@gavvet Had a great article regarding the seven days of creation in Genesis. As these topics are of great interest to me, I decided to write up my own regarding the biblical Giants.

In the Bible we hear a lot about Giants or the Nephilin (or fallen ones). The question arises did these mythical creatures truly exist? In the Bible there are many stories of the giants. Who is to say what is true and what is false. I do believe that this species existed, however it is more based upon faith rather then photographic evidence.

I am not the first one to look into this question as it has been written about extensively through biblical commentaries. YOu can also find many articles relating to this search on the Internet. If you are interested and haven't researched it yourself I'm going to present to you the biblical sources and a little scientific research on the subject.

The Bible is not always meant to be taken literally as there are many homiletic, and anthropomorphic explanations. Many different interpretations give us an infinite amount of questions, and rather few answers. As human species we rely on past re-telling of the story to help us understand some of the more complex scenarios presented to us . We need these extra oral traditions in order to sort out major issues in understanding what is presented to us.

I think it's important to note that the Bible is not exactly a history book; it is in actuality a record of man's interaction with Gd written down as a prophecy or message from Gd. On the surface the bible may be literally understood, but there is a great deal underneath that makes it harder to understand. The bible is not exactly told in a linear fashion either. Only true scholars are able to discern this. True, it does tell a progressive story in Genesis, but there are many instances of future happenings and scenerios that are foretold in earlier portions.

I will present to you the first admission of the Nephilim in Bereshit (Genesis).

Just before the story of Noah's ark we are presented with this odd species.

"And it came to pass when man commenced to multiply upon the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of the great ones ( b'nei elokim), saw the daughters of man and took them for themselves. (Genesis)

So the first questions is who or what exactly are the b'nei elokim? Who are the Nephilim? How are they related to each other? Nephilim is derived from the word naphal in Hebrew, meaning “fall.” So the questions arises, where did they fall from?

There are three prominent views on their origins. The first one is that two angels, Shamchazai and Azael, said

“Did we not warn You before You created man (to Gd), saying, ‘What is man, that You should be mindful of him?’
They wished to show that they were stronger than man and a better creation due to the sins being committed (pre- flood).

“Let us descend to the world, and prove to you that we will not succumb and still be able to sanctify your name.”
So Gd allows these angels to travel to earth with a warning that they will be overcome by the same evil inclinations as man.

As soon as they descend they immediately became corrupted and overwhelmed by natural instinct of the world. They then see the beauty of woman and are overpowered by a natural instinct to procreate. So in this case, Gd is proven right (as he knows the past present and future). How they copulated with these women is an interesting question. One position is that human beings we much bigger before the flood.

The second reading of the events has less to do with angels, and more to do with a corrupt authority that was here on earth.
It is believed these b'nei Elokim were noblemen who abused their power. They used their power to take any woman they wanted, and raped them. This included already married woman. An interesting note is that this putrid practice went on in medieval Europe by Nobleman. This contributed to the downfall of the generation before the great flood.

There is one final approach where we are not dealing with nobleman at all, but simply Human beings who were very high spiritually but eventually succumbed to their baser animal instincts. This led them to robbery and or murder.

So Nephilim in Hebrew means "giants"but could have many different interpretations to its meaning. The Hebrew tradition believes one giant survived the flood; Og, and basically held onto the Ark that Noah built. This "Giant" then began to reproduce afterward in the land of Canaan (pre-Israel).

After the narrative of the flood, the term Nephilim pops up again in relation to Moses sending the spies to scope out the land of Canaan. The spies report that the land is infested with these Giants, and that they were afraid to prepare an invasion force because they were like grasshoppers in their eyes. This led to the Israelite's having to stay in the desert for an additional 40 years as a punishment for not believing in Gds power.

The most well known Giant was Goliath, who was the last remnant of the Nephilim. His demise was met by the soon to be King David. Goliath was a half breed (cross human/Giant), and is last of the recorded Nephilim.

So what does modern science have to say about these "mythical" creatures? Well, a recent archeological dig has unearthed no less than two dozen skeletons of giant proportions near the ancient ruins of Rujm el-Hiri, located in the Golan Heights. Is it fake news?

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As a student who majored in Anthropolgy, it should be noted that many archaeologists have found bones and weaponry relating to evidence of giants; or at least whatever yielded them needed to be of great stature. Many structures all around the world are posited to have only been able to be constructed by giants. This is believed to be true, unless there was ancient technology that could erect large structures similar to how cranes and machines do today. It should also be noted that many ancient civilizations believe that something came down from "Heaven" and taught them everything they needed to know. This is going back to the Incan Empire, The babylonian empire, The Egyptian empire, and even the Native Indian tradition.

There are also allegations floating around that the Smithsonian Insitute has covered up the findings of large giant bones that form giant humanoids. The allegations are that the governments of the world wish to cover up any relevance to any truth biblical stories may tell. This article from snopes tries to disqualify this conspiracy theory.

http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/giantcoverup.asp

In any case, we do have ancient structures that defy the credibility of what science believes to be the "known" past. Browsing over the internet sometimes makes it impossible to know what pictures are truth or falsehood. The days of Photoshop can make anything seem credible (or be discredited).

Hope you enjoyed this blog,
BB613