Undergoing review is the article by Adam Phillips which is titled Shocking Discoveries: Unearthed Evidence Proves Existence Of Giants In The Bible! You Won’t Believe What Archaeologists Have Found which was posted on his site The Witness.
The first 300 words are just meant to excite the audience yet, some qualifying terms to note from therein are, “giants mentioned in the Bible…larger-than-life figures…giants in the Bible…biblical giants…giants mentioned in the Bible…biblical giants…giants in the Bible…Giants in the Bible…biblical giants…larger-than-life figures…giants…Giants in the Bible…giants in the Bible…larger-than-life figures…”
Now, in eleven usages of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants,” not counting the title, we didn’t get a definition but perhaps just a hint due to the reference to what’s actually an equally vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word which is “larger.”
Thus, the key questions are:
What’s the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” in English Bibles?
What’s Adam Phillips’ usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants”?
Do those two usages agree?
We shall see if we get any replies in the article which is supposed to be about such an issue. And well, we get a reply to the second question straight away as he begins by noting, “In the Bible, giants” and refers to, “Goliath, a giant from the land of the Philistines, was an imposing figure who stood about nine feet tall.” Well, we have a few problems already:
1) The answer to the third question is clearly, “No” since the English Bible’s usage has utterly nothing whatsoever to do with height at all.
2) Biblically contextually, the answer to the first question in this case is that, “Goliath, a giant from the land of the Philistines” really means, “Goliath, a Repha from the land of the Philistines.” “Giants” in English Bibles merely renders (doesn’t even translate) “Nephilim” in two texts and “Repha/im” in 98% of all others—and thus, never even hints about anything to do with height whatsoever. See my book Bible Encyclopedias and Dictionaries on Angels, Demons, Nephilim, and Giants: From 1851 to 2010.
That Goliath was, “about nine feet tall” is myopic since that’s as per the Masoretic but the earlier LXX and the earlier Dead Sea Scrolls and the earlier Flavius Josephus, which is the preponderance of the earliest data, all have him at four cubits and a span, just shy of 7 ft.—subjective to the average Israelite male who was 5.0-5.3 ft. in those days.
He continued directly with that, “Another mention of giants is in the book of Genesis, where it talks about a group of beings called the Nephilim. Some interpret these Nephilim as giants, while others believe they were the offspring of the fallen angels and human women.” Given his mis-usage of the word, “giants” there’s zero indication in Genesis about the height of Nephilim.
Also, since he misuses the term, “giants” then I can only assume that, “Some interpret these Nephilim as,” subjectively unusually tall and that’s true but that’s false: it’s true that, “Some” (somebodies) mis-interpret them as subjectively unusually tall but we’ve no relevant reliable data upon which to actually conclude that they were. It’s also a false dichotomy to say that some think them giants while others think they were offspring of the fallen Angels and human women since both could be the case.
He then focuses of, “evidence for the existence of giants” which is a biblical non-issue since the tallest person recorded in the Bible as 7.5ft (1 Chronicles 11:23: unless you accept the Masoretic for the unique Goliath).
He notes, “megalithic sites in Stonehenge and the ancient city of Petra” but it appears to be a case of the non sequitur that concludes that large things must have been built for and by large people.
Now, since the largest person he’s noted thus far was supposedly, “about nine feet tall” then going on about such sites plus, “other ancient texts from different cultures that mention giants…larger in stature…giants mentioned in the Bible…giants mentioned in the Bible…historical or archaeological evidence to support their existence” is getting far ahead of himself: far ahead of the data. He may have spiked his article at the outset (and along the way) with excitement to be able to write vaguely in terms of data.
In the case of, “historical or archaeological evidence” he mentions, “Goliath: One of the most well-known giants in the Bible is Goliath” so we’re back to a point being made based on one misused English word and a myopic view of his height.
Next up is, “Nephilim…While there isn’t physical evidence of their existence, there are ancient texts like the Book of Enoch that mention them, adding to the intrigue around this topic.” I’m unsure of what use is that they were mentioned in Bible contradicting folklore from centuries, if not millennia, after the Torah, see my book, “In Consideration of the Book(s) of Enoch.” See my article How Nephilim Absconded from the Tanakh and Invaded Folkloric Territory.
Thereafter he mentions, “Giant structures” which are irrelevant to the data he has presented—one single person who may, perhaps, possibly have been, “about nine feet tall.”
He also notes, “Folklore and mythology” and notes, “we don’t have concrete evidence like giant skeletons or artifacts.”
Tragically, he attempts to fill the ginormous hole in his very premise and argumentation by stating, “Christianity, like any faith, is based on belief and trust in the wisdom of God’s Word, which includes the stories of these giants.” So, he read the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word, “giants,” he merely imagined what it must mean, he referred to one single guy who may have been, “about nine feet tall,” and now tells you to believe in, “giants” because that’s the word he read in the Bible he’s reading.
He then reviews, “The Story of David and Goliath” which is a mini-sermon and thus, irrelevant to my focus of seeking to ascertain if he’s accurately handling the linguistics and thus, God’s word.
Yet, I will offer some corrections since he wrote, “Goliath, the giant warrior…Goliath, a giant Philistine warrior” which really means, “Goliath, the Rephaim warrior…Goliath, a Repha Philistine warrior.”
Next up is, “The Book of Enoch and the Nephilim” about which he wrote, “According to the Book of Enoch, these Nephilim were giants who roamed the earth before the great flood. They were known for their immense size and strength” and that was it, he then instantly moved on to, “Archaeological findings have uncovered ancient texts that also mention giants.”
Well, “the Book of Enoch” (he doesn’t seem to be aware that there are more then one book of Enoch and one claims that he wrote over 300 books so an accurate citation would be 1 Enoch or Ethiopic Enoch, in this case) has Nephilim having been MILES tall which is great folklore but poor reality. See my book, In Consideration of the Book(s) of Enoch.
He writes, “there have been discoveries of massive skeletal remains that could be evidence of giants!” but doesn’t bother citing anything nor telling us what massive means not whether they were human/humanoid.
Then, “giant beings…we don’t have concrete scientific proof of these giants” but that’s okay since, “as Christians, we can look at stories like the Nephilim and the giants mentioned in the Bible” even though he merely asserted that Nephilim were subjectively unusually tall, he misused the word giants and only offered Goliath’s taller range—and he has repetitively looped to those points time and again.
Next comes, “giants…Goliath…Ancient Cultures and Legends of Giants…giants as mighty and formidable creatures…giants…having tremendous strength…giants…giants…tall and powerful…giants…giants…giants…giants” and then moves on to, “Scientific Explanations and Skepticism” which is not even worth considering since he’s still and only functioning on a faulty premise. Yet, I will note another tragic appeal to, “faith sometimes rests on matters that transcend logical explanations. The Bible urges us to have faith and trust in God, even in the face of questions and doubts. The stories of giants, like many other stories in the Bible, invite us to explore the mysteries of the world and to deepen our relationship with God” even though he’s literally just weaving un-biblical tall-tales.
His conclusion notes, guess what and whom, “mention of giants in the Bible…giants like Goliath and the Nephilim…Goliath…Nephilim.”
Thus, I can’t help but point out that Adam Phillips posted a 99% data-free puff piece based on a faulty premise which is a theory he constructed on misreading one English word.
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