"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." Genesis 6:4
Who are the Nephilim? What does that word even mean? And why are they procreating with human women?
These few verses are weird. They don't contain enough information to fully explain what was exactly going on. It's for this reason that we need a little background information.
The word "Nephilim" simply means "fallen ones". The best that scholars can tell is that this is a reference to an ancient myth, perhaps borrowed from distant polytheistic ancestors, or a neighboring culture. In Greek and Latin translations of Genesis, these heroes of old are described as giants.
These few lines in chapter six are all that remain of whatever the original stories were. It's a strange little episode, but it does reveal, like the extreme ages of the descendents of Cain, that the pre-flood world was almost magical.
While the authors of Genesis didn't feel it was necessary to include any more information about these mysterious ancient heroes, these few verses did inspire Jewish writers in the later centuries. The book of Jubilees (written around 200 B.C.) and 1 Enoch (written around 300 B.C.) were inspired to write creative stories which describe in more detail what they thought the pre-flood world might have been like, including the characters of the Nephilim. Those two books aren't in any Jewish or Christian Bibles (with the exception of the Ethiopian Orthodox), but they are considered interesting reads.
There's not much else to be said on the topic of the Nephilim, expect that this serves as our first example of something that was a common shared element of ancient Middle Eastern culture that now has almost no meaning to modern readers. This is why sometimes the Bible needs research and wrestling to be understood! The Bible is God's holy Word to us and for us today, but at the same time it is also an ancient document that is not always self-explanatory.
These few verses are weird. They don't contain enough information to fully explain what was exactly going on. It's for this reason that we need a little background information.
The word "Nephilim" simply means "fallen ones". The best that scholars can tell is that this is a reference to an ancient myth, perhaps borrowed from distant polytheistic ancestors, or a neighboring culture. In Greek and Latin translations of Genesis, these heroes of old are described as giants.
These few lines in chapter six are all that remain of whatever the original stories were. It's a strange little episode, but it does reveal, like the extreme ages of the descendents of Cain, that the pre-flood world was almost magical.
While the authors of Genesis didn't feel it was necessary to include any more information about these mysterious ancient heroes, these few verses did inspire Jewish writers in the later centuries. The book of Jubilees (written around 200 B.C.) and 1 Enoch (written around 300 B.C.) were inspired to write creative stories which describe in more detail what they thought the pre-flood world might have been like, including the characters of the Nephilim. Those two books aren't in any Jewish or Christian Bibles (with the exception of the Ethiopian Orthodox), but they are considered interesting reads.
There's not much else to be said on the topic of the Nephilim, expect that this serves as our first example of something that was a common shared element of ancient Middle Eastern culture that now has almost no meaning to modern readers. This is why sometimes the Bible needs research and wrestling to be understood! The Bible is God's holy Word to us and for us today, but at the same time it is also an ancient document that is not always self-explanatory.
Greetings once again all you faithful Bible readers! Today we continue our journey through Genesis. Having left off at Chapter five, we jump right away into a very strange story indeed. It's time to tackle the mysterious Nephilim.
Chapter 6-10: The Nephilim; Noah and the Ark
Chapter 6-10: The Nephilim; Noah and the Ark
God calls everything that He made "good". And God chooses to save animals from the flood. This should cause us to ask profound questions in regards to how we are caring for the environment that God made and saves.
With the rest of Chapter six and going on into chapter 10, we have the very familiar story of Noah and Ark. Anyone who grew up in the church mostly likely has fond memories of Sunday school lessons involving songs and crafts dedicated to retelling this great story.
I will not dwell overlong on this story. But I would like to point out that the very reason that God chooses to destroy the earth and humankind is not out of anger but grief (chapter 6 verse 6). It seems that while God created the whole world and called it good, the great experiment of humankind has rebelled and descended into violence.
In contrast, God remains gracious and merciful even while insisting on right behavior from creation. God destroys, but chooses to save the animals and Noah and his family. God protects them during their long journey over the waters and brings them safely to dry land. And God chooses not to destroy humankind again even though "the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth" (chapter 8 verse 21). God will instead choose the much more difficult task of making covenant with humanity and calling them back from their evil ways.
In this mosaic, the artist has pictured God the Father as a holy looking man, calling to Abraham to come out of the ark. (Chapter 8 verse 16-17)
The only other topic I wish to discuss in regards to Noah and the Ark is that this is the second most common story that I hear cited as an example of how the Bible is "untrue". Like the stories of creation, Noah and the Ark does not match with modern scientific understanding, and is therefore erroneous and should be treated just like any other ancient folktale.
In the 1800s A.D., European countries began exploring the Middle East. They were interested in artifacts and Biblical archaeology, believing they would find evidence for the Biblical stories they all knew. Instead of finding the evidence they were looking for, they found instead stone tablets written in the language of cuneiform which contained stories from the Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and other ancient tribes. And to their great surprise, there were a great many similarities between the stories they found from the other cultures to that of the Biblical stories in Genesis like Noah and the Ark.
So what does this mean? Before the dawn of modern science, there was no reason to think that the story of Noah and the Ark wasn't a historical account. But now we know that the story of a flood and a hero who survives in an ark was a common story shared by many ancient Middle Eastern cultures. What we have in Genesis is the Hebrew version. Whether an actual flood in Mesopotamia or not was the inspiration for this common story, what is important for us is that it, unlike the other versions, the Hebrew account reveals truth. God loves creation. God calls humanity to righteous living. But God is gracious and chooses to make covenant with us, even when we have not earned it.
There will be stories in the Bible that we can label as "history", containing information about events and people that the Biblical authors wished to preserve for posterity, but the story of Noah and the Ark is not a "history". However, just because we cannot label it "history" does not mean that it is not extremely important! It most certainly is! Originally told around campfires as a story of meaning, Noah and the Ark reveals the nature of the God the Israelites worshiped.
Chapter 11: The Tower of Babel
It's time to learn a new word: etiology. What the heck is that? Well it's a fancy scholar word for an ancient story that explains why something is the way it is or where it came from. The Tower of Babel is such a story. It's easy to picture a family of Israelites sitting together around a campfire, reciting psalms of praise, retelling family stories, and then telling this story in response to a young child's question, "Grandpa, why do we speak this language, but our neighbors speak that language?"
Thus the story of the Tower of Babel was born. But you should also be aware there is a strong political bent to this story as well. The story is set in the area of Babylon and perhaps the tower is a reference to the ziggurats that civilization built. It could very well be that this story, which casts such a poor light on the people of Babylonia, came into existence during the Israelites exile in that country. At the very least, the priests who wrote the story down must have been feeling quite uncharitable towards that nation. Babel = babble
It's time to learn a new word: etiology. What the heck is that? Well it's a fancy scholar word for an ancient story that explains why something is the way it is or where it came from. The Tower of Babel is such a story. It's easy to picture a family of Israelites sitting together around a campfire, reciting psalms of praise, retelling family stories, and then telling this story in response to a young child's question, "Grandpa, why do we speak this language, but our neighbors speak that language?"
Thus the story of the Tower of Babel was born. But you should also be aware there is a strong political bent to this story as well. The story is set in the area of Babylon and perhaps the tower is a reference to the ziggurats that civilization built. It could very well be that this story, which casts such a poor light on the people of Babylonia, came into existence during the Israelites exile in that country. At the very least, the priests who wrote the story down must have been feeling quite uncharitable towards that nation. Babel = babble
It doesn't look like much now. But thousands of years ago, this ziggurat would have appeared as a stepped pyramid, dedicated to the gods or kings of Mesopotamia. The Tower of Babel is, in part, the Hebrew editorial on the ziggurat and all it stood for.
And thus concludes the origin stories of Genesis. What follows after the Tower of Babel is the start of the patriarchal and matriarchal history of the Hebrew people themselves. Stay tuned to this website for the next blog post covering Abraham and Sarah!
In the meantime, post your comments here on this website or on the Christ's Lutheran facebook page.
In the meantime, post your comments here on this website or on the Christ's Lutheran facebook page.