What were the Nephilim? Let’s consider their name and its entomology. From the Hebrew “nephilim” comes the translation “fallen one” or giant. Which is it or perhaps both.
We have previously considered (from the IGTV video on Nephilim) that these beings were a creation of humans and angels, aka spiritual beings. But which type of spiritual beings? If we are to use the Bible and Biblical lore as a point of reference, one must consider the hierarchy of spiritual beings. On of the side of good there are: Seraphim or Spirits of Fire, angels and Archangels or Cherubim. On the other side there are various levels of demons and Satan (information here is VERY simplified). Where did the Nephilim fall in this spectrum of Spiritual beings? If Nephilim were fallen angels from heaven, they would have to have taken on human form because the heavenly host doesn’t have the ability to reproduce. The sexual act and impregnation would mean that they acted against God’s will of their creation. That act alone speaks to them being of ill intent.
Basically, at this point we are pretty sure that they aren’t playing for God’s team. But why do any of this in the first place. There are a few reasons to consider:
- These demons took on human form to corrupt God’s creation and rebel (sounds familiar).
- Create an evil army.
- Demons actually enjoy possessing humans (fun times).
There is more evidence that the Nephilim were evil from extra Biblical text from the 2nd Temple Period (516 BCE-70 AD).
And they conceived from them and bore to them great giants. And the giants
begot Nephilim… And they were growing in accordance with their greatness.
They were devouring the labor of all the sons of men, and men were not able to
supply them. The giants began to kill men and to devour them.
I Enoch 7:2-4
[These fallen angels] knew the secrets of [all things]. [At this time] sin was great
on the earth. The wicked angels killed many people and begot giants [with mortal
women].
If we consider the information here, then we get a very different view of the Nephilim. Not a very great one at all.
One article I read mentioned that the lore of the Nephilim may have been strengthened as a way to explain psychopathy. If there was someone in the village that had murderous tendency, what did people think? They were possessed or worse. Perhaps they were decendent of the Nephilim, With psychopathy, psychologists today struggle with what may have caused a person to take on the traits of a sociopath or a psychopath. Imagine 1000s of years ago when the workings of the mind and psyche were completely unknown. But why such a connection? The stories were far more well known that today and the connection would have almost been automatic.
Could the Nephilim have been the offspring of extraterrestrials and humans? This would speak to trying to explain these people’s size and psychic abilities. But how would this play into to the Biblical lore of them being descended from demons and of ill intent? Could it be that those who couldn’t understand them cooked up stories to “demonize” them; not that they were descended from demons. We well know how history can be changed to suit people’s purposes.
Will we ever truly know what happened to the Nephilim? Did they actually exist or were they stories that were used to scare people straight? Was it a way to understand psychological conditions that we struggle with as a society today?
Probably not as this whole vein of study has been going on for literally millenia.
What are your thoughts?