We discussed how Jesus enlightened the Sadducees about the afterlife. We read from Ezekiel how the prophet predicted the Messiah would have to take over teaching from the temple priests and scribes (just as Jesus did), because they had abandoned their most basic responsibilities to the people. We discuss the incredibly brave 7 brothers (and their mother) in Maccabees 4-7. Then we read about the Nephilim in Genesis, which you don't hear about much because it is so darn difficult to interpret. Here is the passage followed by comments:
Gen 6:1-8 When people began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and took any they wanted as wives. And the Lord Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not strive within these men forever, for they are flesh, but their days shall be numbered one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were upon the earth in those days, when the sons of God came to the daughters of men and they brought forth children. These were the heroes of days gone by, men of renown. The Lord saw that human wickedness was great upon the earth and that every thought of his heart was bent upon evil continually. He regretted having made humankind and it grieved him in his heart, saying, “I shall rid the earth of these human beings whom I have created – from man and beast, from creeping animals to the fowl of the air – for I regret that I have made them. But Noah won Yahweh’s favor. ________________ Nephilim is translated from Hebrew as “giant” and also “fallen.” It could also refer to great in the sense of renowned/famous/celebrated - but not necessarily good (i.e., Goliath). The "heroes and kings of old" were probably a bit of both (fallen and famous!).
Theories of who the Nephilim were:
Theory #1: Literal reading of the text. The Nephilim were heavenly beings (the only other spiritual beings besides God were angels, and so it would had to have been the fallen angels) who had relations with the daughters of men, resulting in a semi-supernatural beings. One argument against this theory is that angels don’t have bodies and don’t procreate, as Jesus just explained to the Sadducees in the reading above. The second reason is that the Nephilim appear again several thousand years later when the Hebrews reconnoitered the promised land before inhabiting it; the returning scouts (spies) claimed some of the land’s inhabitants belonged to the offspring of the Nephilim (Numbers 13:33). This couldn't be since under this theory the race of the Nephilim was destroyed by the flood.
2) The “Sons of God” are the offspring of Seth, however they turned their backs on God, were corrupted, and then were attracted to the beautiful women of the cities (Cain’s line – Gen 4:17 Cain’s wife bore him a son, Enoch, in whose name built the first city).
3) The “Sons of God” are the offspring of Cain and they intermarried with evolving humans who were not descendants of Eden!
The Catholic Church does not offer an official interpretation of this chapter.
It was asked why didn't the Church pull this chapter out of the bible when they were formulating the canon? Good question. Its because it was part of Genesis and the Church is not free to edit scripture. Besides, when we die, God will probably say, "I can't believe you guys didn't get that! You see, it's like this...."
See you next week.
Ron
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