The enigmatic mystery of the Nephilim, the Rephaim, and the Titans

by Leolaia 35 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • quietlyleaving
    quietlyleaving

    thanks be to Noah - lmao

    The crucial fact is that the name nwch "Noah" is related to the word nchm "comfort". Now the obvious foreshadowing to the name occurs in Genesis 3:17, the curse on Adam, referring to the "toil" and "suffering" in agricultural work and the "sweat on your brow" it brings. Then in Genesis 5:29 Lamech, the father of Noah, says when he names him: "Here is the one who will give us, in the midst of our toil and the laboring of our hands, a consolation derived from the ground that Yahweh cursed." So there is an obvious backward reference to Genesis 3:17. But the forward reference cannot be to the Flood (which certainly brought no such comfort), but to Noah's discovery of vine-culture, which brought comfort derived from the ground (Genesis 9:20-24). In this vein, also note Proverbs 31:6-7 which recommends "wine for the heart" and declares, "Let them drink and ... remember their misery no more."
  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    The height of Goliath grew in the retelling (compare the MT with other older versions):

    http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/145601/2627089/post.ashx#2627089

  • stillajwexelder
    stillajwexelder

    In this vein, also note Proverbs 31:6-7 which recommends "wine for the heart" and declares, "Let them drink and ... remember their misery no more."

    And let us not forget

    (Psalm 104:15) 15 And wine that makes the heart of mortal man rejoice,. . .

  • veradico
    veradico

    I just noticed this old thread. What you take with one hand, Leolaia, you return with two arms bearing a cornucopia! One might be dismayed to learn that the Flood, as far as can be discerned from the strands that remain after the J element involving the Nephilim has been removed, had as its cause nothing more interesting than the wicked and distressing ruckus of humanity, as in other related myths of the Near East. It's so much more interesting to see in the story a jealous God who disapproves of humanity's increasing divinity as the gods mingle with the mortals to produce the gigantic heroes of antiquity. But the beauty of your deconstruction of the text and subsequent reconstruction of facts that would otherwise be lost to us is that we now have the additional insights you gave us AND we can still marvel at the elegance of the new narrative produced by the redactor from his sources. A pleasure as always.

  • civicsi00
    civicsi00

    Marking for later. Fascinating stuff...

  • Justitia Themis
    Justitia Themis

    Me too!

  • jam
    jam

    leolaia: Thanks for your informative research. In your future studies if you come across any information

    on 1 Samuel18:25-27( David and the story of removing of the 200 men foreskins of the Philistiness)

    I hope it,s a myth. Curious why this sick story was included in the Bible. What moral or spirtual value

    can one take from the story. Thanks

  • ziddina
    ziddina
  • ziddina
    ziddina

    Parts 4 and 5 including conclusion of this History Channel program...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsKFy6qZ-7Q&feature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uQGBniK1as&feature=related

    Now, the question arises, are fossils of large animals found in Israel, notwithstanding the "Golan Heights", a vast volcanic plateau in the northeast of Israel...

    Anyone?

    I'm going to have to look into that, myself. I've focused on the recent volcanic deposits of the Golan Heights (within the Holocene period; the last 10,000 years or so of human history, recent enough to have influenced tribal legends) and the volcanic nature of the Israelite god, but the possibility that fossils inspired the legends of the "Nephilim", as such fossils may have influenced the Greek monster and super-human-sized hero mythology - FASCINATING!!!

    Zid

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Yeah that stuff is really interesting and somewhat plausible; I don't know if there are megafauna fossils in that area, and the Golan is pretty much the place where the traditions converge. I did however explore this very topic with relation to megalithic structures in this very region, which pretty much gets at a similar rationale for the tradition:

    http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/71735/1/Neolithic-and-Early-Bronze-Relics-in-Stories-about-the-Rephaim

    BTW, this is a super old thread, HTRB!

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