I’m a historian and translator. I currently work with proto-Hebrew, proto-Sumerian, classical Sumerian, Anglo-Saxon, Mayan, and other ancient languages. I’m familiar with Ugaritic and Hurrian writing forms as well. Some of you may know this already but I mention it here in the beginning since I will be providing translations from some of those languages.
From time to time I perform re-translations of what mainstream scholars have provided for us. Sadly, they are mainly wrong, and that is usually due to a preconceived agenda that they hold, and one that allows it to flavor their translations, which is bad science. I won’t and don’t do that, but some who are “evangelical or strict” Christians may not always like what I say, so if you believe you may fall into that category, please step away from this thread and God Bless you.
Otherwise, those with eyes that see and ears that hear may learn something different today. I am a Christian myself by the way, but I also fallow the sayings of Odin and others, so really more of a mixed-bag type, although I was once a lay reader and Deacon in the Anglican faith., and yes, I have not only read the Bible but translated a good portion of it from the original Hebrew. But enough about that, let’s dig in.
We certainly can be assured that the Nephilim did not represent Angels, since Jesus assures us that Angels neither Marry nor take someone in Marriage, and his is, after all, the final word on the subject.
The Hebrews told us that the Nephilim were the “fallen ones”, the sons of God, or the sons of the gods, depending upon your outlook, and thus we might easily assign them the role of the sons of the sky gods, of Sumerian fame, who fell, or dropped down from the skies, in order to take Earthly women for a wives.
Interestingly, the Hebrew Old Testament was written without vowels, which were added perhaps a thousand years later, and so their Nephilim was actually N-P-L with the “im” added to signify that it was a plural, since there were more than one.
My research tells me that there were 600 in fact, with some on Earth and the rest orbiting in space.
How did all of the surrounding cultures, both prior to the Hebrews entering the land of Canaan and during their early days in Canaan, define this NPL?
Ugaritic: ( a precursor to Canaanite ) NPL, ‘to fall’; fall to the ground, fall off a horse, fall from power , Example: the goddess Anat in Ugaritic myth … npl ar~ he fell to the underworld.
Hebrew: From the root (n-p-l), forming words relating to falling.
Aramaic npl : to fall; ex: the moth fell into the snake’s dwelling.
Classical Syriac: to fall, fall, falling, also: piece, bit, scrap, fragment
Akkadian roots npl for napalu(m) and napalsuhu, “to fall to the ground”
So there is quite a bit of evidence for “Nephilim” indicating a son of the gods who descended from the skies, and very little to support the idea of “giants” but I will not speak against the idea of giants at this time, since the Nephilim were often described as being mighty, powerful, important, and large in stature. Please note that I do not say that there were no giants in the world; on the contrary, the historical records are filled with mentions of them.
Here is the passage from the Masoretic Text Old Testament in Hebrew , and this translation is by King James and company:
(Genesis 6:1-2) 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Wow, that almost sounds like it could be a love story. But is it?
Here are each of the original Hebrew words in Genesis 6:2 translated by lines:
and, therefore, yet, then
to look at, see, regard, learn about, observe, watch
plus the prefix Yud meaning he, they will
sons, grandsons, children, members of a group
the, this
gods (Elohim) plural of God
daughter, girl,
the, this,
man, human being
that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that
good, pleasant, agreeable (to the senses)
they, these, the same, who
and, therefore, also, then, yet
to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy,
bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away (from a primitive root meaning to take )
to, for, towards, belonging to, in regard to, according to, plus the suffix her + their
woman, wife, female
a part, from, out of
all, the whole, each, every, anything
which, who, that which,
to choose, elect, decide for
So with all apologies to King James, what we have is something more like:
And therefore they are observing, these sons of God,
the daughters of the humans,
because (they were) pleasant, agreeable.
They therefore snatched her for their woman/wife,
which they had selected from the whole.
They may have made them their wives, and certainly their females, but the text speaks of taking hold of their selection out of the ones available, and does not seem to indicate that this was with the consent of the chosen ones.
In fact, it sounds suspiciously similar to a modern-day alien abduction scenario.
They watched, they picked one (or more), they snatched them up.
This is by no means a complete list, but here are four steps common to the events that abductees have associated with their abductions:
1. observation
2. target selection
3. abduction
4. women in particular
UFOs are frequently observed either by the abductees themselves or by others in the immediate vicinity of an upcoming abduction event.
(1) They watch the scene. Aliens then circle a house or make a landing nearby, select someone to abduct, (2) and this is most often a female, snatch them, (3) take samples of their ovum and DNA, (4) and sometimes decide to use them to create hybrid alien-human babies.
So let’s look at this verse in Genesis once more:
Genesis 6:2
And therefore they will observe, (1) these sons of God,
the daughters of the humans,
because (they were) pleasant, agreeable.
They therefore snatched (3) her for their woman/wife, (4)
which they had selected (2) from the whole.
And now that we have had the opportunity to examine this with fresh eyes, and a calm head, we each need to decide whether or not this is actually the first written report of an abduction by extraterrestrials. If these “Nephilim” fell from the sky, selected women and took them, this certainly changes the way that we probably thought about this mention in the Bible, but it goes beyond that. It tells us that very probably those were difficult times indeed for the early Hebrews and their neighbors – filled with frustrating terror beyond belief. Is this any different from the way that some parts of humanity, and especially our Military, feel today? Unable to defeat them with conventional weapons and yet frustrated in those attempts, is this what drives our Governmental policies of denying aliens and yet conspiring with them?
Thoughts, comments, torches anyone?