[Sir Gawain]

ping

[RnMomof7]

a pastoral reading bump..thought it might interest ya

[philman_36]

Now, the problem with this description is that, if the biblical narrative is consistent, then the Nephilim would not have survived the Flood, so how would they have been around for the spies to see?
There is a narrative, I don't remember exactly where right off hand, of a second influx of fallen angels after the flood. I'll see if I can remember where it is.

[verity]

who were the "giant sons of God"?

Defensive linemen at Notre Dame?

[Stefan Stackhouse]

Neanderthals?

[Lurking Libertarian]

I think the correct translation of the Hebrew word nephilim is "muppets."

[Mr. Mulliner]

About 3 years ago, Chuck Missler and one of his colleagues, Dr. Mark Eastman, held a conference at Rosswell, New Mexico to kind of coincide with all of the anniversary hoopla of the Rosswell sightings. Chuck Missler I consider a very interesting and sound Bible teacher, someone who is at least a very independent thinker and yet quite orthodox. In case you're not familiar with him, you can visit his Koinonia House website.

Now please don't laugh, but the conference was called Alien Encounters: A Christian Perspective On Alien Contact. I know, I know. Sounds terribly sensationalistic, and yet if you think about it, considering how many Christians are caught up in talk about alien encounters, especially during the Rosswell anniversary, it makes sense to have a conference and I think they had fun with it too.

If you click on that conference link, you'll find links to their 6 talks and also PowerPoint presentations. I listened to most of the talks or at least breezed through them, but one of them specifically addresses this question about the Nephilim. It's either the first or second one, looking at the titles. The first one has the word "Nephilim" in it, but I'm thinking the second one gets into it more.

Take what you can from it. There's some interesting ideas he brings up and some may seem far-fetched, but if you listen with an open mind, you may come to the same conclusion.

[Clifdo]

The "giant sons of God" as you refer to them are the offspring from the mating of the "sons of God" (creatures created by God who come from the spirit world who were fallen); (creatures of no character or honor), with the daughters of men - one of the main reasons why God decided it was time to get rid of the evil all around that men had fallen into by means of the flood.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Farewell to a Little Giant: A riderless white stallion follows the coffin of Jordan's legendary King Hussein, the "Plucky Little King" and Mideast peacemaker who succumbed to cancer in February. The monarch who had ruled from age 17 until his death at 63 enjoyed a love and respect unique across the region’s fractious divides, and beyond. He was a linchpin of regional peace, and one of his last acts was to encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make a leap of faith in signing the Wye Accord. Weeks before his death, Hussein named his 36-year-old son, Abdullah, as his heir.

http://www.lifemag.com/Life/yip/1999/6.html

[Clifdo]

Don't let us get hung up over lots of words, words, words which say absolutely nothing!! Love, Do

[philman_36]

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also after that....
This is talking about before and after the flood of Noah. Gen 6:1-7 is a short cumulative of the narrative of the 6th, 7th and 8th Chapter of Gen. By missing verse Gen. 6:5-7 the author didn't go far enough into the overall concept of the chapter negating the overall context.
2 Samuel 21:15-22 speaks of the raphah, or the Rephaim...#7497/1051-Beyth Rapha Strong's...which appears to be a seperate distinction from the Nephilim. One apparently pre-flood, the latter post-flood.
Just my understanding of things. Take it or leave it.

[JenB]

I've read an explanation that the "sons of God" refer to the descendants of Seth, and "sons of man" to the descendants of Cain - that the righteous line was mixing with the unrighteous line and become decadent. It makes some sense but doesn't explain the 'giants' or 'nephilim'. Also it's nowhere near as interesting!

PS - should have know this article would be from you when I saw the headline!

[Dukie]

Bump for later reading

[Darksheare]

Nephilim Fallen Ones.

"Who can stand before the sons of Anak. 12 we are..." anyone else remember this quote? The Anakim had a number system based on the number twelve. Partly becuase of the 12 sons of Anak, partly because polydactylism(6th finger on each hand) was a common occurence in that society. Few fragments of their people exist to say, "We were here." Grim reminder of the Isrealite orders 'destroy everything.'

[Myrnick]

BUMP to read later...AGAIN.

[Jeremiah Jr]

Excerpt:

Yesodei HaTorah 2:7, notes ten levels of angels:

 

1.         Chayos,

2.         Ofanim,

3.         Erelim,

4.         Chashmalim,

5.         Seraphim,

6.         Malachim,

7.         Elohim,

8.         B'nai Eleohim (Sons of God),

9.         Cherubim, and

10.       Ishim.

 

* * *

 

The Artscroll Tanach on Bereshit (Genesis) provides some insights into the "sons of God":

 

"The Talmud, in Yoma 67b, states that the rite of Azazel on Yom Kippur, in Vayikra (Leviticus) 16, is so called 'because it obtains atonement for the affair of Uzza and Azel.'"

 

"Rashi ad. loc. explains Uzza and Azel as 'angels of destruction who descended to earth in the days of Naamah, sister of Tuval-Cain. Referring to them the verse says, 'and the godly beings saw the children of man'"

 

"Accordingly, the Azazel obtains atonement for immorality.'"

 

* * *

 

Rashi calls the sons of God the "sons of the judges", the "sons of the lords". Alternatively, they are the angelic "lords" who go on the mission of the Omnipresent.

 

There seems to be some indication, therefore, that the sons of God are angels.

***

and it goes on and on and...

The Days of Noah
Greg Killian

[Darth Sidious]

Whoever they were, they probably had a bad time getting to the Super Bowl then, too.

[Don Myers]

bttt

[Sabertooth]

Bill Munns stands next to his model of a Gigantopithecus male, a quadrupedal, fist-walking creature that also could have stood erect, as bears do.
To gain a more complete image of what the giant ape looked like, we sought the help of Bill Munns, who creates highly realistic, life-size models of existing endangered primates - gorillas, orangutans, and the Chinese golden monkey - for zoos and educational institutions. Based on the jaws and teeth, and using the proportions of the skulls of existing great apes, we estimated that the average male Gigantopithecus had a skull that measured eighteen inches from the bottom of the jaw to the highest point of the sagittal crest (a male gorilla, for comparison, has a skull ten inches high). The next step was to project a hypothetical skeleton from the hypothetical skull. For this purpose Munns used as references two of the largest terrestrial primates known: one modern, the gorilla, and one from the fossil record, the extinct giant baboon Theropithecus oswaldi. In determining the size of Gigantopithecus, we felt it necessary to scale the body back a bit, so as not to be influenced too much by the giant ape's extraordinarily deep and thickened mandible. Nevertheless, given that the average male silverback gorilla is about six feet tall (standing erect) and weighs in at 400 pounds, Munns calculated that the average Gigantopithecus male was more than ten feet tall and weighed as much as 1,200 pounds - comparable to a large male polar bear. LINK The ten-foot size estimate is based on approximate head-to-skeleton ratios in primates. In humans that ratio is approximately 1:7; in Lucy, an early human, it was 1:8. Ciochon and Munns tried 1:7 and thought the result looked too small. They settled on 1:6.5. Though shocked by resulting huge size, the researchers believe their estimate is conservative. Relative arm and leg size is based on the ratio of forelimbs to hindlimbs, also known as the intermembral index. In humans the ratio is approximatelty 70%; in orangs 134%. Munns split the difference between the gorilla and Theropithecus, yielding 108%. LINK
Gigantopithecus jaw vs. human jaw.

Just another take on the subject.

[k2blader]

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also after that, when the sons of God cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring.

Thanks for the interesting post. We're slowly working through Genesis in Sunday School and briefly touched on the above.

There seemed to be a consensus that the Nephilim were men, because they were able to produce offspring. I'm pretty sure the Bible does not allow for either angels or fallen angels to produce offspring. Perhaps the Nephilim were men specially blessed by God with great stature & strength?