", and holds that proposed etymologies of the word are "all very precarious".<ref name="Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon' p. 658">''Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon'' p. 658; Strongs H5307</ref> Many suggested interpretations are based on the assumption that the word is a derivative of Hebrew verbal root {{lang|he-Latn|n-ph-l}} ({{lang|he|נ־פ־ל}}) "fall". [[Robert Baker Girdlestone]]<ref>Girdlestone R. ''Old Testament Synonyms'' p. 54</ref> argued in 1871 the word comes from the [[Hiphil]] [[causative]] stem, implying that the nephilim are to be perceived as "those that cause others to fall down". Ronald Hendel states that it is a passive form "ones who have fallen", grammatically analogous to {{lang|he-Latn|paqid}} "one who is appointed" (i.e., overseer), {{lang|he-Latn|asir}} "one who is bound" (i.e., prisoner), etc.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hendel |first=Ronald |chapter=The Nephilim were on the Earth: Genesis 6:1–4 and its ancient Near Eastern context |editor-last1=Auffarth |editor-first1=Christoph |editor-first2=Loren T. |editor-last2=Stuckenbruck |title=The Fall of the Angels |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |date=22 February 2004 |isbn=978-90-04-12668-8 |pages=21, 34 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Marks |first=Herbert |title=Biblical Naming and Poetic Etymology |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=114 |issue=1 |date=Spring 1995 |pages=21–42 }}</ref>
The majority of ancient biblical versions—including the [[Septuagint]], [[Theodotion]], [[Latin Vulgate]], [[Samaritan Targum]], [[Targum Onkelos]], and [[Targum Neofiti]]—interpret the word to mean "giants".<ref>{{cite book |last=Van Ruiten |first=Jacques |title=Primaeval History Interpreted: The Rewriting of Genesis I–II in the Book of Jubilees |page=189 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xxo82l7TeQC&pg=PA189 |isbn=9789004116580}}</ref> [[Symmachus (translator)|Symmachus]] translates it as "the violent ones"<ref name=Wright80-81>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Archie T. |title=The Origin of Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6.1–4 in Early Jewish Literature |pages=80–81 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzh7LXv4sZkC&pg=PA81 |isbn=9783161486562}}</ref><ref>The Greek text reads {{lang|grc|'οι βιαιοι}}; the singular root {{lang|grc|βιαιος}} means "violence" or "forcible" ([https://archive.org/stream/greekenglishlex00liddrich#page/282/mode/1up Liddell & Scott. ''Greek–English Lexicon,'' 1883.)]</ref><ref name=Stackhouse>{{cite book |last=Stackhouse |first=Thomas |title=A History of the Holy Bible |page=53 |publisher=Blackie & Son |year=1869 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hL0CAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58}}</ref> and [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]]'s translation has been interpreted to mean either "the fallen ones"<ref name=Wright80-81/> or "the ones falling [upon their enemies]".<ref name=Stackhouse/><ref>{{cite conference |last=Salvesen |first=Alison |title=Symmachus Readings in the Pentateuch |booktitle=Origen's Hexapla and Fragments: Papers Presented at the Rich Seminar on the Hexapla, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, [July] 25th – 3rd August 1994 |page=190 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xQDu27_HEIC&pg=PA190 |ISBN=9783161465758 |quote=The rendering "he fell upon, attacked" [in Symmachus, Genesis 6:6] is something of a puzzle ... If it has been faithfully recorded, it may be related to the rendering of Aquila for the Nephilim in 6:4, {{lang|grc|οι επιπιπτοντες}}.}}</ref>
Strongs Hebrew Lexicon uses H5303 for the reference to giants in Numbers 13:33: "nphiyl nef-eel' or nphil {nef-eel'}; from 5307; properly, a feller, i.e. a bully or tyrant:--giant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eliyah.com/cgi-bin/strongs.cgi?file=hebrewlexicon&isindex=5303|title=Strong's Hebrew Lexicon Search Results|website=www.eliyah.com|access-date=2018-05-15}}</ref>"
==In the Hebrew Bible==
The term "Nephilim" is mentioned twice in the [[Pentateuch]]. The first occurrence is in Genesis 6:1–4, immediately before the account of [[Noah's Ark]]. Genesis 6:4 reads as follows:<blockquote>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.<ref name=JPS_1917>{{cite book |title=Pentateuch |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |language=en |year=1917}}</ref></blockquote> Where the Jewish Publication Society translation<ref name=JPS_1917/> simply transliterated the Hebrew ''nephilim'' as "Nephilim", the [[King James Version]] translated the term as "giants".<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 6 in parallel Hebrew-English format |url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0106.htm |website=Mechon Mamre}}</ref>
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,<ref>{{cite book |author-first=Richard |author-last=Hess |article=Nephilim |editor-last=Freedman |editor-first=David Noel |title=The Anchor Bible Dictionary |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |year=1997 |origyear=1992}}</ref> as does P.W. Coxon.<ref>{{cite book |author-first=P. W. |author-last=Coxon |article=Nephilim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+deities&source=bl&ots=aFszbVpZ1q&sig=BTsr0PxWHwKqtvU25jjSvqWGv3g&hl=en&ei=3OAvTNHPBYOjcYnS6KMD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Nephilim&f=false |editor1-first=K. |editor1-last=van der Toorn |editor2-first=Bob |editor2-last=Becking |editor3-first=Pieter Willem |editor3-last=van der Horst |title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |page=619}}</ref>
The second is {{bibleref2|Numbers|13:32–33|9}}, where ten of [[the Twelve Spies]] report that they have seen fearsome giants in Canaan:<blockquote>And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.<ref name=JPS_1917/></blockquote>
Ezekiel 32:27 contains a phrase of disputed meaning. With the traditional vowels added to the text in the medieval period, the phrase is read ''gibborim nophlim'' ("''fallen warriors''" or "''fallen [[Gibborim (biblical)|Gibborim]]''"), although some scholars read the phrase as ''gibborim nephilim'' ("''Nephilim warriors''" or "''warriors, Nephilim''").<ref>{{cite book |first=W. |last=Zimmerli |year=1983 |title=Ezekiel 2: A commentary on the book of the prophet Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48 |pages=168, 176 |translator-first=J. D. |translator-last=Martin |series=Hermeneia |location=Philadelphia, PA |publisher=Fortress}}</ref><ref name=Hendel_1987>{{cite journal |first=Robert S. |last=Hendel |title=Of demigods and the deluge: Towards an interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=106 |page=22 |year=1987 |jstor=3260551}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+deities#v=onepage&q=Nephilim&f=false |title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |via=Google Books |access-date=5 June 2015 |isbn=9780802824912 |editor1-last=van der Toorn |editor1-first=Karel |editor2-last=Becking |editor2-first=Bob |editor3-last=van der Horst |editor3-first=Pieter Willem |year=1999}}</ref> According to Ronald 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<blockquote>They lie with the warriors, the Nephilim of old, who descended to Sheol 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.<ref name=Hendel_1987/></blockquote> Brian R. Doak, on the other hand, proposes to read the term as the Hebrew verb "''fallen''" (''nophlim''), not a use of the specific term "Nephilim", but still according to Doak a clear reference to the Nephilim tradition as found in Genesis.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Doak, Brian R. |year=2013 |title=Ezekiel's topography of the (un-)heroic dead in Ezekiel 32:17-32 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=132 |issue=3 |pages=622 |url=htttp://www.jstor.org/stable/23487889}}</ref>
==Interpretations==
===Fallen angels===
{{main|Fallen angel}}
All early sources refer to the "sons of heaven" as angels. From the third century BCE onwards, references are found in the [[Book of Enoch|Enochic literature]], the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] (the [[Genesis Apocryphon]], the [[Damascus Document]], 4Q180), [[Jubilees]], the Testament of Reuben, [[2 Baruch]], [[Josephus]], and the [[book of Jude]] (compare with 2 Peter 2). For example: 1 Enoch 7:2 "And when the angels, (3) the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamoured of them, saying to each other, Come, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget children." Some Christian apologists, such as [[Tertullian]] and especially [[Lactantius]], 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 rabbinical ''[[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan]]'' and it has since become especially commonplace in modern-day 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kosior|first=Wojciech|date=2010|title=Synowie bogów i córki człowieka. Kosmiczny "mezalians" i jego efekty w Księdze Rodzaju 6:1-6|url=https://www.academia.edu/3472159/The_Sons_of_Gods_and_the_Daughters_of_Man._The_Cosmic_Misalliance_and_Its_Effects_in_Genesis_6_1-6_Synowie_bog%C3%B3w_i_c%C3%B3rki_cz%C5%82owieka._Kosmiczny_mezalians_i_jego_efekty_w_Ksi%C4%99dze_Rodzaju_6_1-6_|journal=Ex Nihilo. Periodyk młodych religioznawców|language=Polish; the English version of the paper (translated by Daniel Kalinowski) is available at: http://acalyludpowieamen.pl/the-cosmic-misalliance-and-its-effects-in-genesis-61-6/|volume=1 (3) 2010|issue=|pages=73–74|doi=|pmid=|access-date=|via=}}</ref>
The ''[[New American Bible]]'' commentary draws a parallel to the [[Epistle 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.<ref>''New American Bible'', footnotes page 1370, referring to verse 6.
:The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgement of the great day. Likewise, [[Sodom and Gomorrah]], and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
:—Jude 1:6–7, ''New American Bible''.</ref> The footnotes of the [[Jerusalem Bible]] suggest that the biblical author intended the Nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race".<ref>
:The author does not present this episode as a myth nor, on the other hand, does he deliver judgment on its actual occurrence; he records the anecdote of a superhuman race simply to serve as an example of the increase in human wickedness which was to provoke the Flood.
:—Jerusalem Bible, Genesis VI, footnote.</ref>
Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citing Jesus's statement that angels do not marry.<ref>{{cite web| title=Matthew 22:30| publisher=BibleGateway.com, from the New American Standard Bible translation| url =http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022:30&version=49}}</ref> Others believe that Jesus was only referring to angels in heaven.<ref>Bob Deffinbaugh, ''Genesis: From Paradise to Patriarchs'', [http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=67 The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men]</ref>
Evidence cited in favor of the fallen angels interpretation includes the fact that the phrase "the sons of God" (Hebrew: {{Hebrew|בְּנֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים}}; or "sons of the gods") is used twice outside of Genesis chapter 6, in the Book of Job (1:6 and 2:1) where the phrase explicitly references angels. The Septuagint manuscript [[Codex Alexandrinus]] reading of Genesis 6:2 renders this phrase as "the angels of God" while [[Codex Vaticanus]] reads "sons".<ref>{{cite book |last=Swete |first=Henry Barclay |title=The Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint (Volume 1) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1901 |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/stream/oldtestamentingr01swetuoft#page/n40/mode/1up}} Greek text: 'οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ'</ref>
[[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan]] identifies the Nephilim as [[Shemihaza]] and the angels in the name list from 1 Enoch.<ref>Archie T. Wright ''The origin of evil spirits: the reception of Genesis 6.1–4 6:1–4 in Early Jewish Literature.'' 2005 Page 82 "Targum Neofiti's rendition of Nephilim follows that of Onkelos ... Targum Pseudo-Jonathan interprets the Genesis 6.4 passage with significant changes, which indicate a strong negative"</ref>
====Second Temple Judaism====
{{Main|Book of Enoch|Book of Jubilees|Watcher (angel)}}
{{see also|Second Temple Judaism}}
The story of the Nephilim is further elaborated in the [[Book of Enoch]]. 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 angels, and in particular with the [[Watcher (angel)|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:
{{quote|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 ...<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/ethiopian/enoch/1watchers/watchers.htm|title=Book 1: Watchers|accessdate=14 August 2012|publisher=Academy for Ancient Texts, Timothy R. Carnahan}}</ref>}}
In this tradition, the children of the Nephilim are called the [[Elioud]], who are considered a separate race from the Nephilim, but they share the fate of the Nephilim.
According to these texts, the fallen angels who [[human reproduction|begat]] the Nephilim were cast into [[Tartarus]] (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) (Greek Enoch 20:2),<ref>R. H. Charles ''A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St John'' p239 "He may be Uriel, if it is legitimate to compare 1 Enoch xx. 2, according to which he was the angel set over the world and Tartarus (''ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τοῦ Ταρτάρου''). In 1 Enoch, Tartarus is the nether world generally.</ref> 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 [[demon]]s, to try to lead the human race astray 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.
There are also allusions to these descendants in the [[deuterocanonical books]] of ''[[Book of Judith|Judith]]'' 16:6, ''[[Sirach]]'' 16:7, ''[[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]'' 3:26–28, and ''[[Book of Wisdom|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.<ref>"1.9 In 'He comes with ten thousands of His holy ones' the text reproduces the Masoretic of Deut. 33² in reading אָתָא = ''ἔρχεται'', whereas the three Targums, the Syriac and Vulgate read אִתֹּה = ''μετ' αὐτοῦ''. Here the LXX diverges wholly. The reading אתא is recognised as original. The writer of 1–5 therefore used the Hebrew text and presumably wrote in Hebrew." R.H.Charles, Book of Enoch: Together with a Reprint of the Greek Fragments London 1912, p.lviii</ref><ref>"We may note especially that 1:1, 3–4, 9 allude unmistakably to Deuteronomy 33:1–2 (along with other passages in the Hebrew Bible), implying that the author, like some other Jewish writers, read Deuteronomy 33–34, the last words of Moses in the Torah, as prophecy of the future history of Israel, and 33:2 as referring to the eschatological theophany of God as judge." Richard Bauckham, The Jewish world around the New Testament: collected essays. 1999 p276</ref><ref>"The introduction.. picks up various biblical passages and re-interprets them, applying them to Enoch. Two passages are central to it The first is Deuteronomy 33:1 .. the second is Numbers 24:3–4 Michael E. Stone Selected studies in pseudepigrapha and apocrypha with special reference to the Armenian Tradition (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha No 9) p.422.</ref> To most commentators this confirms that the author of Jude regarded the Enochic interpretations of Genesis 6 as correct, however others<ref>e.g. Michael Green ''The second epistle general of Peter, and the general epistle of Jude'' p59</ref> have questioned this.
===Descendants of Seth and Cain===
References to the offspring of Seth rebelling from God and mingling with the daughters of [[Cain]] are found from the second century CE onwards in both Christian and Jewish sources. e.g. Rabbi [[Shimon bar Yochai]], [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Sextus Julius Africanus]], and the [[Clementine literature|Letters attributed to St. Clement]]. It is also the view expressed in the modern canonical [[Amharic]] [[Bible translations (Amharic)|Ethiopian Orthodox Bible]]: Henok 2:1–3 "and the Offspring of Seth, who were upon the Holy Mount, saw them and loved them. And they told one another, 'Come, let us choose for us daughters from Cain's children; let us bear children for us.'"
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]] and [[Nachmanides]] followed this. [[Pseudo-Philo]], ''Biblical Antiquities'' 3:1–3 may also imply that the "sons of God" were human.<ref>James L. Kugel ''Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era'' (9780674791510)</ref> 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".<ref>"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the '''sons of the nobles''' would come to the daughters of man, and they would bear for them; they are the mighty men, who were of old, the men of renown."—Genesis 6:4 [http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/8171/showrashi/true/jewish/Chapter-6.htm (chabad.org translation)]</ref> This is also the rendering suggested in the [[Targum Onqelos]], [[Symmachus (translator)#His translation|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" 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.<ref>
:Later Judaism and almost all the earliest ecclesiastical writers identify the "sons of God" with the fallen angels; but from the fourth century onwards, as the idea of angelic natures becomes less material, the Fathers commonly take the "sons of God" to be Seth's descendants and the "daughters of men" those of Cain.
:—Jerusalem Bible, Genesis VI, footnote.</ref> 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 the [[Clementine literature]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aa/aa2.htm|title=KITĀB AL-MAGĀLL OR THE BOOK OF THE ROLLS. ONE OF THE BOOKS OF CLEMENT.|publisher=|accessdate=5 June 2015}}</ref> as well as in [[Sextus Julius Africanus]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf06.v.v.ii.html?highlight=cain,seth#highlight|title=ANF06. Fathers of the Third Century: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius, and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arn|publisher=|accessdate=5 June 2015}}</ref> [[Ephrem the Syrian]]<ref>''Commentary in Genesis'' 6:3</ref> and others. Holders of this view have looked for support in Jesus' statement that "in those days before the flood ''they'' [humans] were ... ''marrying and giving in marriage''" ({{bibleverse||Matthew|24:38|NASB}}).<ref>Rick Wade, ''Answering Email'', [http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4223637/k.8840/Answering_Email.htm The Nephilim] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331201021/http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4223637/k.8840/Answering_Email.htm |date=31 March 2009 }}</ref>
Some individuals and groups, including [[Augustine of Hippo|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 prior [[Covenant (religion)|covenant]] with [[Yahweh]] (cf. {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|14:1|HE}}; {{bibleverse-nb||Deut|32:5|HE}}); 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]],<ref>[http://www.mahiberekidusan.org/Default.aspx?tabid=98&ctl=Details&mid=371&ItemID=75 Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunday Schools Department: The "Holy Angels"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727055448/http://www.mahiberekidusan.org/Default.aspx?tabid=98&ctl=Details&mid=371&ItemID=75 |date=27 July 2011 }} (in Amharic)</ref> supported by their own [[Ge'ez]] manuscripts and [[Amharic]] translation of the [[Bible translations (Amharic)|Haile Selassie Bible]]—where the books of ''[[1 Enoch]]'' and ''[[Jubilees]]'', counted as canonical by this church, differ from western academic editions.<ref>The Amharic text of Henok 2:1–3 (i.e. 1 En) in the 1962 Ethiopian Orthodox Bible may be translated as follows: "After mankind abounded, it became thus: And in that season, handsome comely children were born to them; and the Offspring of Seth, who were upon the Holy Mount, saw them and loved them. And they told one another, "Come,let us choose for us daughters from Cain's children; let us bear children for us."</ref> 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'':
{{quote|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.}}
===Arguments from culture and mythology===
In [[Aram (biblical region)|Aram]]aic culture, the term ''niyphelah'' refers to the [[Orion (constellation)|Constellation of Orion]] and ''nephilim'' to the offspring of [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]] in mythology.<ref>e.g. ''[[Peake's commentary on the Bible]]'' 1919<!-- edition, date, page? --></ref> However the [[Brown-Driver-Briggs]] lexicon notes this as a "dubious etymology" and "all very precarious".<ref name="Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon' p.658">''Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon'' p. 658; Strongs H5307</ref>
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".<ref>J. C. Greenfield, Article ''Apkallu'' in [https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+Deities+and+Demons&source=bl&ots=aFszcWlY3q&sig=P5ibNUm6cJFufa910KKYAhrGpbM&hl=en&ei=nH4xTNu_GoLBcZvVvcIH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=apkallu&f=false K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible", pp.72–4]</ref> The ''[[apkallu]]'' in [[Sumerian mythology]] were seven legendary [[culture hero]]es from before the [[Flood myth|Flood]], of human descent, but possessing extraordinary wisdom from the gods, and one of the seven ''apkallu'', [[Adapa]], was therefore called "son of [[Ea (Babylonian god)|Ea]]" the Babylonian god, despite his human origin.<ref>J. C. Greenfield, Article ''Apkallu'' in [https://books.google.com/booksid=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+Deities+and+Demons&source=bl&ots=aFszcWlY3q&sig=P5ibNUm6cJFufa910KKYAhrGpbM&hl=en&ei=nH4xTNu_GoLBcZvVvcIH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=apkallu&f=false K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible", pp.73]</ref>
==Misidentification of fossil remains==
[[Cotton Mather]] believed that [[fossil]]ized leg bones and teeth discovered near [[Albany, New York|Albany]], New York in 1705 were the remains of nephilim who perished in [[Genesis flood narrative|a great flood]]. However, [[paleontologist]]s have identified these as [[mastodon]] remains.<ref>{{cite book |last = Rigal |first = Laura |title = American Manufactory: Art, Labor, and the World of Things in the Early Republic |publisher = Princeton University Press |year = 2001 |page = 91 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-aNPS9dAUrEC&pg=PA91 |isbn = 9780691089515}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Rose |first = Mark |title = When Giants Roamed the Earth |journal = [[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology]] |volume=58 |number=6 |date = November–December 2005 |url = http://archive.archaeology.org/0511/etc/giants.html |accessdate = 15 October 2014}}</ref>
==Related terms==
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], there are a number of other words which, like "nephilim", are sometimes translated as "giants":
* [[Anunnaki]]
* [[Emite|Emim]]
* [[Rephaim]]
* [[Anakim]]
* [[Gibborim (biblical)|Gibborim]]
==Popular culture==
{{Main|Nephilim in popular culture}}
The name and idea of Nephilim, like many other religious concepts, is sometimes used in popular culture. Examples include the [[gothic rock]] band [[Fields of the Nephilim]], ''[[Victor Renquist|The Renquist Quartet]]'' novels by [[Mick Farren]], ''[[The Mortal Instruments]]'' series by [[Cassandra Clare]], the ''[[Hush, Hush (series)|Hush, Hush]]'' series by [[Becca Fitzpatrick]], tv-series such as ''[[All Souls (The X-Files)|The X-Files]]'' and ''[[Supernatural (season 8)#ep171|Supernatural]]''. In the video game series, [[Darksiders]], the [[four horsemen of the apocalypse]] are said to be nephilim, wherein, the nephilim were created by the unholy union of angel and demon.
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Cain tradition]]
* [[Cambion]]
* [[Demigod]]
* [[Giants (Greek mythology)]]
* [[List of giants in mythology and folklore]]
* [[Quinametzin]]
* [[Serpent seed]]
* [[Titan (mythology)]]
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
* {{eastons|Nephilim}}
==External links==
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5998-fall-of-angels Jewish Encyclopedia: Fall of Angels]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Angels]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Angels in Christianity]]
[[Category:Angels in Judaism]]
[[Category:Bereshit (parsha)]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Classes of angel]]
[[Category:Fallen angels]]
[[Category:Demons in Christianity]]
[[Category:Demons in Judaism]]
[[Category:Giants]]
[[Category:Jewish legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Mythological human hybrids]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext) | '{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2010}}
[[File:Hieronymus Bosch - The Fall of the Rebel Angels (obverse) - WGA2572.jpg|thumb|right|195px|''The Fall of the Rebel Angels'' by [[Hieronymus Bosch]] is based on {{bibleref2|Genesis|6:1–4}}]]
The '''Nephilim''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|f|ᵻ|ˌ|l|ɪ|m}} ({{Lang-he-n|נְפִילִים}}, ''nefilim'') are poorly-understood figures mentioned in the Bible, particularly before the [[Genesis flood narrative|Deluge]], according to {{bibleref2|Genesis|6:1–4}}.
A similar or identical [[biblical Hebrew]] term, read as "Nephilim" by some scholars, or as the word "fallen" by others, appears in {{bibleref2|Ezekiel 32:27}}.<ref>For the view that "Nephilim" appear explicitly in Ezekiel 32, see Hendel, Ronald S. “Of Demigods and the Deluge: Toward an Interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4”. ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', vol. 106, no. 1, 1987, p. 22. {{jstor|3260551}}.</ref><ref>For the view that the term "Nephilim" does not appear explicitly in Ezekiel 32:27, but that a related word is used to deliberately refer to the traditions about Nephilim, see Doak, Brian R. "Ezekiel's Topography of the (Un-)Heroic Dead in Ezekiel 32:17–32". ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', vol. 132, no. 3, 2013, pp. 607–624. {{jstor|23487889}}.</ref>
{{quote|When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.|Genesis 6:1–4, New Revised Standard Version}}
The word is loosely translated as ''[[giant]]s'' in some Bibles and left untranslated in others. The "sons of God" have been interpreted to be [[fallen angel]]s according to some classical Judaic explanations.
According to {{bibleref|Numbers|13:33}}, they later inhabited [[Canaan]] at the time of the [[Book of Joshua#Entry into the land and conquest .28chapters 2.E2.80.9312.29|Israelite conquest of Canaan]].
{{quote|The Lord said to Moses, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites" ... So they went up and spied out the land ... And they told him: "... Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of [[Anak]] there." ... So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."|Numbers 13:1–2; 21; 27–28; 32–33. New Revised Standard Version.}}
==Etymology==
The [[Brown-Driver-Briggs]] Lexicon (1906) gives the meaning of nephilim as "[[giant (mythology)|giant]]s", and holds that proposed etymologies of the word are "all very precarious".<ref name="Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon' p. 658">''Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon'' p. 658; Strongs H5307</ref> Many suggested interpretations are based on the assumption that the word is a derivative of Hebrew verbal root {{lang|he-Latn|n-ph-l}} ({{lang|he|נ־פ־ל}}) "fall". [[Robert Baker Girdlestone]]<ref>Girdlestone R. ''Old Testament Synonyms'' p. 54</ref> argued in 1871 the word comes from the [[Hiphil]] [[causative]] stem, implying that the nephilim are to be perceived as "those that cause others to fall down". Ronald Hendel states that it is a passive form "ones who have fallen", grammatically analogous to {{lang|he-Latn|paqid}} "one who is appointed" (i.e., overseer), {{lang|he-Latn|asir}} "one who is bound" (i.e., prisoner), etc.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hendel |first=Ronald |chapter=The Nephilim were on the Earth: Genesis 6:1–4 and its ancient Near Eastern context |editor-last1=Auffarth |editor-first1=Christoph |editor-first2=Loren T. |editor-last2=Stuckenbruck |title=The Fall of the Angels |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |date=22 February 2004 |isbn=978-90-04-12668-8 |pages=21, 34 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Marks |first=Herbert |title=Biblical Naming and Poetic Etymology |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=114 |issue=1 |date=Spring 1995 |pages=21–42 }}</ref>
The majority of ancient biblical versions—including the [[Septuagint]], [[Theodotion]], [[Latin Vulgate]], [[Samaritan Targum]], [[Targum Onkelos]], and [[Targum Neofiti]]—interpret the word to mean "giants".<ref>{{cite book |last=Van Ruiten |first=Jacques |title=Primaeval History Interpreted: The Rewriting of Genesis I–II in the Book of Jubilees |page=189 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xxo82l7TeQC&pg=PA189 |isbn=9789004116580}}</ref> [[Symmachus (translator)|Symmachus]] translates it as "the violent ones"<ref name=Wright80-81>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Archie T. |title=The Origin of Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6.1–4 in Early Jewish Literature |pages=80–81 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzh7LXv4sZkC&pg=PA81 |isbn=9783161486562}}</ref><ref>The Greek text reads {{lang|grc|'οι βιαιοι}}; the singular root {{lang|grc|βιαιος}} means "violence" or "forcible" ([https://archive.org/stream/greekenglishlex00liddrich#page/282/mode/1up Liddell & Scott. ''Greek–English Lexicon,'' 1883.)]</ref><ref name=Stackhouse>{{cite book |last=Stackhouse |first=Thomas |title=A History of the Holy Bible |page=53 |publisher=Blackie & Son |year=1869 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hL0CAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58}}</ref> and [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]]'s translation has been interpreted to mean either "the fallen ones"<ref name=Wright80-81/> or "the ones falling [upon their enemies]".<ref name=Stackhouse/><ref>{{cite conference |last=Salvesen |first=Alison |title=Symmachus Readings in the Pentateuch |booktitle=Origen's Hexapla and Fragments: Papers Presented at the Rich Seminar on the Hexapla, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, [July] 25th – 3rd August 1994 |page=190 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xQDu27_HEIC&pg=PA190 |ISBN=9783161465758 |quote=The rendering "he fell upon, attacked" [in Symmachus, Genesis 6:6] is something of a puzzle ... If it has been faithfully recorded, it may be related to the rendering of Aquila for the Nephilim in 6:4, {{lang|grc|οι επιπιπτοντες}}.}}</ref>
Strongs Hebrew Lexicon uses H5303 for the reference to giants in Numbers 13:33: "nphiyl nef-eel' or nphil {nef-eel'}; from 5307; properly, a feller, i.e. a bully or tyrant:--giant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eliyah.com/cgi-bin/strongs.cgi?file=hebrewlexicon&isindex=5303|title=Strong's Hebrew Lexicon Search Results|website=www.eliyah.com|access-date=2018-05-15}}</ref>"
==In the Hebrew Bible==
The term "Nephilim" is mentioned twice in the [[Pentateuch]]. The first occurrence is in Genesis 6:1–4, immediately before the account of [[Noah's Ark]]. Genesis 6:4 reads as follows:<blockquote>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.<ref name=JPS_1917>{{cite book |title=Pentateuch |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |language=en |year=1917}}</ref></blockquote> Where the Jewish Publication Society translation<ref name=JPS_1917/> simply transliterated the Hebrew ''nephilim'' as "Nephilim", the [[King James Version]] translated the term as "giants".<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 6 in parallel Hebrew-English format |url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0106.htm |website=Mechon Mamre}}</ref>
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,<ref>{{cite book |author-first=Richard |author-last=Hess |article=Nephilim |editor-last=Freedman |editor-first=David Noel |title=The Anchor Bible Dictionary |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |year=1997 |origyear=1992}}</ref> as does P.W. Coxon.<ref>{{cite book |author-first=P. W. |author-last=Coxon |article=Nephilim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+deities&source=bl&ots=aFszbVpZ1q&sig=BTsr0PxWHwKqtvU25jjSvqWGv3g&hl=en&ei=3OAvTNHPBYOjcYnS6KMD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Nephilim&f=false |editor1-first=K. |editor1-last=van der Toorn |editor2-first=Bob |editor2-last=Becking |editor3-first=Pieter Willem |editor3-last=van der Horst |title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |page=619}}</ref>
The second is {{bibleref2|Numbers|13:32–33|9}}, where ten of [[the Twelve Spies]] report that they have seen fearsome giants in Canaan:<blockquote>And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.<ref name=JPS_1917/></blockquote>
Ezekiel 32:27 contains a phrase of disputed meaning. With the traditional vowels added to the text in the medieval period, the phrase is read ''gibborim nophlim'' ("''fallen warriors''" or "''fallen [[Gibborim (biblical)|Gibborim]]''"), although some scholars read the phrase as ''gibborim nephilim'' ("''Nephilim warriors''" or "''warriors, Nephilim''").<ref>{{cite book |first=W. |last=Zimmerli |year=1983 |title=Ezekiel 2: A commentary on the book of the prophet Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48 |pages=168, 176 |translator-first=J. D. |translator-last=Martin |series=Hermeneia |location=Philadelphia, PA |publisher=Fortress}}</ref><ref name=Hendel_1987>{{cite journal |first=Robert S. |last=Hendel |title=Of demigods and the deluge: Towards an interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=106 |page=22 |year=1987 |jstor=3260551}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+deities#v=onepage&q=Nephilim&f=false |title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |via=Google Books |access-date=5 June 2015 |isbn=9780802824912 |editor1-last=van der Toorn |editor1-first=Karel |editor2-last=Becking |editor2-first=Bob |editor3-last=van der Horst |editor3-first=Pieter Willem |year=1999}}</ref> According to Ronald 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<blockquote>They lie with the warriors, the Nephilim of old, who descended to Sheol 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.<ref name=Hendel_1987/></blockquote> Brian R. Doak, on the other hand, proposes to read the term as the Hebrew verb "''fallen''" (''nophlim''), not a use of the specific term "Nephilim", but still according to Doak a clear reference to the Nephilim tradition as found in Genesis.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Doak, Brian R. |year=2013 |title=Ezekiel's topography of the (un-)heroic dead in Ezekiel 32:17-32 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=132 |issue=3 |pages=622 |url=htttp://www.jstor.org/stable/23487889}}</ref>
==Interpretations==
===Fallen angels===
{{main|Fallen angel}}
All early sources refer to the "sons of heaven" as angels. From the third century BCE onwards, references are found in the [[Book of Enoch|Enochic literature]], the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] (the [[Genesis Apocryphon]], the [[Damascus Document]], 4Q180), [[Jubilees]], the Testament of Reuben, [[2 Baruch]], [[Josephus]], and the [[book of Jude]] (compare with 2 Peter 2). For example: 1 Enoch 7:2 "And when the angels, (3) the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamoured of them, saying to each other, Come, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget children." Some Christian apologists, such as [[Tertullian]] and especially [[Lactantius]], 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 rabbinical ''[[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan]]'' and it has since become especially commonplace in modern-day 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kosior|first=Wojciech|date=2010|title=Synowie bogów i córki człowieka. Kosmiczny "mezalians" i jego efekty w Księdze Rodzaju 6:1-6|url=https://www.academia.edu/3472159/The_Sons_of_Gods_and_the_Daughters_of_Man._The_Cosmic_Misalliance_and_Its_Effects_in_Genesis_6_1-6_Synowie_bog%C3%B3w_i_c%C3%B3rki_cz%C5%82owieka._Kosmiczny_mezalians_i_jego_efekty_w_Ksi%C4%99dze_Rodzaju_6_1-6_|journal=Ex Nihilo. Periodyk młodych religioznawców|language=Polish; the English version of the paper (translated by Daniel Kalinowski) is available at: http://acalyludpowieamen.pl/the-cosmic-misalliance-and-its-effects-in-genesis-61-6/|volume=1 (3) 2010|issue=|pages=73–74|doi=|pmid=|access-date=|via=}}</ref>
The ''[[New American Bible]]'' commentary draws a parallel to the [[Epistle 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.<ref>''New American Bible'', footnotes page 1370, referring to verse 6.
:The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgement of the great day. Likewise, [[Sodom and Gomorrah]], and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
:—Jude 1:6–7, ''New American Bible''.</ref> The footnotes of the [[Jerusalem Bible]] suggest that the biblical author intended the Nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race".<ref>
:The author does not present this episode as a myth nor, on the other hand, does he deliver judgment on its actual occurrence; he records the anecdote of a superhuman race simply to serve as an example of the increase in human wickedness which was to provoke the Flood.
:—Jerusalem Bible, Genesis VI, footnote.</ref>
Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citing Jesus's statement that angels do not marry.<ref>{{cite web| title=Matthew 22:30| publisher=BibleGateway.com, from the New American Standard Bible translation| url =http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022:30&version=49}}</ref> Others believe that Jesus was only referring to angels in heaven.<ref>Bob Deffinbaugh, ''Genesis: From Paradise to Patriarchs'', [http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=67 The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men]</ref>
Evidence cited in favor of the fallen angels interpretation includes the fact that the phrase "the sons of God" (Hebrew: {{Hebrew|בְּנֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים}}; or "sons of the gods") is used twice outside of Genesis chapter 6, in the Book of Job (1:6 and 2:1) where the phrase explicitly references angels. The Septuagint manuscript [[Codex Alexandrinus]] reading of Genesis 6:2 renders this phrase as "the angels of God" while [[Codex Vaticanus]] reads "sons".<ref>{{cite book |last=Swete |first=Henry Barclay |title=The Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint (Volume 1) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1901 |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/stream/oldtestamentingr01swetuoft#page/n40/mode/1up}} Greek text: 'οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ'</ref>
[[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan]] identifies the Nephilim as [[Shemihaza]] and the angels in the name list from 1 Enoch.<ref>Archie T. Wright ''The origin of evil spirits: the reception of Genesis 6.1–4 6:1–4 in Early Jewish Literature.'' 2005 Page 82 "Targum Neofiti's rendition of Nephilim follows that of Onkelos ... Targum Pseudo-Jonathan interprets the Genesis 6.4 passage with significant changes, which indicate a strong negative"</ref>
====Second Temple Judaism====
{{Main|Book of Enoch|Book of Jubilees|Watcher (angel)}}
{{see also|Second Temple Judaism}}
The story of the Nephilim is further elaborated in the [[Book of Enoch]]. 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 angels, and in particular with the [[Watcher (angel)|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:
{{quote|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 ...<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/ethiopian/enoch/1watchers/watchers.htm|title=Book 1: Watchers|accessdate=14 August 2012|publisher=Academy for Ancient Texts, Timothy R. Carnahan}}</ref>}}
In this tradition, the children of the Nephilim are called the [[Elioud]], who are considered a separate race from the Nephilim, but they share the fate of the Nephilim.
According to these texts, the fallen angels who [[human reproduction|begat]] the Nephilim were cast into [[Tartarus]] (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) (Greek Enoch 20:2),<ref>R. H. Charles ''A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St John'' p239 "He may be Uriel, if it is legitimate to compare 1 Enoch xx. 2, according to which he was the angel set over the world and Tartarus (''ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τοῦ Ταρτάρου''). In 1 Enoch, Tartarus is the nether world generally.</ref> 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 [[demon]]s, to try to lead the human race astray 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.
There are also allusions to these descendants in the [[deuterocanonical books]] of ''[[Book of Judith|Judith]]'' 16:6, ''[[Sirach]]'' 16:7, ''[[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]'' 3:26–28, and ''[[Book of Wisdom|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.<ref>"1.9 In 'He comes with ten thousands of His holy ones' the text reproduces the Masoretic of Deut. 33² in reading אָתָא = ''ἔρχεται'', whereas the three Targums, the Syriac and Vulgate read אִתֹּה = ''μετ' αὐτοῦ''. Here the LXX diverges wholly. The reading אתא is recognised as original. The writer of 1–5 therefore used the Hebrew text and presumably wrote in Hebrew." R.H.Charles, Book of Enoch: Together with a Reprint of the Greek Fragments London 1912, p.lviii</ref><ref>"We may note especially that 1:1, 3–4, 9 allude unmistakably to Deuteronomy 33:1–2 (along with other passages in the Hebrew Bible), implying that the author, like some other Jewish writers, read Deuteronomy 33–34, the last words of Moses in the Torah, as prophecy of the future history of Israel, and 33:2 as referring to the eschatological theophany of God as judge." Richard Bauckham, The Jewish world around the New Testament: collected essays. 1999 p276</ref><ref>"The introduction.. picks up various biblical passages and re-interprets them, applying them to Enoch. Two passages are central to it The first is Deuteronomy 33:1 .. the second is Numbers 24:3–4 Michael E. Stone Selected studies in pseudepigrapha and apocrypha with special reference to the Armenian Tradition (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha No 9) p.422.</ref> To most commentators this confirms that the author of Jude regarded the Enochic interpretations of Genesis 6 as correct, however others<ref>e.g. Michael Green ''The second epistle general of Peter, and the general epistle of Jude'' p59</ref> have questioned this.
===Descendants of Seth and Cain===
References to the offspring of Seth rebelling from God and mingling with the daughters of [[Cain]] are found from the second century CE onwards in both Christian and Jewish sources. e.g. Rabbi [[Shimon bar Yochai]], [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Sextus Julius Africanus]], and the [[Clementine literature|Letters attributed to St. Clement]]. It is also the view expressed in the modern canonical [[Amharic]] [[Bible translations (Amharic)|Ethiopian Orthodox Bible]]: Henok 2:1–3 "and the Offspring of Seth, who were upon the Holy Mount, saw them and loved them. And they told one another, 'Come, let us choose for us daughters from Cain's children; let us bear children for us.'"
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]] and [[Nachmanides]] followed this. [[Pseudo-Philo]], ''Biblical Antiquities'' 3:1–3 may also imply that the "sons of God" were human.<ref>James L. Kugel ''Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era'' (9780674791510)</ref> 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".<ref>"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the '''sons of the nobles''' would come to the daughters of man, and they would bear for them; they are the mighty men, who were of old, the men of renown."—Genesis 6:4 [http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/8171/showrashi/true/jewish/Chapter-6.htm (chabad.org translation)]</ref> This is also the rendering suggested in the [[Targum Onqelos]], [[Symmachus (translator)#His translation|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" 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.<ref>
:Later Judaism and almost all the earliest ecclesiastical writers identify the "sons of God" with the fallen angels; but from the fourth century onwards, as the idea of angelic natures becomes less material, the Fathers commonly take the "sons of God" to be Seth's descendants and the "daughters of men" those of Cain.
:—Jerusalem Bible, Genesis VI, footnote.</ref> 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 the [[Clementine literature]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aa/aa2.htm|title=KITĀB AL-MAGĀLL OR THE BOOK OF THE ROLLS. ONE OF THE BOOKS OF CLEMENT.|publisher=|accessdate=5 June 2015}}</ref> as well as in [[Sextus Julius Africanus]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf06.v.v.ii.html?highlight=cain,seth#highlight|title=ANF06. Fathers of the Third Century: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius, and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arn|publisher=|accessdate=5 June 2015}}</ref> [[Ephrem the Syrian]]<ref>''Commentary in Genesis'' 6:3</ref> and others. Holders of this view have looked for support in Jesus' statement that "in those days before the flood ''they'' [humans] were ... ''marrying and giving in marriage''" ({{bibleverse||Matthew|24:38|NASB}}).<ref>Rick Wade, ''Answering Email'', [http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4223637/k.8840/Answering_Email.htm The Nephilim] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331201021/http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4223637/k.8840/Answering_Email.htm |date=31 March 2009 }}</ref>
Some individuals and groups, including [[Augustine of Hippo|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 prior [[Covenant (religion)|covenant]] with [[Yahweh]] (cf. {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|14:1|HE}}; {{bibleverse-nb||Deut|32:5|HE}}); 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]],<ref>[http://www.mahiberekidusan.org/Default.aspx?tabid=98&ctl=Details&mid=371&ItemID=75 Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunday Schools Department: The "Holy Angels"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727055448/http://www.mahiberekidusan.org/Default.aspx?tabid=98&ctl=Details&mid=371&ItemID=75 |date=27 July 2011 }} (in Amharic)</ref> supported by their own [[Ge'ez]] manuscripts and [[Amharic]] translation of the [[Bible translations (Amharic)|Haile Selassie Bible]]—where the books of ''[[1 Enoch]]'' and ''[[Jubilees]]'', counted as canonical by this church, differ from western academic editions.<ref>The Amharic text of Henok 2:1–3 (i.e. 1 En) in the 1962 Ethiopian Orthodox Bible may be translated as follows: "After mankind abounded, it became thus: And in that season, handsome comely children were born to them; and the Offspring of Seth, who were upon the Holy Mount, saw them and loved them. And they told one another, "Come,let us choose for us daughters from Cain's children; let us bear children for us."</ref> 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'':
{{quote|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.}}
===Arguments from culture and mythology===
In [[Aram (biblical region)|Aram]]aic culture, the term ''niyphelah'' refers to the [[Orion (constellation)|Constellation of Orion]] and ''nephilim'' to the offspring of [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]] in mythology.<ref>e.g. ''[[Peake's commentary on the Bible]]'' 1919<!-- edition, date, page? --></ref> However the [[Brown-Driver-Briggs]] lexicon notes this as a "dubious etymology" and "all very precarious".<ref name="Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon' p.658">''Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon'' p. 658; Strongs H5307</ref>
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".<ref>J. C. Greenfield, Article ''Apkallu'' in [https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+Deities+and+Demons&source=bl&ots=aFszcWlY3q&sig=P5ibNUm6cJFufa910KKYAhrGpbM&hl=en&ei=nH4xTNu_GoLBcZvVvcIH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=apkallu&f=false K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible", pp.72–4]</ref> The ''[[apkallu]]'' in [[Sumerian mythology]] were seven legendary [[culture hero]]es from before the [[Flood myth|Flood]], of human descent, but possessing extraordinary wisdom from the gods, and one of the seven ''apkallu'', [[Adapa]], was therefore called "son of [[Ea (Babylonian god)|Ea]]" the Babylonian god, despite his human origin.<ref>J. C. Greenfield, Article ''Apkallu'' in [https://books.google.com/booksid=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+Deities+and+Demons&source=bl&ots=aFszcWlY3q&sig=P5ibNUm6cJFufa910KKYAhrGpbM&hl=en&ei=nH4xTNu_GoLBcZvVvcIH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=apkallu&f=false K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible", pp.73]</ref>
==Misidentification of fossil remains==
[[Cotton Mather]] believed that [[fossil]]ized leg bones and teeth discovered near [[Albany, New York|Albany]], New York in 1705 were the remains of nephilim who perished in [[Genesis flood narrative|a great flood]]. However, [[paleontologist]]s have identified these as [[mastodon]] remains.<ref>{{cite book |last = Rigal |first = Laura |title = American Manufactory: Art, Labor, and the World of Things in the Early Republic |publisher = Princeton University Press |year = 2001 |page = 91 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-aNPS9dAUrEC&pg=PA91 |isbn = 9780691089515}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Rose |first = Mark |title = When Giants Roamed the Earth |journal = [[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology]] |volume=58 |number=6 |date = November–December 2005 |url = http://archive.archaeology.org/0511/etc/giants.html |accessdate = 15 October 2014}}</ref>
==Related terms==
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], there are a number of other words which, like "nephilim", are sometimes translated as "giants":
* [[Anunnaki]]
* [[Emite|Emim]]
* [[Rephaim]]
* [[Anakim]]
* [[Gibborim (biblical)|Gibborim]]
==Popular culture==
{{Main|Nephilim in popular culture}}
The name and idea of Nephilim, like many other religious concepts, is sometimes used in popular culture. Examples include the [[gothic rock]] band [[Fields of the Nephilim]], ''[[Victor Renquist|The Renquist Quartet]]'' novels by [[Mick Farren]], ''[[The Mortal Instruments]]'' series by [[Cassandra Clare]], the ''[[Hush, Hush (series)|Hush, Hush]]'' series by [[Becca Fitzpatrick]], tv-series such as ''[[All Souls (The X-Files)|The X-Files]]'' and ''[[Supernatural (season 8)#ep171|Supernatural]]''. In the video game series, [[Darksiders]], the [[four horsemen of the apocalypse]] are said to be nephilim, wherein, the nephilim were created by the unholy union of angel and demon.
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Cain tradition]]
* [[Cambion]]
* [[Demigod]]
* [[Giants (Greek mythology)]]
* [[List of giants in mythology and folklore]]
* [[Quinametzin]]
* [[Serpent seed]]
* [[Titan (mythology)]]
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
* {{eastons|Nephilim}}
==External links==
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5998-fall-of-angels Jewish Encyclopedia: Fall of Angels]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Angels]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Angels in Christianity]]
[[Category:Angels in Judaism]]
[[Category:Bereshit (parsha)]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Classes of angel]]
[[Category:Fallen angels]]
[[Category:Demons in Christianity]]
[[Category:Demons in Judaism]]
[[Category:Giants]]
[[Category:Jewish legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Mythological human hybrids]]' |
