Welcome to Buttafleye Ministry Interactive Bible Study. Theme: Fallen Angels, Giants, Demons, & Aliens. Topic: Are Giants Mythical or Biblical?
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Key Topics:
What is a Giant According to the Bible?
Where do giants appear in the Bible?
Who / what were the Nephilim?
What happened to the Nephilim?
Were there Nephilim after the flood? How is this possible?
Who was the tallest giant (in the Bible) and who killed him?
What does the Bible say about facing your giants?
Are Biblical Giants Mythical?
What is a Giant?
What is a giant according to the Bible?
The Nephilim (/ˈnɛfɪˌlɪm/; Hebrew: נְפִילִים Nəfīlīm) are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are large and strong. The word Nephilim is loosely translated as giants in some translations of the Hebrew Bible but left untranslated in others.
The word translated as “giants” in this verse is the Hebrew word nephilim, and many Bible versions simply transliterate it as such. There has been much debate over the meaning of this word. Some believe it comes from the Hebrew verb naphal, while others claim that it is from the Aramaic noun naphil. These individuals are described in Hebrew as gibborim (“mighty men”). One of the earliest mentions of giants in the Bible is found in the Old Testament.
Where do giants appear in the Bible?
Giants have been around since time began; they are first described in the Bible in the book of Genesis.
1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal ; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
One of the earliest mentions of giants in the Bible is found in Genesis 14.
In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain of Seir . . . . Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar (Genesis 14:5–7, emphasis added).
Genesis 14 does not reveal that the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, or Amorites were giants, but this information can be found in other places.
28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ”
10 (The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. 11 Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites. 12 Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the LORD gave them as their possession.)
20 (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 21 They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.
11 (Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
21 At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns.
6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
An Egyptian Giant?
One of David’s mighty men, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, defeated a large Egyptian man:
And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand there was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear (1 Chronicles 11:23, italics in original).
4 In the course of time, war broke out with the Philistines, at Gezer. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaites, and the Philistines were subjugated. 5 In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. 6 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. 8 These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.
15 Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. 16 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.” 18 In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. 19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. 20 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him. 22 These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.
In the parallel account given in 2 Samuel 23:21 the Egyptian is called “a spectacular man” in the NKJV and “an impressive man” in the NASB. While modern man may think of a 7’6” man as a giant, it is intriguing that the Bible does not identify him as such.
Perhaps this is a clue that those who are identified as giants were larger than the Egyptian slain by Benaiah. Another explanation for this omission is that many of the giants were called by their particular tribes (Anakim, Emim, etc.), but the tall Egyptian is not said to belong to any of these giant groups. If that is the case, it is curious why the biblical writers would not simply use a generic term for “giant,” such as rapha.
Following these accounts in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, the giants fade from the pages of Scripture (other than the retrospective mention of the Amorites as giants in Amos 2:9).
9 “Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, though they were tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below. 10 I brought you up out of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to give you the land of the Amorites.
8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
Other Giants in the Bible
The Bible mentions four more Philistine giants, who were relatives of Goliath from the region of Gath. 2 Samuel 21:15–22 provides a more detailed account of these giants than the record of 1 Chronicles 20:4–8, but the latter passage does provide some extra information that helps us make sense of the passage. The additional details from 1 Chronicles are provided in brackets.
When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.” Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob [or “Gezer”].19 Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph [or “Sippai”], who was one of the sons of the giant. Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim [or “Jair”] the Bethlehemite killed [“Lahmi”] the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant. So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants (2 Samuel 21:15–22).
David’s mighty men killed giants named Ishbi-Benob, Saph (Sippai), and Lahmi, as well as an unnamed giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.20 Each of these men could have descended from the remnant of Anakim that survived in the region of Gath, Gaza, and Ashdod (Joshua 11:22).
More information about giants is in the book of Enoch (free below).
Who / what were the Nephilim?
The Nephilim (“fallen ones, giants”) were the offspring of sexual relationships between the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6:1–4. There is much debate as to the identity of the “sons of God.” It is our opinion that the “sons of God” were fallen angels (demons) who mated with human females or possessed human males who then mated with human females. These unions resulted in offspring, the Nephilim, who were “heroes of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4).
SUPERHEROES
Heroes of Old, Men of Renown
Men of Renown
What were the Nephilim?
According to Hebraic and other legends (the Book of Enoch and other non-biblical writings), they were a race of giants and superheroes who did acts of great evil. Their great size and power likely came from the mixture of demonic “DNA” with human genetics. According to the movie Noah, starring Russell Crowe, the Nephilim were fallen angels encased in rock. All that the Bible directly says about them is that they were “heroes of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4). The Nephilim were not aliens, angels, “Watchers,” or rock monsters; they were literal, physical beings produced from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men (Genesis 6:1–4).
What happened to the Nephilim?
The sins the Fallen angels taught man and the Nephilim were one of the primary reasons for the great flood in Noah’s time. Immediately after the mention of Nephilim, God’s Word says, “The Most High saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Most High was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Most High said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:5–7). God proceeded to flood the entire earth, killing everyone and everything other than Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark. All else perished, including the Nephilim (Genesis 6:11–22).
Were there Nephilim after the flood?- How is this possible?
Genesis 6:4 tells us, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward.” It seems that the demons repeated their sin sometime after the flood as well. However, it likely took place to a much lesser extent than it did prior to the flood.
When the Israelites spied out the land of Canaan, they reported back to Moses: “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33). Is it possible that after the flood the demons again mated with human females, producing more Nephilim? Is it possible that some traits of the Nephilim were passed on through the heredity of one of Noah’s daughters-in-law? What do you think? these “giants” were destroyed by the Israelites during their invasion of Canaan (Joshua 11:21–22) and later in their history (Deuteronomy 3:11; 1 Samuel 17).
Who was the tallest giant (in the Bible) and who killed him?
The Philistines had come up to make war against Saul and the Israelites. Goliath, the giant Philistine warrior came forth day by day to challenge to single combat. Goliath, the Philistine giant slain by David a teenage boy in a single combat. 1 Samuel 17
Are Giants Biblical or Mythical?
Are Giants Mythical or Biblical?
In several places in Scripture, men of giant stature are mentioned—men like Goliath, who was “six cubits and a span,” or about nine feet, nine inches tall (1 Samuel 17:4). Are such accounts mere tales worth scoffing at, or is there evidence that humans can grow, and have grown, to enormous heights?
According to evolutionists, giants are not a mythical idea. In a science podcast broadcasted by Cambridge University, well-known paleoanthropologist, Lee Berger, was interviewed. Berger discovered the australopithecus sediba and homo naledi fossils. In the article following the interview, editor Chris Smith said, “One of the most interesting things that the fossil record reveals is that we went through a period of extreme giantism.
These were people routinely over 7ft tall, they were huge.”Berger then proceeded to show the group an example of one of the giant femurs from a species dubbed homo heidelbergensis. Berger said, “They are huge. That’s so big we can’t even calculate how big this individual was.”These are what we call archaic homo sapiens. Some people refer to them as homo heidelbergensis. These individuals are extraordinary. They are giants.”
Jeff Miller, Ph.D.| Author, and investigator of Mystical Giants
Other Ancient Reports
Nearly every place around the world has legends of giants dwelling in the land. Certainly, one must exercise caution when reading these stories on the Internet since so much of the information online is contrary to the Word of God. For example, a few years ago, pictures of giant skeletons started to appear on websites, but they were clearly doctored (apparently part of a graphic design contest).
Greek and Roman mythology mentions the Titans, Kyklopes (Cyclops), and several other giants.26 Norse mythology contains stories of the Frost giants of Jötunheim. But these records are not limited to European mythologies or only to the ancient past. African and Asian peoples also have legends of giants, as do Native Americans.
For example, in his autobiography, “Buffalo” Bill Cody wrote the following words about a legend recounted to him by members of the Sioux tribe.
It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was originally peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size of modern men. They were so swift and powerful that they could run alongside a buffalo, take the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, and eat it as they ran. So vainglorious were they because of their own size and strength that they denied the existence of a Creator. When it lighted, they proclaimed their superiority to the lightning; when it thundered, they laughed. This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance he sent a great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, and the giants retreated to the hills. The water crept up the hills, and the giants sought safety on the highest mountains. Still the rain continued, the waters rose, and the giants, having no other refuge, were drowned.
Undoubtedly, many of these stories contain exaggerations of the giants’ prodigious height and strength. But is it reasonable to automatically reject every one of these traditions, or, like tales of dragons, is there possibly some truth behind the legends, as is often the case? It is interesting that much of giant lore includes descriptions of a flood sent by God (or the gods) to destroy these wicked people.
Could it be that while the Bible contains the true history of our past, these groups are simply repeating their own distorted versions of world history prior to and perhaps after the dispersion at Babel? What do you think?
The Most High is Greater Than the Giants you Face 1 John 4-4
What does the Bible say about facing your giants?
“For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.” (1 Samuel 17:45 NIV). When facing your giant, you cannot let your guard down because that enemy will stand ready to take you down. To do so takes belief and a lot of faith. Who are the giants of faith in the Bible? Giants of Faith: Abraham & Isaac The story of Abraham and his son Isaac. The story is that Abraham and his wife Sarah waited a long time to have a child and eventually, even though they were old, they had one and they called him Isaac. What did Joshua and Caleb say about the giants?
If we look forward with the spirit of Caleb and Joshua, to “claim the territory” of our inheritance, then the very giants who loom so large will become “our bread.” They spoke of faith and belief. We must do the same when facing our giants. Have the faith of David and Abraham then our giants will fall.
“The angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” Obviously, not all demons are in “prison” today, so there must have been a group of demons who committed further grievous sin beyond the original fall. Presumably, the demons who mated with human females are the ones who are “bound with everlasting chains.” This would prevent any more demons from attempting such sin.
Last Week We Studied Fallen Angels
What Are Fallen Angels?
Fallen angels are beings who decided to rebel against God and were thus cast out of heaven (Jude 1:6). Because they rebelled against God, they will face eternal punishment and torment (2 Peter 2:4).
These angels fel with Satan the Devil and their fate are as his "The Devil" Here. Because they have no eternal hope, their mission is to drag as many people as possible with them into their eternal doom. How many angels are there?
What Makes an Angel a Fallen?
Many believers and nonbelievers alike may wonder what criteria are in place to determine what makes it a fallen angel. We can establish a number of reasons for how an angel can fall from heaven, never to return. Read More
Conclusion
So which view is accurate? I honestly do not know, but the square-cube law seems to provide some upper limits, so it is unlikely that they reached 20–30 feet or more. However, I do know the Bible clearly teaches that giants existed in the past. Many of them lived in and around the land of Canaan, and Joshua was involved in several battles with them. David and his mighty men killed some Philistine giants. The Egyptians knew about the Anakim and feared them. Finally, cultures from around the world have legends that are often remarkably similar to biblical accounts, including the existence of giants. The accounts of giants in the Bible are more than just “tall” tales. These enormous people truly existed, and no amount of scoffing or rationalizing by skeptics will change that fact. What is your conclusion?
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Watch Nephilim: The Giants You May Have Never Heard Of (Biblical Stories Explained) for class discussion (Below).
Read or listen to the book of Enoch 5-10 and read all scriptures in this blog.
Questions:
What is a Giant According to the Bible?
Where do giants appear in the Bible?
Who / what were the Nephilim?
What happened to the Nephilim?
Were there Nephilim after the flood? How is this possible?
Who was the tallest giant (in the Bible) and who killed him?
What does the Bible say about facing your giants?
Are Biblical Giants Mythical?
(Bonus) What did you learn about giants?
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Extra Credit Question
What did you learn about giants?
Read more Old Testament Giants.
Nephilim: The Giants You May Have Never Heard Of (Biblical Stories Explained)
Class Movie
Return of the Nephilim- Pastor Stephen Darby
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