Interesting Explanation of the Nephalim : The Fallen Giants

[muman613]

For the last several years I have been intrigued by the part of Beresheit/Genesis where the Nephalim are mentioned. It is surely a cryptic portion which leave a lot open to interpretation. Some think that this is the source of the 'fallen angel' which other religions believe is the Satan {an angel rejected by G-d who is fighting against him}. But obviously this explanation is rejected because our understanding of HaSatan is that he was created with the intention of being a temptation to humanity in order to test us, to see if we truly are righteous or wicked.

Here is a very good explanation of just who these 'Fallen Ones' / Nephalim are...


http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1987446/jewish/Nephilim-Fallen-Angels-Giants-or-Men.htm


Nephilim: Fallen Angels, Giants or Men?
The mystery of Genesis 6:1–4

By Yehuda Shurpin


Just before the story of Noah’s ark, the Torah presents a cryptic narrative that has mystified and intrigued scholars for generations:

And it came to pass when man commenced to multiply upon the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the benei elokim saw the daughters of man when they were beautifying themselves, and they took for themselves wives from whomever they chose. And the L‑rd said, “Let My spirit not quarrel forever concerning man, because he is also flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." The nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the benei elokim would come to the daughters of man, and they would bear for them; they are the mighty men, who were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:1–4)

Who or what exactly are the benei elokim? Who are the nephilim? How are they related to each other? And what does it all mean?

One thing benei elokim does not mean is “sons of G‑d.” In fact, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai would “curse” anyone who translated the term benei elokim as the “sons of G‑d.”1 The word elokim in Scripture, while generally referring to G‑d, is in essence merely an expression of authority.2 Similarly, the term benei does not necessarily mean “sons,” but is often just a title. Benei chorin, for example, means those who are free—not “sons of freedom.”

Nephilim seems to be derived from the verb-root naphal, meaning “fall.” From where did they fall? Are they the same as the benei elokim? And if so, why are they called by two names?

The Midrash and commentaries offer three explanations:

Explanation 1: Angels taking a risk

The Midrash3 relates that when the generation of the Flood went astray, G‑d began to regret having created man. Then two angels, Shamchazai and Azael,4 came before G‑d and said, “Did we not warn You before You created man, saying, ‘What is man, that You should be mindful of him?’”5 G‑d replied: “Then what shall become of the world?” “We will suffice instead,” they replied. G‑d answered, “I know that would you live on that world, the evil inclination would rule you just as much as it controls man, but you would be even worse.” But the angels persisted, saying: “Let us descend to the world of men, and we will show You how we will sanctify your name.” And G-d said: “Go down and dwell among them.”

Sure enough, as soon as the angels descended, their evil inclination overpowered them.6 When they saw the beautiful “daughters of man,”7 they became corrupted and sinned with them. They and their descendants are the nephilim, the giants and mighty ones referred to later on in the narrative.8

This story is often seen as support for the notion of “fallen angels.” But a careful reading reveals that this is not the case. G‑d sent them down knowing full well—and indeed expecting—that they would end up sinning.

In fact, in Judaism there is no such thing as fallen angels or conflict in heaven. There is only one Creator in charge of it all, with no forces opposing Him. Even “Satan” is merely the name of an angel whose divinely assigned task is to tempt people to sin.9

While the Midrash’s description of the benei elokim and the nephilim as angels and giants is perhaps the most popular reading, it is not necessarily the most literal one.10

Explanation 2: Corrupt Authorities

Based on a more literal translation of benei elokim, many explain that the term is simply referring to princes, noblemen or judges11 who abused their power, raping anyone they fancied, and forcing any women who got married to have relations with them first.12 This, together with their many other sins, were what eventually led to the great flood.13

There are, however, differences of opinion as to whether the nephilim are simply the benei elokim after they had “fallen,” or if the term refers to the descendants of these bnei elokim.14

Explanation 3: Fallen Humans

Finally, there others who take a different approach and explain benei elokim to mean people who were—at least to begin with—on a spiritually high level. They are later called nephilim, for they or their descendants (or both) fell from their spiritual heights, became corrupted, and eventually brought G‑d’s wrath upon themselves by robbing, murdering and raping without hesitation.15

We end up with several reasons why these beings are called nephilim:

1. Because they fell from their greatness.16

2. Because they caused the world to fall.17

3. Because they caused the hearts of people to fall, trembling before their great stature.18

4. Because they fell from heaven—although not without their consent.19

5. Nephilim is Hebrew for “giants”—which they were, either in stature, in authority or in spiritual greatness.20

Angels Versus Souls

We meet the nephilim again, much later, when Moses sends spies to the land of Canaan. The spies were great men, but they returned with a report that struck terror into the hearts of the Israelites, appending their own opinion that the mission of occupying this land would be futile.

Quite tellingly, they made sure to report on these angels who had fallen from heaven—perhaps because they themselves feared meeting the same fate. After all, the wilderness of Sinai was pretty much a heaven for them, with little else to do than contemplate G‑d’s Torah and His wonders. Entering the land of Canaan to conquer, work the land and harvest its produce threatened to be a tremendous descent.

The difference, however, is that the human soul is not an angel. The human soul is called a neshamah, meaning a breath, as in the verse that tells of how, when G‑d created Adam, “He blew into his nostrils the breath of life.”

An angel falls below and is disconnected. A breath, however, can never be disconnected. No matter where it may end up, how low it may have stooped, the neshamah is intrinsically bound to its origin above, and from there it receives the power to shine, even in the darkest and lowest time and place, and return to its true essence.21



FOOTNOTES
1.   Genesis Rabbah 26:5.
As we shall see, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai himself explains (ibid.) that benei elokim means judges. However, his cursing those who translate it as “sons of G‑d” is not meant in reference to the opinion that they are angels, for (a) this opinion is found in many places in the works of the sages, including the Talmud, so it does not seem probable that he would curse those who hold so widely accepted an opinion (see footnote 5); (b) the Zohar (1:37a) quotes this explanation without any negative comments.

For more on this, see Rabbi Menachem Kasher, Torah Sheleimah, Genesis 6:2, note 9.

2.   Thus we find G‑d telling Moses (Exodus 4:16; see also Exodus 7:1) that “he [Aaron] will be your speaker, and you will be his elokim [i.e., leader].”

3.   This Midrash can be found with variations in a number of places in the Talmud and Midrash, including Talmud, Yoma 67b; Targum Yonatan ben Uziel to Genesis 6:4; Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer 22; Zohar 1:37a; and Yalkut Shimoni, Bereishit, remez 44. See also Torah Sheleimah, Genesis 6:1–4, for additional citations.

4.   The Talmud, Yoma ibid., gives alternative names for the two angels. See Likkutei Sichot, vol. 28, p. 85, for a discussion of this issue.

5.   Psalms 8:5.

6.   For more on whether angels can sin, see Can Angels Sin?

7.   Genesis 6:2.

8.   The Talmud, Niddah 61a, explains that Og (who was a giant, and one of their descendants) survived the great flood by holding onto Noah’s ark and staying close to it.

9.   Talmud, Bava Batra 16a.

10.   See Rashi on Genesis 6:2 and 6:4; see also Likkutei Sichot cited above.

11.   We find the term elokim used many times as a reference to judges; see for example, Exodus 21:6.

12.   See Targum Yonatan ben Uziel to Genesis 6:4; Genesis Rabbah 26:5; and most of the commentaries (including that of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) to Genesis 6:2. Some are of the opinion that it refers specifically to either the descendants of Cain (Zohar 1:37a) or Seth (Hamek Davar to Genesis 6:4).

13.   It should be noted that while according to this approach the term benei elokim is understood to refer to princes, noblemen and judges, the term nephilim may very well still be referring to angels and giants. See, for example, Targum Yonatan ben Uziel to Genesis 6:2 and 6:4.

14.   See supercommentaries of Nachalat Yaakov and Be’er Basadeh to Rashi, Genesis 6:4.

15.   Ha'emek Davar, ibid.

16.   Genesis Rabbah 26:7.

17.   Ibid.; see Rashi to Genesis 6:4, in which he combines these first two explanations.

18.   See commentaries of Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra, Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak) and Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban) to Genesis 6:4.

19.   Rashi to Numbers 13:33, and Nachalat Yaakov to Genesis 6:4. See, however, Likkutei Sichot, vol. 28, p. 86.

20.   Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 22.

21.   See Likutei Sichot, ibid.
   
By Yehuda Shurpin
Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin responds to questions for Chabad.org's Ask the Rabbi service.

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[muman613]

The whole story of Og, the giant, is an interesting one. According to belief he was alive during the Flood of Noah, but was able to survive by grabbing onto the Teyvah/Ark and floating with it till the waters receded. Og survived for a very long time, appearing in the story of Abraham and even surviving till the time of Moses. It is believed Ogs descendants were the GIANTS of whom the Spies (from the story of the Meraglim} witnessed living in the land of Caanan.

http://rabbibuchwald.njop.org/2009/07/20/devarim-5769-2009/

Scripture in Deuteronomy 3:11 underscores the enormous stature of Og by writing about his special sleeping accommodations: “Hee’nay ar’so eres bar’zel,” behold his bed was an iron bed…nine cubits was its length and four cubits its width by the cubit of a man. The commentators explain that Og was so big and so heavy that ordinary wooden furniture could not support him. Others suggest that the Bible is referring to Og’s bed when he was a baby, that his cradle would break because Og was so strong.

The Midrash elaborates further on the verse in Deuteronomuy 3:11, which states that only Og remained of the remnant of the Refaim. The Midrash suggests that as the floodwaters swelled, Og sat himself on one of the rungs of the ladders of Noah’s ark, and swore to Noah and to his sons that he would be their slave forever. With that assurance, Noah proceeded to punch a hole in the ark, and through it handed food to Og every day. Now it is clear why the verse refers to Og as “The Fugitive,” rather than “a” fugitive. “The Fugitive” indicates that he was someone who had already been known at the time to have escaped from peril, having previously escaped from the Flood.

An alternate view cited in the Talmud Zevachim 113b, is that Og was so tall that he was able to stand on the side of the ark, and not drown in the water. Other views, recorded in tractate Niddah, are that the water reached only to Og’s ankles, or that Og ran to the land of Israel during the flood, where there was no flood (Rashi, Niddah 61a).

The rabbis also offer a gematria interpretation that is based on Genesis 7:23, which states, “Va’yee’sha’ayr ach Noach,” that only Noah survived the flood. The rabbis say that the Hebrew letters “ach Noach” add up to the value of 79, the exact value of the name Og in Hebrew. Thus, besides Noah and his family, only Og remained.


The Midrash further relates that when Isaac was born, Abraham made a great feast (Genesis 21:8). Rabbi Judah Barsimeon says, “Do not read ‘a great feast,’ but rather ‘a feast for great personages.’” Og and all the great ones [the giants] like him were at the feast. Og was asked, “Didn’t you say that Abraham is like a barren mule who could not beget a child?” Looking dismissively at Isaac, Og said, “So what is this gift? Is it not a puny little thing that I can simply crush with my finger?” G-d was angry that Og had belittled His gift to Abraham [the infant Isaac]. “As you live,” said G-d, “you will see thousands of myriads issue from his [Isaac's] children’s children!” And it was at the hands of Isaac’s descendants that the evil Og was to fall (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 53:10).

What accounts for the unusually extensive attention given Og in the Midrash is uncertain. Certainly, scripture’s lyrical description of Og’s oversized bed and/or cradle (Deuteronomy 3:11) can easily lead to fantasies about giants and visions of massive creatures. Even the inconsistency of hundreds of years that separate the story of Noah from those of Abraham and Moses, do not seem to rattle the Midrashic creativity. Perhaps the message that binds the Midrashic narratives together is that the Jewish people, with the help of G-d, have the power to vanquish their enemies, no matter how large or powerful. It is a lesson that must not be dismissed.

[muman613]

One of the prayers we say is Tehillim 136 which is otherwise known as 'Ki Laolam Chasdo' or 'His Kindness Endures Forever'... Og is mentioned as King of Bashan...


1. Give thanks to the Lord because He is good, for His kindness is eternal.
2. Give thanks to the God of the angels, for His kindness is eternal.
3. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His kindness is eternal.
4. To Him Who performs great wonders alone, for His kindness is eternal.
5. To Him Who made the heavens with understanding, for His kindness is eternal.
6. To Him Who spread out the earth over the water, for His kindness is eternal.
7. To Him Who made great luminaries, for His kindness is eternal.
8. The sun to rule by day, for His kindness is eternal.
9. The moon and stars to rule at night, for His kindness is eternal.
10. To Him Who smote the Egyptians with their firstborn, for His kindness is eternal.
11. And He took Israel from their midst, for His kindness is eternal.
12. With a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, for His kindness is eternal.
13. To Him Who cut the Sea of Reeds asunder, for His kindness is eternal.
14. And caused Israel to cross in its midst, for His kindness is eternal.
15. And He threw Pharaoh and his host into the Sea of Reeds, for His kindness is eternal.
16. To Him Who led His people in the desert, for His kindness is eternal.
17. To Him Who smote great kings, for His kindness is eternal.
18. And slew mighty kings, for His kindness is eternal.
19. Sihon the king of the Amorites, for His kindness is eternal.
20. And Og the king of Bashan, for His kindness is eternal.
21. And He gave their land as an inheritance, for His kindness is eternal.
22. An inheritance to Israel His servant, for His kindness is eternal.
23. Who remembered us in our humble state, for His kindness is eternal.
24. And He rescued us from our adversaries, for His kindness is eternal.
25. Who gives bread to all flesh, for His kindness is eternal.
26. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His kindness is eternal.

[muman613]

The Giant Og
By Yitschak Meir Kagan

At the end of the parshah of Chukat the Torah tells of the battle with Og, the giant king of Bashan:

And they turned and ascended by way of Bashan; and Og, king of Bashan, came out to meet them--he and all his people--to wage war at Edrei.

Then G-d said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I will deliver him--and all his people and his land--into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sichon, king of the Amorites who lives in Cheshbon. (Numbers 21:33-35.)

Then the battle began. Og uprooted a rock measuring three parsangs (a parsang is approximately a mile), the dimensions of the entire Jewish encampment.1 He wanted to throw this rock on top of the Israelites, but before he had a chance to do so, Moses killed him. As the Torah expresses it, "Then they smote him and his sons and all his people."

We notice something strange and unusual in this narrative, namely, that G-d had to reassure Moses, "Do not fear him." Why did the great leader of Israel, who had so resolutely confronted Pharaoh and all their other enemies, suddenly need to be reassured more than the other Jews? Why is Moses' personal fear of Og stressed? If Moses feared Og, surely the people must have been terrified of him!

The answer is that Moses' fear of the giant was not shared by Israel, for the people viewed Og physically, while Moses perceived him in a spiritual light. All the people saw in Og was a huge, hulking heathen -- whom they did not fear at all, being confident in the power of Moses' prayers. (This mood is evident from the actions of those Israelites who were sent, at about that time, to spy out Ya'zair. Although their mission was merely to spy it out, they were so confident in the effectiveness of Moses' prayers that, on their own initiative, they conquered the place!2)

But Moses, with his deeper, more spiritual insight, saw in Og "the merit of Abraham." Many, many years earlier, when Abraham's nephew, Lot, had been captured in war, the giant Og, then also a captive, had escaped and told Abraham of the disaster. Abraham, who considered Lot almost as a brother, armed his servants, pursued his nephew's captors, defeated them, and saved Lot.3 Og had to his credit this meritorious deed of saving Abraham's family, and Moses feared that the merit might stand Og in good stead. G-d then assured Moses, "do not fear him, for into your hand have I given him." Moses' own greatness, his own merit, would be sufficient to overcome Og.

Ultimately, the special merit of Moses was not needed to overcome the giant, for Og himself, by his own actions, erased any trace of merit he might have had. By attempting to throw a rock on top of the entire Jewish encampment, he made clear his intentions of wiping out, G-d forbid, every last single descendant of Abraham, and he instantly destroyed his own merits for saving Abraham's family. Og was now stripped of merit; he was no longer surrounded by any "special defenses," and Moses single-handedly slew him.4


FOOTNOTES
1.   Viz. Rashi on Numbers 33:49.
2.   Numbers ibid. v. 32 and Rashi.
3.   Genesis 14:13-16.
4.   The Talmud Brochot 54a; See also Rashi on Exodus 22:1, from Sanhedrin 72a, et al.
Based on Likuttei Sichos Vol. 8 pp. 134-140.

      
Rabbi Yitschak Meir Kagan was associate director of the Lubavitch Foundation in Michigan. An innovative educator and author, he compiled A Thought for the Week adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Rabbi Kagan taught chassidic philosophy at various universities in Michigan, untill his tragic passing in a car accident in 2001.

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[muman613]

http://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/98195594.html

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The fact that Og's reward for the service he performed for Avraham was so great, even though his motivation was far from pure, only reinforced Moshe's fears: Avraham's stature was such that Og's merit posed a daunting challenge.(5)

The identity of Avraham's anonymous informant is not unanimously accepted in rabbinic literature. The Midrash records a tradition that makes an even more surprising identification: According to the Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer, (chapters 16&23) Og is none other than Avraham's most trusted servant, Eliezer!(6) This tradition would explain the prodigious strength attributed to Eliezer in the battle Avraham fought against the kings who held Lot captive:

And there came one who had escaped, and told Avram the Ivri, who he lived in Elonei Mamre of the Amorite, brother of Eshkol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Avram. And when Avram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them to Dan. (Bereishit 14:13-14)

The Talmud identifies these warriors:

"And he armed his trained servants, born in his own house." Rav said, he equipped them by [teaching them] the Torah. Shmuel said, he made them bright with gold [i.e., rewarded them for accompanying him]. Three hundred and eighteen: R. Ammi b. Abba said: Eliezer outweighed them all. Others say, It was Eliezer, for this is the numerical value of his name. (Talmud Bavli Nedarim 32a)

If Eliezer is Og, the man-mountain of monstrous proportions, we can easily understand how one man could equal 318 warriors.

On the other hand, this identification is difficult in light of many other midrashic sources that portray Eliezer as so righteous that he inherited his share of the World to Come without death or pain. To even suggest an association with Og seems demeaning. This objection was voiced by Rabenu Bachye, who suggested that perhaps there was more than one Og king of Bashan: perhaps the name Og is actually a title and not a given name, analogous to "Pharaoh king of Egypt."(7)

The Yalkut Shimoni(8) also accepts the identification of Og as Eliezer, while maintaining a negative appraisal of Eliezer. Various midrashim support a rather dim view of Eliezer's character: Eliezer was suspected of deflowering Rivka during their journey to meet Yitzchak. When the accusation proves to be false, Eliezer is granted his freedom as compensation; as a free man, he becomes known as Og. According to an alternative teaching recorded in the Yalkut, after being falsely accused Eliezer enters Gan Eden alive.(9)

The passage in the Talmud cited above refers to Og as a survivor of not only the battle between the kings but of the flood as well:

R. Yochanan explained: This refers to Og who escaped the fate of the generation of the flood. (Talmud Bavli Niddah 61a)

This teaching is expanded in a second passage in the Talmud:

The people in the generation of the Flood sinned with hot passion, and with hot water they were punished. - And on your view, how could the Ark travel [at all]? Moreover, how did Og king of Bashan stand? Rather, a miracle was performed for it [the water], and it was cooled at the side of the Ark. (Talmud Bavli Zevachim 113b)

Og's survival cannot be credited to his impressive height. The Talmud teaches that height alone would not have saved him, because the waters of the flood were boiling hot - quid pro quo for the burning passions that generation succumbed to. A miracle saved Og - nothing short of direct Divine intervention. We can only assume that Og was innocent of the sins that led to the destruction, free of the sins that the others' committed in their passion. Had Og given in to the same base desires as the other members of his generation, he would not have been spared their fate.

This being said, the midrashic accounts of Og's desire for Sarah or the suspicion in which he was held regarding Rivka do not seem to easily fit with the tradition that Og survived the flood. Can we say that Og underwent a negative metamorphosis after being spared? Or should we look further into the midrash and wonder how innocent and upstanding a character Og was: Why was he left to fend for his own life, standing outside the Ark? Why was he not invited inside? Was Og as righteous as Noah or as wicked as the many others who were left off the ark and wiped out by the flood?

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