Bible scholars run into some problems that just can’t be rationally solved with the information we have today. One is found in Genesis 6:1-4 “When men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, … the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful…the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”
Genesis 6:4 also says, “There were giants on the earth in those days.” The word ‘giants’ in this biblical narrative is a common translation of the Hebrew ‘nephilim’ and is also used in Numbers 13 to describe the hulking inhabitants of Canaan, who made the Israelite spies “feel like grasshoppers.” Nephililm may or may not mean giants of supernatural origin, but simply a tribe of large-framed, powerful men. When military strength as a man’s most important asset, such men were, of course, feared and respected.
Just who were these “sons of God?” No one knows for sure. The best guess is that they were kings and chieftains, the bigwigs in a primitive warrior society. (From 1001 Things You Always Wanted To Know About the Bible…But Never Thought To Ask, by J. Stephen Lang, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Remember that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are considered, “Pre-history” … that is they often speak of things for which we have no other written record. This does not mean they are not ‘true,’ or that reading them as pre-history diminishes a true picture of God and the Bible. But it does mean they may well have reflected ancient writers-- within the confines of their limited knowledge and from the cultural context—effort to proclaim the goodness, power, might, and awesomeness of God! These chapters, without needing to be scientifically or historically accurate, say loud and clear: “Look, God is the creator of all, wants to be in a relationship with his creation even when humankind rebels, and launched history on a course that ultimately bring all things back to Him as He intended at creation.”
To read these passages as ‘literal’ means that at some ancient time, “sons of gods” (divine beings) had intercourse with ‘daughters of men (humans) and their children were the giants of the land.
At Genesis 6:4 the term designates ancient heroes who, according to most interpreters, are the products of sexual union of heavenly beings (“sons of God”, compare Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Ps. 29:1; 82:6) and human women. The account illustrates the breakdown of the God-ordained order separating heaven and earth (Gen. 1:6-10) and specifying reproduction “each according to its kind” (1:11-12, 21, 24-25). God intervened to reestablish limits inherent in creation (6:3; compare 3:22-23). At Numbers 13:33 nephilim designates a race of giants descended from Anak against whom the Israelites appeared as grasshoppers. (See Holman Bible Dictionary)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment