2 That the Nephilim saw the
daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 ¶ And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always
strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4
¶ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the nephilim came in unto the daughters of men,
and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The Nephilim
"The Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."
- Genesis 6:2
"Some commentators believe that the expression 'sons of God' refers to the 'godly line' of Seth,
and 'daughters of men' to women form the line of Cain."
- Commentary on the Living Bible
"The Book of Giants was another literary work concerned
with Enoch, widely read (after translation into the appropriate languages) in the Roman empire....The 'giants' were believed
to be the offspring of fallen angels (the Nephilim; also called Watchers) and human women." - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise,
The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
"The Nefilim were upon the Earth in those days and thereafter too.
Those sons of the gods who cohabited with the daughters of the Adam, and they bore children into them. They were the Mighty
Ones of Eternity, the People of the Shem."
- Genesis 6:4
"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that,
when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they; bare children unto them, the same became mighty men which
were of old, men of renown."
- Genesis 6:4 (King Jame's version)
On a parchment fragment 4Q201(En ara) copied ca. 200-150 B.C.E. found
at Qumrum: 13. [They (the leaders) and all ... of them took
for themselves]
14. wives from all that
they chose and
[they began to cohabit with them and to defile
themselves with them];
15. and to teach
them sorcery and [spells and
the cutting of roots; and to acquaint them
with herbs.]
16. And they become pregnant
by them and
bo[re (great) giants three thousand cubits
high ...]
- Book of Enoch (from Translation
by J. C. Greenfield
"Later Jewish tradition has it that their seduction was at least
partly their own fault since they had taught the girls the art of cosmetics, and so had begun the awful progress of mankind
to degeneracy and sexual abandon. More important, 'they taught them charms and enchantments, the cutting of roots, and make
them acquainted with plants..." (Enoch 7:1ff)."
- John M. Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom
and the Cross
"The Hebrew word for giants (nephilum) literally means
the fallen-down-ones because these tall celestial beings fell from the sky. Their half-breed progeny and their
descendants are often mentioned in the early books of the Old Testament until the last of them were finally killed off. They
were known as the Rephaim, Emim, Anakim, Horim, Avim, and Zamzummim. Some scholars speculate that this tradition of giants
born from the union of gods and humans formed the basis for the demigod of Greek mythology."
- Raymond E. Fowler, The Watchers
"Those giants...are termed n'philim (lit. 'those who
have fallen' or 'perished'). A similar tradition mentions such a race of primordial giants in the Rephaim."
- John Gray, Near Eastern Mythology
"The Emim - a large and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim -
had formerly inhabited it [Moab]. Like the Anakim, they are usually reckoned as Rephaim, though the Moabites call them Emim."
"Now only King Og of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. In fact his bed, an iron bed, can still be seen in
Rabbah of the Ammonites. By the common cubit it is nine cubits long and four cubits wide."
- Deuteronomy 2:11, 3:11
