Origin of the Giants--Other Theories
Anthropological forensic reconstruction of their skulls reveals strong faces, with full smooth foreheads, narrow noses, and prominent chins. Their long craniums also gave them a brain capacity far above today's average. Except that some probably retained animal appendages, they resembled humans in every way.
So close was this resemblance, writes Moses, that the Nephilim began marrying the beautiful daughters descended from Adam, thus corrupting humanity with animal flesh. The genes of these two different races, being mixed, gave birth to creatures who were partly animal and partly human. Because of their endocrine abnormalities, many of these half-breeds grew to adulthood with colossal statures. But the name given the male giants characterizes their superhuman strength, not their great height. The ancients called them the Gibborim, a word meaning mighty men. Their daring, complemented by their great height, bulk, and bodily power, gained for them a widespread fame. Moses implies that they were fierce and warlike. For centuries they struck terror in the hearts of antediluvians of normal size. This fear they inspired no doubt enabled them to lord it overall Mesopotamia.164 And their many oppressions, Moses' 6:1-4 passage declares, continued right down to the first days of the great rain. (See Giants and the Flood; Giants Who Became Gods; Gomarian Giants; also see Ariels; Horned Giants; Origin of the Giants-- Other Theories; Shamhazai)
Perizzites
When Israel invaded northern Canaan, the Perizzites occupied the "forest country" near Shechem. Some scholars identify them with the giant Horim. Just to the north of the Perizzites lay a sizable territory belonging to the Rephaim giants. Toward the end of the northern campaign, the tribes of Ephraim and Manassah fought these giants and took their lands. (See Israel's Wars with the Giants)
Phlegra's Giants
Besides his other accounts about the giants, Strabo informs us that on a narrow isthmus to the peninsula of Pallene stood "a city founded by the Corinthians, which in earlier times was called Potidaea, although later on it was called Cassandreia, after the same King Cassander, who restored it after it had been destroyed.... And further, writers say that in earlier times the giants lived here and that the country was named Phlegra."164
Rapha
Some scholars identify Rapha, a giant of Gath, as the father of Goliath and four other giants who are mentioned in the scriptures as feared Philistine warriors. (See David vs Goliath; Ishbi-benob; Lahmi; Sippai; Six-fingered, Six-toed Giant)
Ras Shamra Texts
Written records recovered from a mound that marks the site of the ancient city of Ugarit, located on the Syrian coast opposite Cyprus, provide a separate verification of the biblical giants.
Found in 1928, these Ras Shamra Texts frequently mention the Rephaim, whose communities apparently ranged that far north. Linguists who deciphered the cuneiform texts say they were written about Joshua's time. Ras Shamra is the modern name given to an ancient mound located on the Syrian coast opposite Cyprus. (See Execration Texts; Israel's Wars with the Giant)
Rephaim Giants
According to H. R. Hall, the Rephaim built the megalithic monuments, the dolmens, and the menhirs of Moab and eastern Palestine. Fields of dolmens still may be seen in many parts of northern Jordan. The most notable ones are found in the foothills of the Jordan valley to the east of Damiah bridge, in the foothills east of Talailat Ghassul, around Irbid, and in the hill country near Hasban. (See Argob's Sixty Cities of the Giants; Beit Jibrim)
Rephaim, Land of the
In the widest sense, the "land of the Rephaim" once comprised all Transjordan and Canaan, because the giants occupied those regions in great numbers. At the time of Israel's invasion, they remained a people to be reckoned with, but their population had dwindled to the extent that the Anakim--their cousin--now dominated the land. Yet, in one place, they retained sufficient numbers and power to be still called the "land of the Rephaim." That territory lay in central Canaan, just north of the Perizzites. Scholars say their large settlement extended from there to perhaps as far as the Valley of Jezreel. (See Abraham and the Giants; Argob's Sixty Cities of the Giants; Beit Jibrim; Israel's Wars with the Giants; Giants, Valley of the)
Rephaim, Valley of the
This abode of the giants was located southwest of Jerusalem, beginning at the valley of Hinnom and stretching three miles along the road to Bethlehem. The valley got its name from some early giant inhabitants called the Rephaim. (See Israel's Wars with the Giants)
Sacae Giants (See Gomarian Giants)
Shamhazai
The ancient rabbis say that the Rephaim giants Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, were grandsons of Sham-hazai, a fallen angel.165 Of course, such a genealogy supposes that Shamhazai was one of the Nephilim. (See Sihon's and Og's Overthrow; Origin of the Giants--Biblical Account)
Shaveh Kiriathaim's Giants
The terrible Emim giants at Shaveh Kiriathaim were overthrown by Elam's King Chedorlaomer in the nineteenth century B.C. Some scholars identify that ancient city with modern Kureyat, located ten miles north of Arnon and ten miles east of the Dead Sea. The Emim, described as "great and many and tall" before Chedorlaomer's invasion, never fully recovered. Their land was later taken over by the Moabites. (See Abraham and the Giants)
Sheshai
Moses identified Sheshai as one of the three giant brothers who ruled a clan of the Canaanite Anakim from Hebron when the He-brews were encamped at Kadesh Barnea. The terrifying sight of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai inspired ten of Moses' spies to return with a recommendation to forget an invasion of the promised land. Their "evil report" so frightened the Hebrew congregation that they rebelled against Moses. Sheshai apparently took his name from his great height, for, declares Bochart, it "refers to his stature, which measured six cubits," i.e., nine feet.166 He was later driven out of Hebron by Caleb's men. (See Canaan's Anakim; Israel's Wars with the Giants)
Sibecai
Sibecai the Hushathite, one of David's mighty men, delivered a fatal blow to the giant Sippai during a battle at Gob. (See David vs Goliath)
|
