|
Who were the Nephilim? Many teach they were demon angels or fallen ones who found earthly women to be beautiful and mated with them, thus producing offspring who were giants.
Is this true? Let's look at the Word of God and see what it has to say.
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they Chose. 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. 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] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6:1-4)
Nowhere does it say the Nephilim mated with mankind. In fact, Gen 6:4 tells us giants were in the land at the time the Sons of God came unto the Daughters of man and also afterward.
The Nephilim were a separate people of giant size who existed at this time. However, the confusion with the demonic happens because many people translate Nephilim as "Fallen ones." However, the correct rendering is "Ones who fall." In our language we don't say "I fall down," we say "I fell down" so the phrase became "Ones who fell" which translated to Fallen Ones. This led to the belief the Nephilim were satan's fallen angels and an incorrect theology is born.
In fact, the phrase "Ones who fall" means just that. The reference is to a violent race of people who would "fall" (with a sword) on people they encountered.
The Nephilim were giants from the land of Canaan - notice this is pre-flood and they were destroyed during the flood in which only Noah and his family survived.
However in Numbers 13, the men Joshua sent to spy out Canaan came back with the report there were once again "Giants in the land" and they added, "we are like grasshoppers in their sight".
So here we have Giants in Canaan even after all flesh had been wiped out. It's obviously not a genetic trait being passed along, so what's going on?
There is a form of Giantism caused by pituitary tumors that results in humans growing to heights of 11- 15 feet. This form of giantism is not hereditary so the cause of the pituitary tumors must come from an outside environmental agent.
Since only the people of Canaan land were affected by Giantism in both pre & post flood eras, it suggests something in the region was causing.
Along with enormous size, Giantism disorder causes double rows of teeth and sometimes extra digits on the hands or feet. Similar characteristics show up again in the Biblical record. In 2 Samuel 21:20, we read, "And there was again war at Gath (which was in Canaan land), where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. (Rapha- descendant of Anak descendant of Nephilim)
So what was the environmental problem in Caanan?
Though not referred to in the Bible, there are reference to Shamir - a stone with unusual qualities - in the Talmud and Midrashim (non Biblical rabbinical writings). Numerous stories about its magical qualities have passed down through history. Some of these are little more than folk lore, but as we wade through the material a pattern begins to develop.
1 Kings 6:7 records the building of Solomon's Temple, "Only blocks of undressed stone from the quarry were used; no hammer or ax or any iron tool whatsoever was heard in the house while it was being built." According to Talmudic tradition, this feat was accomplished with the use of a Shamir stone that caused the stones to be separated and shaped by vibration, and levitated into place with sound.
The Talmud transmits -- in the name of Rabbi Nehemiah -- how the Shamir was used to engrave precious stones. The names of the twelve tribes were inscribed on the twelve semi-precious stones of the Urim and Tummim -- the breastplate of the High Priest. This was not done by carving, but by writing with a certain fluid and "showing" or exposing the stones to the Shamir.
The Testament of Solomon -- a work written in Greek, probably in the early third century -- provides information that may be relevant to our discussion. It refers to Shamir as a "green stone." The Testament describes it in this way, "The Shamir is as large as a barley-corn. It was created in the six days of Genesis. There is no substance hard enough to withstand its action." But how could a greenish stone cut hardest precious stones with its glance or as the Testament of Solomon suggest with its "action?"
According to tradition, King Solomon was eager to possess a Shamir because he heard about it from earlier days -- knowledge of the Shamir was in fact ascribed by rabbinical sources to Moses. After a lengthy search, a grain of Shamir -- the size of a barley-corn -- was found in the depths of a well located in Canaan.
It became one of Solomon's most wondrous possessions. But strangely, it lost its abilities and became inactive several centuries later, about the time the Temple of Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
So what was the Shamir?
We need to sort through these numerous references of Shamir to gain a better understanding of what it really was.
The manner in which Shamir was kept secure may provide a clue. A sentence from the Tractate Sotah 48b of the Babylonian Talmud says "The Shamir may not be put in an iron vessel for safe-keeping, nor in any metal vessel: it would burst such a receptacle asunder ... It is kept wrapped in wool inside a box of lead filled with barley-bran."
The word "oferet" in the text is properly translated "lead." It is an important clue: folkloristic fantasy would not consider a leaden box having greater strength than an iron or gold one. Nevertheless this was where the valued Shamir needed to be stored.
Based on our current knowledge, it's possible the Shamir was a radioactive substance, and lead would be the only effective way to neutralize it. As well, Radium salts -- acting upon certain, chemical substances -- can emit a luminescence with a yellow-green hue.
If it was radioactive, the breastplate of the High Priest could be engraved in the following manner. The letters were written with ink, and the stones were exposed to the "glance" or radiation of the Shamir. This ink may have contained powdered lead or lead oxides. The parts of the stones which were unprotected by lead disintegrated without leaving any dust particles -- according to the Tractate Sotah 48b appeared especially wondrous. Those written words protected by leaden ink stood up in relief on the surface of the gems.
There is further evidence of the stone's radio-active properties. Shamir, the most precious possession of Solomon, did not survive. The usual version of the story-the Shamir "disappeared," -- does not correspond to the Hebrew text. The word batel used to describe the demise of Shamir has only one meaning: "to become inactive."
The Hebrew term for a paralyzed member is batel; a loafer is batlan; inactivity is batala; all these words come from the root batel. In the four hundred years that passed from the building of the first Temple to its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in -587, a radioactive substance could become inactive.
Conclusion
If the Shamir was radio-active, then its location at the bottom of a drinking well in Canaan is a very probable cause of the pituitary tumors. Once the stone(s) were either removed or lost their radio-active qualities or the well dried up and fell from use, the giantism stopped.
Further research into giantism through medical archives reveals the vast majority of today's patients (90% +) treated with radiation for facial or cranial cancers develop pituitary tumors.
The Nephilim were simply true giants of that day, a people exposed to an unknown radioactive isotope. They encountered the mysterious properties of the Shamir.
|
