The r/AskBibleScholars page posted on Bible giants and reincarnation in terms of the following:
So recently my friend met this man who claimed he was a reincarnation of a worshipper of a nephilim from 5000 years ago who was cursed with being reincarnated, this got me thinking what the hell is he talking about so I did some research, in the Bible I says nephilim are mixture of angles and women, which created giants, these giants span from 9feet tall to like 3000feet, Goliath was 7-9 feet tall which Isn’t even all that tall, there has been taller humans for sure, which got me thinking maybe there not even humans?
Back on topic, We see cases of kids having memories from past lives so maybe that guy wasn’t just some crack head and actually was telling some truth, anyways I found out when nephilim die they become demons because they go against gods creation, and Goliath was around 20-40 years old and before the flood people used to live for like hundred of years so maybe nephilim just kept growing as they aged and that’s why some Israelites compared themselves to the nephilim as grasshoppers, back on topic this guy claims he’s been around for like ever and was talking about gold in his eyes, he may have just been a crack head yapping but there might also be some truth let me know what you guys think and I want to hear theories
I, Ken Ammi, replied thusly:
Right off the bat, “a nephilim from 5000 years ago who was cursed with being reincarnated” implies that God failed, that He missed a loophole, that the flood was much of a waste, etc., etc., etc. Post-flood-Nephilologists always begin by throwing God and His Word under the bus?
That, “nephilim are mixture of angles and women” was the original, traditional, and majority view among the earliest Jewish and Christians commentators, starting in BC days, was the Angel view as I proved in my book On the Genesis 6 Affair’s Sons of God: Angels or Not?: A Survey of Early Jewish and Christian Commentaries Including Notes on Giants and the Nephilim.
As for, “which created giants” well, that doesn’t mean anything until you answer what’s the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” in English Bibles? What’s your usage? Do those two usages agree?
As for, “these giants span from 9feet tall to like 3000feet” for which there’s literally zero indication whatsoever.
You then jumped from Nephilim to Goliath but that’s a category error that violates the law of identity since we’re told he was a Repha, not a Nephil, every time he’s mentioned.
As for, “I found out when nephilim die they become demons” but that’s just folklore from centuries, if not millennia, after the Torah. For a biblical view, please see my article Demons Ex Machina: What are Demons?
The dirty little secret is that since we’ve no reliable physical description of Nephilim then their height is a non-issue and that alone debunks 99% of un-biblical Nephilology—the modern branch of which is just un-biblical neo-theo sci-fi tall-tales.
And merely assuming that time/age=height is just that, an assumption.
As for, “Israelites compared themselves to the nephilim as grasshoppers” you misrepresented that since you’re really just referring to one unreliable sentence form one unreliable “evil report” (Num 13:33) by only 10 unreliable guys whom God rebuked.
I doubt he was a crack head…………..more likely a meth head ;o)
A certain captainhaddock replied:
Hebrew Bible | Early Christianity
The Nephilim or “fallen ones” were probably ancient warriors and heroes of legend, like Hercules or Gilgamesh. They were often imagined to be the offspring of gods and human women. There is a very brief story alluding to this belief in Genesis 6, where the “sons of God” (heavenly deities) mate with human women, and their offspring are the Nephilim. Genesis 6:4 says they were “heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.” Nothing is said about them being tall or bad in any way.
However, later traditions embellished the Nephilim, describing them as giants and associating them with the Rephaim (Rapiuma) of Canaanite mythology. And later interpreters of the Bible weren’t comfortable with the polytheism of Genesis 6, so they changed the “sons of God” into angels.
anyways I found out when nephilim die they become demons because they go against gods creation
Not quite. There was a Jewish book called Jubilees, written around 200 BC, that expanded the story of the Nephilim and connected it with the flood. Think of it as Jewish fan fiction. This book says that because the Nephilim were the offspring of angels and humans, they had bodies of flesh but immortal souls. So when their bodies got destroyed in the flood, their souls stayed behind as evil spirits. God then permitted some of them to stay on earth to tempt and harass people. A lot of early Christians believed this story, and it influenced the way they thought about demons.
It’s important to realize that from an academic biblical studies standpoint,
These are folk legends and mythology, not real history.
The mythology of the Nephilim goes back to the polytheistic roots of Israelite/Canaanite religion.
There is no Jewish or Christian religious tradition in which reincarnation is real.
If you want to know more, I highly recommend Religion for Breakfast’s video on the Nephilim:
You can also check out this video on the Nephilim and Anakim at MythVision:
(I produced it and can provide all the sources if necessary.)
Ken Ammi:
Indeed, “Nothing is said about them being tall.”
As for, “bad” well, it’s implied since they were part of the utterly corrupt pre-flood mix.
Indeed, “later traditions embellished the Nephilim”: see my paper How Nephilim Absconded from the Tanakh and Invaded Folkloric Territory
As for, “describing them as giants” well, the issues are: what’s the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” in English Bibles? What’s your usage? Do those two usages agree?
Contextually, it’s clear that you mean something vaguely generic about subjectively unusual height of some unknown level above the parochial average (and yes, that is how useless the common parlance usage of that modern English word is).
Nephilim were strictly pre-flood hybrids, Rephaim were strictly post-flood humans, and there’s zero correlation between them.
Indeed, Jubilees and 1 Enoch—both from centuries if not millennia after the Torah—both contain the dead Nephilim as demons/unclean spirits folklore.
“These are folk legends and mythology, not real history” is a merely asserted positive affirmation.
I posted a discussion about the Religion for Breakfast vid years ago: ReligionForBreakfast asks, “Who were the Nephilim?” – TrueFreeThinker
The only link between Nephilim and Anakim is one unreliable non-LXX sentence form one unreliable “evil report” (Num 13:33) by 10 unreliable guys whom God rebuked.
Yet, I then received a notification stating:
Your comment in /r/AskBibleScholars was automatically removed
All conversations here are between the questioner (the OP) and our panel of scholars. All other attempts are automatically removed. If you think you may qualify as an approved scholar, then please contact the moderators with proof of your degree. Thank you.
I asked how one qualified as a scholar but didn’t receive a reply.
I may not be a scholar but I’ve familiarized myself with over two millennia worth of relevant data that I used to write my dozen, or so, research-based Nephilology books, I also have lots of videos on it, and hundreds of articles on my website.
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