Editing Nephilim (section)

{{Short description|Beings from the Hebrew Bible}}
{{Other uses}}
{{distinguish|Nevi'im|Niflheim}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:The_Hell_and_the_Flood_P1.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|''The Fall of the Rebel Angels'' by [[Hieronymus Bosch]], based on Genesis 6:1–4]]
The '''Nephilim''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|f|ᵻ|ˌ|l|ɪ|m}}; {{Langx|he|נְפִילִים}} ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or humans in the [[Bible]] traditionally understood as being of great size and strength, or alternatively beings of great [[power (social and political)|power]] and authority.<ref name=":0" /> The origins of the Nephilim are disputed.  Some, including the author of the [[Book of Enoch]], view them as the offspring of [[fallen angel|rebellious angels]] and humans.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=NAB-p1370-footnotes/> Others view them as descendants of [[Seth]] and [[Cain]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{cite web |title=Genesis&nbsp;6:4 |translator=chabad.org |url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/8171/showrashi/true/jewish/Chapter-6.htm |via=chabad.org }}</ref><ref name=":6" />

This reference to them is in [[Book of Genesis#Primeval history (chapters 1–11)|Genesis&nbsp;6:1–4]], but the passage is ambiguous and the identity of the Nephilim is disputed.<ref name=":1">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Nephilim |encyclopedia =[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nephilim |access-date=2020-11-06 |lang=en}}</ref><ref name="Doedens">{{cite book |last1=Doedens |first1=J.J.T. |title=The Sons of God in Genesis&nbsp;6:1–4: Analysis and history of exegesis |date=2019 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004395909 |pages=75–76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPuiDwAAQBAJ&q=Nephilim+came+into |access-date=10 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref> According to [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]]&nbsp;13:33, ten of the [[Twelve Spies]] report the existence of Nephilim in [[Canaan]] prior to its [[Book of Joshua#Entry into the land and conquest (chapters 2–12)|conquest by the Israelites]].<ref name=JPS_1917/><ref>{{cite book |section=Numbers&nbsp;13:33 |year=1917 |title=The Holy Scriptures: A new translation |publisher=JPS |via=sefaria.org |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.13.33?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=bi&with=Navigation&lang2=en |access-date=2024-02-09 }}</ref>

A similar or identical [[Biblical Hebrew]] term, read as "Nephilim" by some scholars, or as the word "fallen" by others, appears in [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]]&nbsp;32:27 and is also mentioned in the [[deuterocanonical books]] [[Judith]]&nbsp;16:6, [[Sirach]]&nbsp;16:7, [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]&nbsp;3:26–28, and [[Wisdom of Solomon|Wisdom]]&nbsp;14:6.{{efn|
{{harvp|Hendel|1987}} presents the view that the word used in Ezekiel&nbsp;32 is explicitly the word "Nephilim", the same word used in other Bible books.<ref name=Hendel-1987/>
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{{harvp|Doak|2013}} proposes an alternate view, that the actual term used in Ezekiel&nbsp;32:27 is a related, but different word, that is deliberately used to refer back to the traditional ideas about the Nephilim, but that it is ''not'' itself the explicit term "Nephilim".<ref name=Doak-2013/>
}}<ref name=Hendel-1987>{{cite journal |last=Hendel |first=Ronald S. |year=1987 |title=Of demigods and the deluge: Toward an interpretation of Genesis&nbsp;6:1–4 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=106 |issue=1 |page=22 |doi=10.2307/3260551 |jstor=3260551 }}</ref><ref name=Doak-2013>{{cite journal |last=Doak |first=Brian R. |year=2013 |title=Ezekiel's topography of the (un-)heroic dead in Ezekiel&nbsp;32:17–32 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=132 |issue=3 |pages=607–624 |jstor=23487889 |doi=10.2307/23487889 }}</ref>