The Days of Noah

By Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

II. The sons of God – Bne Elohim - בני־האלהים. 2

III. The Nephilim.. 3

IV. What Caused the Flood?. 6

V. Robbery. 8

VI. Demons. 9

VII. Selected Essays. 16

XII. Anunaki: Giants and Aliens in the Torah. 27

XIII. Conclusion. 31

I. Introduction

In this study I would like to explore the days of Noah and their relationships to the people and events of Today. In the process we will take several tangents and look at demons and giants.

Our Messiah indicated that we could understand the future by understanding the past:

Matityahu (Matthew) 24:37-41 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

So, what was it like in the days of Noah? Why the emphasis on marrying? We know that there was an emphasis on marrying because that is the only action that is mentioned more than once. Lets start by looking at what the Torah tells us about the days of Noah:

Bereshit (Genesis) 5:28-32 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground HaShem has cursed.” After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died. After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

The days of Noah are introduced by introducing Noah’s father, Noah himself, and Noah’s sons. Next, the Torah interrupts the story of Noah, to introduce the reason for the radical mission that HaShem will be giving to Noah:

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:1-7 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.[1] Then HaShem said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim (abortions[2]) were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. HaShem saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. HaShem was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So HaShem said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them.”

As the Torah narrates the story of Noah, it interrupts the flow to tell us about the “sons of God” marrying the daughters of men. After this “marrying”, HaShem begins to give us a hint that something is wrong with this “marrying”. He tells us that He will not contend with them forever, and He limits their years. Next, Torah introduces the Nephilim, and indicates that they are the offspring of the “marrying” of the “sons of God” with the daughters of men. Next Torah starts talking about wickedness and evil as though this wickedness suddenly started up after the Nephilim are born. Notice that HaShem‘s redemptive plan begins with the desire to destroy mankind and the animals.

Now, Torah resumes the story of Noah:

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:8-10 But Noah found favor in the eyes of HaShem. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Torah starts by telling us that there is a contrast between Noah and the rest of mankind. And, oh by the way, Noah had three sons, and these are their names. Torah seems to be associating these three with Noah, as though they are worth redeeming too. After introducing the righteous, Torah resumes its narrative of the wicked:

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:11-14 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

After reiterating the wickedness of the wicked, Torah, HaShem begins to tell Noah how he and his family are to be saved from the flood. These are the days of Noah, this is the background for this study.

So, we need to understand who are the sons of God, the daughters of men, and the Nephilim. These seem to introduce the greatest age of wickedness that the earth has ever seen.

II. The sons of God – Bne Elohim - בני־האלהים

Who are the sons of God that we find in Bereshit (Genesis) 6:2? The Torah calls them B’nei Elohim. B’nei is the common Hebrew word for “sons”. Elohim is the name used of G-d when He exercises the attribute of strict justice. It is also the name for a judge. Strong’s defines this as:

430 ‘elohiym, el-o-heem’; plur. of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but spec. used (in the plur. thus, esp. with the art.) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:-angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.

We find this same term, the sons of G-d, in:

Iyov (Job) 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before HaShem, and Satan came also among them.

The only other places that we find this term are in Iyov (Job) 2:1 and Iyov (Job) 38:7.

Yesodei HaTorah 2:7, notes ten levels of angels:

1. Chayot,

2. Ofanim,

3. Erelim,

4. Chashmalim,

5. Seraphim,

6. Malachim,

7. Elohim,

8. B’nai Eleohim (Sons of God),

9. Cherubim, and

10. Ishim.

The Artscroll Tanach on Bereshit (Genesis) provides some insights into the “sons of God”:

“The Talmud, in Yoma 67b, states that the rite of Azazel on Yom HaKippurim,[3] in Vayikra (Leviticus) 16, is so called ‘because it obtains atonement for the affair of Uzza and Azel.’”

“Rashi ad. loc. explains Uzza and Azel as ‘angels of destruction who descended to earth in the days of Naamah, sister of Tuval-Cain. Referring to them the verse says, ‘and the godly beings saw the children of man’”

“Accordingly, the Azazel obtains atonement for immorality.’”

Rashi, and the Midrash,[4] calls the sons of God the “sons of the judges”, the “sons of the lords”. Alternatively, they are the angelic “lords” who go on the mission of the Omnipresent. There seems to be some indication, therefore, that the sons of God are angels.

Ibn Ezra and others quote a third explanation: the sons of rulers were of the lineage of Seth and the daughters of man descended from Cain. The former are called בני־האלהים since the Sethites kept the Divine stamp, which reappeared with them.[5] Nevertheless, as a consequence of not keeping their race pure, they were not able to save mankind. They intermarried with the Cainites, who developed an atheistic society which, despite being advanced in the arts and sciences, was to meet its doom in the Flood. Through intermarriage, the sons of Seth sank to the level of this impious generation and so they too deserved the death sentence which was passed on all humanity, save for one family. These verses are the Torah’s first warning against intermarriage with idolaters.[6]

Targum Yonatan understands B’ne Elohim as referring to rulers or to Adam’s descendants, and Nephilim as referring to two angels “who fell from heaven to earth”.

III. The Nephilim

Who are the Nephilim - נפלים?

The Hebrew root of nephilim is: נפל. This shoresh, this root, has the connotation of ‘fall down’. This root is used in Bereshit (Genesis) 2:21, for example. Nephilim is a plural word.

The Hebrew root of nephilim: נפל, is the Hebrew word nephel.[7] This Hebrew word also means abortion, or miscarriage.[8] This Hebrew word is used in Iyov (Job) 3:16. Thus we understand that an abortion is a fetus who “falls down”. Thus they are the fallen ones.

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:4 The titans (Nefilim) were in the earth.

In this verse, the word Nefilim (הַנְּפִלִים) is written defectively [with the initial Yud (י) missing, since it actually should be written with a Yud (נפילים). Since there are no vowel points in the Torah,] it can also be read as Nefalim (נפלים)— aborted infants. This verse can therefore also be read, “The aborted infants were in the earth.” The earth was literally filled with them.[9]

This suggests that if we substitute ‘abortions’ for Nephilim in Bereshit (Genesis) 6:4, that it would look like this:

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:4 There were abortions (aborted infants) in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

This now accords with our own time when the product of sexual intercourse is often aborted and discarded. Further, this also accords with our own experience where we no longer see giants. Finally, it also explains why there was such a severe punishment for this activity.[10]

I am going to postulate that HaShem, in His Torah, had both ideas in mind: Giants and Abortions. This understanding allows us to see harmony in the Torah and also understand how our days are very similar to the days of Noach.[11]

The Torah goes on to recount the growing immorality of that time, how it was then that the Nephilim first appeared. These were angels [12] who had descended from heaven to rebuke mankind, and to show them that God can be served even on earth. But when they saw the lecherous behavior of the B’nei Elohim, the sons of the rulers, they themselves “fell from heaven to earth”, exchanging an angelic existence for that of a beast.[13]

Never the less, most English translations translate nephilim as ‘giants’.[14]

In Bereshit (Genesis) 6, they are described as the offspring of the sons of God[15] and the daughters of men:

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:1-7 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then HaShem said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. HaShem saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. HaShem was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So HaShem said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them.”

The Hebrew word, Nephilim, means “fallen ones”. Strong’s defines the Nephilim as:

5303 nephiyl, nef-eel’; or nephil, nef-eel’; from 5307; prop., a feller, i.e. a bully or tyrant:-giant.

Rashi says that the Nephilim were so called because they fell, and made the world fall. In the Hebrew language, Nephilim is the equivalent of “giant”.

The Midrash has this to say about the Nephilim:

Midrash Rabbah - Bereshit (Genesis) XXVI: 7 THE NEPHILIM WERE IN THE EARTH... THE SAME WERE THE GIBBORIM (E.V. ‘MIGHTY MEN’) THAT WERE OF OLD (VI, 4). They were called by seven names: Nephilim, Emim, Refaim, Gibborim, Zamzumim, Anakim, and Awim.[16] Emim signifies that their dread (emah) fell upon all; Refaim, that all who saw them melted (nirpeh) like wax. Gibborim: R. Abba said in R. Johanan’s name: The marrow of each one‘s thighbone was eighteen cubits long.[17] Zamzumim: R. Jose b. R. Hanina said: They were the greatest of all masters of the arts of war.[18] Anakim: The Rabbis explained it as signifying that they were loaded with chains (‘anakim) upon chains.[19] R. Aha said: Their necks reached (‘onkim) the globe of the sun[20] and they demanded: ‘ Send us down rain.’ Awim denotes that they cast the world into ruins, were themselves driven from the world in ruin, and caused the world to be ruined, as you read, A ruin, a ruin, a ruin (‘awwah awwah awwah) will I make it (Yechezkel (Ezekiel) XXl, 32). R. Leazar b. R. Simeon said: It signifies that they were as expert in the knowledge of different kinds of earth as a serpent, for in Galilee a serpent is called ‘awwiah. Nephilim denotes that they hurled (hippilu) the world down, themselves fell (naflu) from the world, and filled the world with abortions (nephilim) through their immorality.[21] AND ALSO AFTER THAT. Judah b. Rabbi commented: The later generations would not learn from the earlier ones, i.e. the generation of the Flood from that of Enosh, and the generation of the Separation from that of the Flood.[22] AND ALSO AFTER THAT, WHEN THE SONS OF GOD CAME IN UNTO THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN. R. Berekiah said: A woman would go out into the market place, see a young man, and conceive a passion for him, whereupon she would go, cohabit, and give birth to a young man like him. THE MEN OF RENOWN (HASHEM). R. Aha quoted: They are the children of churls, yea, children of ignoble men- beli shem (Iyov (Job) XXX, 8), yet you say that they were MEN OF RENOWN![23] But it means that they laid the world desolate (heshimu), were driven in desolation from the world, and caused the world to be made desolate. R. Levi explained in the name of R. Shmuel (Samuel) b. Nahman: It means the men whose names are specified above,[24] for R. Yehoshua (Joshua) b. Levi said: All these names signify chastening: Irad: I shall drive them (‘ordan) out of the world; Mehujael: I shall wipe them (mohan) out of the world; Methushael: I shall wear them out (matishan) from the world: What have I to do with Lamech and his descendants?[25] R.Johanan interpreted: THE SAME WERE THE MIGHTY MEN THAT WERE OF OLD, THE MEN OF NAME:

According to Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, Anakim [giants] were the offspring of the illicit union of the descended angels and the daughters of Cain. They haughtily walked about committing robbery, violence, and bloodshed. They are the Nephilim to whom the spies referred when they said [Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:33]: And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons on Anak.

THE NEPHILIM. Rashi comments: “[They were called nephilim because] they fell (naphlu) and caused the downfall (hipilu) of the world.” This is found in Bereshith Rabbah.[26] The masters of language [27] say that they [the Nephilim] were so called because the heart of man fell from fear of them. The same applies to the word ha’eimim.[28]

Targum Yonatan understands B’ne Elohim as referring to rulers or to Adam’s descendants, and Nephilim as referring to two angels “who fell from heaven to earth”.

Fallen Angels

The allusions to “going after strange flesh,” keeping “not their first estate,” having “left their own habitation,” and “giving themselves over to fornication,” seem to clearly fit the alien intrusions of Bereshit (Genesis) 6.

Jude 1:5-7 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Hakham Tzefet (Peter) comments even establishes the time of the fall of these angels to the days of the Flood of Noah:

2 Tzefet (Peter) 2:1-5 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; If he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

IV. What Caused the Flood?

The torah tells us why G-d destroyed the earth with a flood.

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Rashi, on Bereshit 6:11-12, comments: was corrupt - Heb. וַתִּשָׁחֵת is an expression of immorality and idolatry (other editions add: immorality, “for all flesh had corrupted (הִשְׁחִית) its way,” and idolatry), as in Devarim 4:16: “Lest you deal corruptly (תַּשְׁחִיתוּן)”.[29] 12 for all flesh had corrupted - Even cattle, beasts, and fowl would mate with those who were not of their own species.-[from Tan. Noach 12]

Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 66b - ‘There is no sin in the world which so much provokes the anger of the Almighty as the sin of neglecting the covenant, as we read, “a sword that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant“ (Lev. XXVI, 25). The proof is that in the generation of the Flood the measure of sin was not filled up until mankind became (sexually) perverted and destroyed their seed.

Midrash Rabbah - Genesis XXVI:5 THAT THE SONS OF GOD (BENE ELOHIM) SAW THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN, etc. (VI, 2). R. Simeon b.Yohai called them the sons of nobles; [furthermore], R. Simeon b. Yohai cursed all who called them the sons of God.1 R. Simeon b. Yohai said: If demoralisation does not proceed from the leaders, it is not real demoralisation.[30] R. ‘Azariah said in R, Levi’s name: When the priests steal their gods, by what can one swear or to what can one sacrifice?[31] Now why are they called the sons of God? R. Hanina and Resh Lakish said: Because they lived a long time without trouble or suffering,[32] R. Huna said in R. Jose’s name: It was in order that men might understand [astronomical] cycles and calculations.[33] The Rabbis said: It was in order that they might receive their own punishment and that of the generations that followed them.[34] THAT THEY WERE FAIR (TOBOTH). R, Judan said: Actually tobath[35] is written: when a bride was made beautiful for her husband, the chief [of these nobles] entered and enjoyed her first.[36] Hence it is written, For they were fair, which refers to virgins; And they took them wives, refers to married women,[37] Whomsoever they chose: that means males and beasts. R. Huna said in R, Joseph‘s name: The generation of the Flood were not blotted out from the world until they composed nuptial songs[38] in honour of pederasty and bestiality. R. Simlai said: Wherever you find lust, an epidemic visits the world which slays both good and bad. R. ‘Azariah and R. Judah b. R. Simon in R. Joshua’s name said: The Holy One, blessed be He, is long-suffering for everything save immorality. What is the proof? THE SONS OF MEN SAW, etc., which is followed by, And the Lord said: I will blot out man (Gen. Vl, 7).

What was this immorality and where did it originate?

To answer this profound question we must go back before Noach’s time, to the time of Lamech..

Bereshit (Genesis) 4:19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Midrash Rabbah - Genesis XXIII:2 AND LAMECH TOOK UNTO HIM TWO WlVES, etc. (IV, 19). R. ‘Azariah said in R. Judah’s name: The men of the generation of the Flood used to act thus: each took two wives, one for procreation and the other for sexual gratification. The former would stay like a widow through- out her life, while the latter was given to drink a potion of roots, so that she should not bear, and then she sat before him like a harlot, as it is written, He devoureth the barren that beareth not, and doeth not good to the widow (Job XXlV, 21). The proof of this is that the best of them, who was Lamech, took two wives, Adah, [so called] because he kept her away (ya’ade) from himself; and Zillah, to sit in his shadow (zillo).[39]

Rashi on Bereshit 4:19: So was the custom of the generation of the flood, one [wife] for propagation and one for marital relations. The one who was for marital relations would be given a potion of roots to drink, so that she should become sterile (in some editions, the following does not appear), and he would adorn her like a bride and feed her delicacies, but her companion was neglected and was mourning like a widow. This is what Job explained:[40] “He feeds the barren woman who will not bear, but he does not adorn the widow”. [This is] as explained in the Aggadah of Chelek.[41]

Adah She was the one for propagation, called so because she was despicable to him and removed from him. עָדָה is the Aramaic translation of סוּרָה , turn away.

Zillah She was the one for marital relations, [so named] because she would always sit in his shadow (בְּצִלוֹ). These are the words of Aggadah in Genesis Rabbah.

Although Lamech was the greatest of these people, even he took two wives, Adah and Tzillah. Tzillah took the sterilizing potion but it was not effective. Therefore, both of them had children.[42] The Torah thus says, “Tzillah also gave birth.” The extra word “also” implies that it was somewhat unusual for her to have given birth. This was because she had children even though she had been sterilized.[43]

Lamech was the first person to practice polygamy. The names Adah and Zillah are interpreted in the Midrash as an attack on polygamy. Adah is there interpreted as the deposed one, implying that Lamech spurned her in favour of Zillah, whose own name is understood to mean she shaded herself [from Zillah at Lamech’s side]. The Midrash consequently regards Adah as having been treated as a slave, tyrannized by her husband, who was at the beck and call of his mistress, Zillah. It further goes on to claim that part of the immorality, which had led God to flood the earth, was the polygamy practiced by Lamech and his generation.

This polygamy and the desire for sexual gratification with the issues which come with children, this is the root cause for the flood!

Children are born self-centered. It is normal and necessary. However, as we get older we are expected to become other-centered. Marriage and children facilitate that process. If we refuse to grow up, the old selfish habits remain strong and we remain “takers” instead of “givers”.

This was the problem before the time of the Great Deluge in the days of Noach. “And G-d said to Noach, the end of all flesh has come before Me, for the world is filled with corruption (Genesis 6:13).” Rashi explains that this refers to robbery. Everyone was taking. Everyone felt that it was all coming to him. The entire world was unfortunately a world of “takers.” This went directly against the purpose for which the world was created. “The end of the world has come before me. It was not G-d’s retribution, but it was a natural consequence of the deeds which that generation embraced. It came, as it were, on its own.

G-d tells Noach to build an ark. It should be populated with every form of life which existed on earth. All of their foods were stored aboard the ark. Who had the job of feeding such a huge population of creatures? Noach and his family did. Day and night Noach, his wife, his sons, and their wives, fed animals. This went on for over a year. Why? Why couldn’t G-d use an alternative plan? Why was the survival of life made dependent on Noach and his family working non-stop, day and night?

Rabbi Dessler explains that this was necessary for the survival of all life. As we stated earlier, the basis of the sin of this generation was selfishness. The only circumstances which could save the world was one in which humankind in microcosm would exercise complete selflessness. These were the circumstances which Noach and his family were placed in - such that only their most basic needs could be addressed, and the animals’ needs would dominate. This was the wisdom behind the “mini-world“ that was created in the ark. This was the true fulfillment of the purpose of the creation of the world, and it was the foundation upon which the new post-deluge world would be built.

V. Robbery

The initial 40 days of intense punishment, when the rains began, were a result of their commiting robbery — the numerical value of the three letters of ”gezel,” the Hebrew word for “robbery,” totals 40!

Bereshit (Genesis) 6:1-7 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then HaShem said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim (abortions[44]) were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. HaShem saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. HaShem was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So HaShem said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them.”

It says: The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

This word “chose” Clearly implies all excesses of an immoral generation. This was lechery, as well as coercion and theft. Rashi explains: even a married woman, even a male, even a beast. Adultery, pederasty, and bestiality lead to the destruction of humanity.

In relating the wickedness of the generation of the Flood, the Torah also teaches us something else. When these people first heard about the punishment that was destined to come to the world, their reply was to engage in sexual perversion. The Torah therefore says that they “began to increase on the face of the ground.” This indicates that their seed was spilled “on the face of the ground”, when they masturbated, fornicated, and engaged in acts of homosexuality and bestiality. They would commit such perversions as publicly as a legitimate wedding, without any shame whatsoever.[45]

VI. Demons

To understand the days of Noah, we will also have to understand what demons are. The previous quote from the Jewish Encyclopedia seems to indicate that demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim.

Some have suggested that the aliens on UFOs are merely demons. By studying what the Torah has to say about demons, I hope to be able to avoid any deception.

Still another category of created beings exists which lies in between the physical and spiritual. It possesses only some of the limitations of the physical world and its matter. The name of this variety is demons (sheidim).

They possess some of the properties of corporeal bodies but are not exactly like our corporeality. They also possess some characteristics of the spiritual world but also are not identical to those belonging to the world of spiritual beings. This category, too, includes various levels and varieties; the laws and limitation which govern them are based on their particular status.

Some readers who lack a rich Torah background may find it difficult to accept the notion that such spiritual beings share our world, and they may be tempted to classify it as “old wives-tales” or fairyland stuff. But, hear this: There is an abundance of incontrovertible proof affirmed by men of scientific statue and others belonging to other intellectual disciplines that spiritual beings do exist in our world. The annals of the Royal British Psychic Society, for one, (among thousands of other prestigious and reliable published findings) bulge with documented cases which substantiate the existence of such destructive beings as poltergeists and all sorts of other spiritual entities. People whose knowledge of the origin and nature of the real world stems from Torah do now require such proofs. For them, the Torah, which describes the existence of such creatures, is sufficient; the Torah constitutes the Creator’s own signed blueprint of the world and requires no additional backup. Only those who as yet are distant from the broad expanse and depths of Torah require the crutch of scientific opinion to delimit their beliefs. While our Torah fully respects the wisdom of pure, unbiased, scientific knowledge, that acceptance holds true only when we are dealing with tangible areas of the physical world. Opinions in these areas carry considerable weight in Halacha (Jewish law). However, when it concerns such issues as the meaning of life, knowledge which relates to the intangible spiritual realms of the universe, the essence of man and his soul, or a philosophy of life and a system of ethics or morality, here scientific opinion carries little “clout.” In these areas a scientist may speak more foolishly and illogically than do simple laymen, provided the laymen’s thinking is based on healthy common sense. The reason for the paradoxical gap between the scientific community‘s thinking and the lay community‘s thinking - at least that portion of it which seeks some overall meaning in life and seeks the true purpose of life - stems from a most common human frailty, the tendency of the heart to manipulate and twist the mind to suit the drives and desires of the flesh. Why the scientist who is endowed with a fine mind suffers from this weakness more than does the layman requires a lengthy explanation.

* * *

Lets start by looking at the first Torah usage for a definition of a demon from Strong’s:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new [gods that] came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

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7700 shed, (plur. shedim)shade; from 7736; a demon (as malignant): -devil.

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7736 shuwd, shood; a prim. root; prop. to swell up, i.e. fig. (by impl. of insolence) to devastate:-waste. showd. See 7699, 7701.

There is a second Hebrew word, which is also translated as “devil” or demon:

Vayikra (Leviticus) 17:7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

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8163 sa`iyr, saw-eer’; or sa`ir, saw-eer’; from 8175; shaggy; as noun, a he-goat; by anal. a faun:-devil, goat, hairy, kid, rough, satyr.

---------------- Dictionary Trace ----------------

8175 sa`ar, saw-ar’; a prim. root; to storm; by impl. to shiver, i.e. fear:- be (horribly) afraid, fear, hurl as a storm, be tempestuous, come like (take away as with) a whirlwind.

The most common usage of the above word is “goat”. Why did the King James translators choose “devil”? They also translated the above word, as “satyr”, in the following verses:

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 34:14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 13:21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

The KJV translators obviously connected goats with something evil. The dictionary defines a satyr as:

satyr, in Greek myth, forest and mountain creature. Part human, with horses’ tails and ears, and goats’ horns and legs, they were merry, drunken, lustful devotees of Dionysus [46]

Here, again, we see that a goat has some association with something evil.

The Encyclopedia Britannica has the following definition of a demon:

The hierarchy of demons in Judaism, which is rooted in ancient Middle Eastern and Zoroastrian demonology after the postexilic period (after 538 BC), is quite varied. The prince of the forces of evil (Hebrew shedim, meaning “demons” and applied to foreign gods, or se’irim, meaning “hairy demons”), who often were believed to inhabit desert wastes, ruins, and graves and to inflict humanity with various physical, psychological, and spiritual disorders, was called by different names: Satan (the Antagonist), Belial (the spirit of perversion, darkness, and destruction), Mastema (Enmity, or Opposition), and other names. Though the Old Testament refers to Satan as the prosecutor of God’s celestial court (Zechariah 3; Iyov (Job) 1-2), a hierarchy of demons under Satan or other princes of evil was developed in intertestamental literature and later Judaism.

Lets see what the Talmud has to say about demons:

Chagigah 16a Our Rabbis taught: Six things are said concerning demons:[47] in regard to three, they are like the ministering angels; and in regard to three, like human beings. ‘In regard to three they are like the ministering angels‘: they have wings like the ministering angels; and they fly from one end of the world to the other like the ministering angels; and they know what will happen like the ministering angels. [You say], ‘They know‘ — you cannot mean that![48] — Rather, they hear from behind the Veil[49] like the ministering angels. ‘And in regard to three, they are like human beings’: they eat and drink like human beings; they propagate like human beings; and they die like human beings. Six things are said of human beings: in regard to three, they are like the ministering angels, and in regard to three, they are like beasts. ‘In regard to three, they are like the ministering angels‘: they have understanding like the ministering angels; and they walk erect like the ministering angels; and they can talk in the holy tongue[50] like the ministering angels. ‘In regard to three, they are like beasts’: they eat and drink like beasts; and they propagate like beasts, and they relieve themselves like beasts.

In Psalm 106:37, the word “devils” in the Septuagint, is the same Greek word found in I Corinthians 10:20. This allows us to connect the references in the Tanach to the references in the Nazarean Codicil.

Now, lets see what the Nazarean Codicil has to say about demons: They are something which needs to be driven out:

Matityahu (Matthew) 7:22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

Matityahu (Matthew) 10:5-8 These twelve Yeshua sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely

They can posses people and pigs. They seem to have a need to be “in” a physical body:

Matityahu (Matthew) 8:28-34 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Yeshua, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Yeshua. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

Matityahu (Matthew) 5:1-20 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Yeshua got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Yeshua from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Yeshua, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” For Yeshua had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” Then Yeshua asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Yeshua again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Yeshua, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Yeshua, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Yeshua to leave their region. As Yeshua was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Yeshua did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Yeshua had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

From the above verses, we can see that a demon possessed man is actually controlled by the demon to such an extent that the man is actually crazy. We can also see that there are many demons, and that many demons can simultaneously inhabit a single man. We see that when they are cast out, the man returns to his senses.

While possessing folks, they can cause one to be mute:

Matityahu (Matthew) 9:32-35 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Yeshua. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.” Yeshua went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

There is a prince over them:

Matityahu (Matthew) 12:22-28 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Yeshua healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Yeshua knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

To cast out demons requires faith:

Matityahu (Matthew) 17:14-20 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Yeshua and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Yeshua replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Yeshua rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Yeshua in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

A demon is also an evil spirit:

Marqos (Mark) 7:24-30 Yeshua left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Yeshua to drive the demon out of her daughter. “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Luqas (Luke) 4:33-36 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Ha! What do you want with us, Yeshua of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” Yeshua said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!”

Casting out demons seems to be a critical aspect of preaching the kingdom of God:

Luqas (Luke) 9:1-2 When Yeshua had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, And he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

They are listed as being related to angels:

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Mashiach Yeshua our Lord.

Demons seem to be the opposite of God, in terms of worship and sacrifice:

1 Corinthians 10:18-22 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Demons can teach and deceive:

1 Timothy 4:1-7 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, Because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Mashiach Yeshua, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

Demons believe in one God:

Yaaqov (James) 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

The are worshipped by men, and the men who worship them are also involved in murder, sexual immorality, and theft:

Revelation 9:20-21 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Demons have spirits, which can perform miraculous signs:

Revelation 16:12-16 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Demons and evil spirits inhabit the ruins of a city:

Revelation 17:15 - 18:5 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.

EVIL SPIRITS

Demons, also known as evil spirits, are used by HaShem to bring His judgment:

Shoftim (Judges) 9:22-25 After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelech.

Music affects one who is possessed by an evil spirit to such an extent that the evil spirit leaves:

1 Shmuel (Samuel) 16:10-16 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Shmuel (Samuel), but Shmuel (Samuel) said to him, “HaShem has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.” Shmuel (Samuel) said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then HaShem said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” So Shmuel (Samuel) took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of HaShem came upon David in power. Shmuel (Samuel) then went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of HaShem had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from HaShem tormented him. Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better.”

Notice, in the above passage, that the evil spirit was sent from HaShem.

1 Shmuel (Samuel) 16:23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

Evil spirits prefer arid places, and seem to need to inhabit people:

Matityahu (Matthew) 12:43-45 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Luqas (Luke) 8:29 For Yeshua had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

The Talmud agrees that these arid places are the haunt of demons. The Talmud goes on to describe how to avoid these demons:

Berachoth 3a-b Our Rabbis taught: there are three reasons why one must not go into a ruin: because of suspicion,[51] of falling debris and of demons. — [It states] ‘Because of suspicion’.[52] It would be sufficient to say, because of falling debris’? — When the ruin is new.[53] But it would be sufficient to say: ‘because of demons’? — When there are two people.[54] If there are two people, then there is no suspicion either? — When both are licentious [there is suspicion]. — [It states] ‘Because of falling debris’. It would be sufficient to say: ‘because of suspicion and demons’? — When there are two decent people. [It states] ‘Because of demons’. It would be sufficient to say; ‘because of suspicion and falling debris’? — When there are two decent people going into a new ruin. But if there are two, then there is no danger of demons either? — In their haunt there is danger. If you like I can say, indeed the reference is to one man and to a new ruin which was situated in the fields; in which case there is no suspicion, for a woman would not be found in the fields, but the danger of demons does exist.

Evil spirits give a man extraordinary strength:

II Luqas (Acts) 19:13-17 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Yeshua over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Yeshua, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. [One day] the evil spirit answered them, “Yeshua I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Yeshua was held in high honor.

VII. Selected Essays

The following article was originally published in The Jewish Magazine and is on-line at:

http://www.jewishmag.com/8mag/worlds/worlds1.htm

IS THERE LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS?

Based on references in the Bible, Talmud, Zohar and other classical Jewish sources

by Baruch Crowley

Baruch (Brian) Crowley is the author of two books dealing with strange anomalies in NASA photographs of Mars that show what could be pyramids and other artifacts. Evidence for a former civilization...?

In the Book of Iyov (Job) (38:31) there is a curious verse which reads: “Canst thou bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?” How did Iyov (Job) get hold of this piece of 20th century inter-stellar astronomical information - that the Pleiades is gravitationally bound, and Orion is gravitationally loose? What other knowledge of the cosmos and its many celestial bodies (and their inhabitants) was known to the ancient Bereans (Hebrews) who used the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) and the Oral Tradition given at Mount Sinai for understanding life on all levels?

The fact is that, in Hebrew Scripture and within the mystical or metaphysical tradition known as Kabbalah, there are numerous references to worlds other than our own, with life on them, both corporeal and incorporeal. The problem is that anyone who is not able to fluently comprehend Hebrew will not be qualified to plumb the depths of meaning hidden within the Hebrew Bible, or, for that matter, any of the sacred literature that supplies the original basis for both Judaism and Christianity.

Coded mysteries

In the Hebrew language, every single word usually has more than one meaning. Every single letter - and even the size and various parts of an individual letter - contains additional information of profound consequence that may not only add to its definition an unfolding story, but may also provide essential keys to hidden Kabbalistic interpretations allied with the separate Oral Tradition that was handed down verbally by Moses to the Jewish People.

For the scholar, none of this is too surprising, as it is known that everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen, is somewhere, at some level, encoded in a ‘divine formula’ within the holy texts. This refers to not only generalities but to all the particulars of every single species and every single human being, including everything that will transpire in his or her lifetime, from the day of birth until the day of death, as well as all of his reincarnations and all of their particulars and minute details. This is true as well for every type of animal, plant and mineral.

Alongside the written Torah, the Oral Tradition is considered equally valid. Indeed, the exceedingly complex and comprehensive Talmud can be claimed to deal with almost any given topic in our physical and metaphysical universe. This is why, seemingly, in centuries past, and even today, major scholars and mystics have been able to provide answers to riddles that even scientists have been unable to solve.

Eighteen thousand planets

We have already quoted an intriguing passage relating to a possible advanced knowledge of cosmology in the Book of Iyov (Job). In the Book Shoftim (Judges) (5:20), within the lines of the song sung by the Hebrew Judge, Deborah and Baraq son of Avino’am - on the day Yael drove a tent peg through the head of the wicked King Sisera - there are a couple of highly intriguing verses with other worldly connotations. The first of these strange quotations reads “They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera”, and the second (5:23), “Curse Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse bitterly its inhabitants; because they did not come to the help of the Lord against the mighty men.”

But what does this ‘Meroz’ reference really allude to? In his book Sefer HaBrit (‘Book of the Covenant‘), Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Horowitz, (18th century) quotes as his authority a clear Talmud reference when he contends that Meroz is an inhabited planet somewhere in outer space. Furthermore, he states emphatically that G-d created an infinite number of worlds, of physical, spiritual and inter-dimensional nature. This view is upheld by the Ari’zal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria), who also spoke of an ‘infinite number of spiritual worlds‘. All of this might even be taken to indicate that the preceding battle described in Shoftim (Judges) may even have extended beyond the boundaries of our planet’s surface, unless, of course, the first reference is merely astrological.

Rabbi Horowitz refers specifically to 18,000 physical planets -- which is also recorded in the Talmud -- and claims that the stars are really worlds of a kind each with a place of habitation. Again in the Talmud, there is a reference to something like 1018 stars in the observable universe, a figure that is very close to the accepted number that can now be seen. Commenting on the 18,000 worlds mentioned above, the Oral Tradition states that each and every true Tzaddik (supremely righteous person) will eventually become the governor of a planet in outer space. This interplanetary scenario is all set to occur in the post-Messianic age, following a general resurrection from the dead. According to the Talmud, the quote in the Book of Yeshayahu (Isaiah), (40:3) “They shall rise like the eagle”, refers to the righteous being able to take off and fly into outer space.

Rabbi Horowitz was of the opinion that many planets are inhabited and that just as sea creatures differ from land creatures, because of their different environments, so too will natives of other worlds differ from human beings.

Free will

Based on a statement in the Talmud, these extraterrestrial individuals - who are rather strangely known in Kabbalistic literature as ‘masters of intelligence and science’ - might well differ from humans in one principle respect, namely the ability to exercise ‘free will’ in exactly the same way as we human terrestrials can. It is certain that within the infinite number spiritual dimensions, of which ours is but one, there are certainly beings who are superior to us in many ways and who must exercise some form of personal choice. A full denotation of free will in the terrestrial religious/mystical concept might not only refer to the normally understood exercise over choice of good or evil, but may read something like: ‘The ability to spiritually raise one‘s consciousness beyond the control of the mundane forces of space and time through an act of will.’ For the record, however, the Talmud reference noted above reads: “All stars are created for the sake of Israel”, which has been interpreted as meaning ‘for Divine service only in this world‘, and which may indicate that free will - using the spiritual sense - may not exist on other worlds.

In an extensive article entitled ‘UFOs and Aliens‘, Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok, Chicago, puts forward the proposition that this aspect of ‘free will’ may well explain why many of the extraterrestrial ‘contactees’ on our planet are presented by their interlocutors with spiritual systems which either overlook or even deny the existence of a caring, personal Supreme Creator, referring instead to impersonal natural forces behind creation.

Perhaps the beings making telepathic or other contact - because of their perceived lack of the ‘free spiritual will’ ability - just do not know any better, despite any perceived superiority over us in terms of physical technology. It may also explain the seeming obsession with some kind of interbreeding program involving our species amongst those ‘extra’-terrestrials who have been reported to abduct humans. Perhaps they are envious of the human being’s inherent capability and are seeking to ‘manufacture’ an ability for themselves to ascend spiritually into higher dimensions? Although this is to a certain extent speculation, there is certainly some confirming foundation in Talmudic literature relating to ‘angels and demons’, which can not be dealt with here.

An interesting side association with the above is that, according to Bereshit (Genesis), the universe, seen and unseen, was created by G-d with the Divine Name Elohim, a pluralized title meaning ‘Master over all forces’ (The first verse in the Torah reads, ‘In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth’). As the great medieval commentator Nachmanides (1194-1270) writes: “Elohim is the Master over all forces of creation. For the word itself is a compound construction. ‘El’ means Ruling or Master Power, and ‘Him’ [like the Hebrew ‘Hema’, ‘these’] alludes to all the forces [i.e. laws and constants that He uses to run His universe]. ‘Elohim’ thus means ‘Master Power over all forces’. Kabbalistically, Elohim denotes an ‘impersonal’ aspect of G-d’s supervision over the universe, one that expresses only the outermost qualities of the Creator. Elohim is also known as the ‘left hand of G-d’ representing the concept of justice and law. Interestingly, in Hebrew numerology (or Gematria), the numerical value of the letters of the word Elohim add up to 86, which is the same number as for HaTeva, the word denoting ‘Nature’ and/or ‘Laws of Nature’.

YHWH, the four-lettered Name of G-d (also known as the Tetragrammaton), as given in the Torah, denotes a level as far removed from Elohim as the highest Heavens are from us lowly mortals on Earth. No person is ever permitted to pronounce the Tetragrammaton, due to its sacred nature, always substituting the appellation HaShem, ‘The Name‘ - other than in formal prayer, when the title Adonai is used. The power behind The Name is associated to the ‘right hand of G-d’ and thus the quality of mercy and compassion that overrides strict justice, including, on occasion, the laws of Nature. This Tetragrammaton power is believed to be manifested within our physical realm in the form of the Torah.

Subterranean Worlds

Over and above the many instances of worlds in outer space noted in the Talmud, Zohar and elsewhere, there is, even more surprisingly, abundant reference to a hollow planet earth, with multi-layered worlds existing right beneath our feet. In fact, it’s a case of, ‘as above, so below’ -- echoing the Kabbalistic ‘unified theory of knowledge‘. Just as there are said to be ‘seven Heavens‘, so too is it recorded that there are seven nether worlds, one above the other, each inhabited by its own species. Indeed, one notable source, the 17th century Kabbalistic classic, Hesed L’Avraham by Rabbi Avraham Azulai, tells us that there are as many as 365 different species of beings living under the earth’s surface. These are said to be half human and half animal, perhaps something like the legendary centaur.

The Zohar tells us, for one example, of an amazing encounter by Rabbi Hiya and Rabbi Yosi with one of the residents of an underground realm called Arka, who are human-like but have two heads! The two sages apparently stumbled upon this alien individual when he came up from an underground cave. The venerable Rabbis Hiya and Yosi actually conversed with him, the subject of what must have been a most intriguing conversation being the strange being’s desire to know all about conditions in our surface world.

Kabbalists believe that the underground worlds are also the domain of the so-called mazikim, the troublemakers or demons, and of a category of being known as the ‘fallen angels‘.

According to the Zohar, Adam, the original forefather of the human species, visited all of the subterranean worlds, and left progeny in each. It was not revealed as to who his female partners were. Moreover, one reference in the Zohar even places the Garden of Eden at the center of these underground worlds, without identifying which. Perhaps it was at the second level, known as Adamah, where Cain and Abel are said to have been born. What is also apparent from a number of sources is that these underground realms may not be quite as physical as is our own surface world. Nor may all of the inhabitants possess material bodies quite like our own, but possibly a mix of physical and ethereal or astral. In the sacred literature, Adam is said to have had a ‘body of light’ before the ‘Fall’, prior to taking on a garment of skin, or more correctly, a fully physical body. Tradition also maintains that Adam was of immense stature before the fall and carried within his bodily cells all the souls of future humankind.

Gehinnom (Hell) is identified as being at the fourth level called Gey, while, at the fifth level, in a world called Nishiyah, there lives a small statured race who are said to be all male (perhaps, androgynous), who have no noses, but only two slits through which they breathe. Sound familiar? Furthermore, a translation of the word Nishiyah means something like ‘dreamlike’ or ‘amnesiac’. Earth, itself, is, of course, at the seventh level, and is known in the Zohar as Tevel.

Seven Sabbatical cycles and pre-Adam races

It may surprise some readers to know that over 700 years ago, a great Kabbalist put forward a new interpretation of the age of the earth and the universe which coincides almost exactly with current calculations related to the Big Bang theory.

Rabbi Yitzchak of Akko was something of a controversial character who did not, for example, approve very much of some of his Kabbalistic colleagues’ extensive use of Divine Names in their meditative practices. He was also alive at the time of publication of the Zohar, and was one of the foremost personalities of his day to investigate and verify its authenticity. In the present context, however, it is Rabbi Yitzchak‘s work Otzar haHaim, “Treasury of Life”, which is of most interest.

In Otzar haHaim, Rabbi Yitzchak puts forward a very profound argument relating to the concept of Sabbatical cycles that contradicts the popular fundamentalist interpretation of the six days of creation and a six thousand year old earth.

Referring to an ancient Kabbalistic work, Sefer haTemunah, the work of the first century Rabbi Nehunya Ben haKanah, Rabbi Yitzchak works out a chronology using as his base calculation figure the ‘divine year’ taken from Tehillim (Psalms) 90:4 (a ‘divine day’ equals 1000 earth years; a ‘divine year’ is thus 365,250 earth years) . The Talmud states that the world will exist for seven 7,000 year ‘Sabbatical‘ or Shmita cycles, each one different than its predecessor. Moreover, it will become desolated during every seven-thousandth year. Rabbi Yitzchak concludes that, as there are seven Sabbatical cycles in a Jubilee, the world will exist for 49,000 years. Human civilizations will thus also rise and fall seven times during this period.

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Yehuda, a modern Kabbalist living in Jerusalem, sums this up very succinctly: “With the completion of each succeeding cycle of 6,000 years, the entire creation is brought one step higher in its (never ending) process of Tikkun (Rectification), Birrur (Purification) and Aliyah (Elevation). This occurs in such a way that each particular level is elevated to the position of the one above it.”

There is some dispute as to which cycle we are now in - some Kabbalistic sources maintain that it is the second cycle, while others believe we are already in the seventh and final cycle. Rabbi Yitzchak‘s calculations made over 700 years ago are based on the notion that we are already in the seventh cycle, and that Adam would thus have been born when the earth was forty-two thousand years old. However, he writes further that, according to Sefer haTemunah, the first 42,000 years - before the creation of our present human race - should be taken as divine years, i.e. 365,250 earth years. The universe can then be calculated to be 42,000 x 365,250 years old, which equals 15,340,500,000 years, a figure uncannily close to the 15 billion years postulated by today’s cosmologists as the elapsed time since the Big Bang occurred! Moreover, only before Adam was created do we ‘count’ in ‘divine years; whereas since Adam we count regular ‘human’ years.

Was the author of Sefer haTemunah (and Rabbi Yitzchak) perhaps privy to some arcane cosmological knowledge that has become lost in time? Moreover, it is clear from all this that the full teachings of the Torah tradition in no way contradict the findings of modern science, including the presence in the earth of paleontological findings of dinosaur bones and the like, which may well have been produced during one of the previous cycles of time.

Moreover, this hugely extended viewpoint -- that takes us so far beyond the regular fundamentalist religious approach -- also opens up the way for another hard look at evidence for past civilizations that abounds all around our truly ancient planet, particularly in the Middle East and in South America. Not all of what remains must by necessity be considered as having been constructed during our own immediate 7,000 year cycle. Many ancient ruins and artifacts may well have originated from long lost cultures during other rounds of existence, and about which we now know very little, or nothing at all. A more open viewpoint may also allow for easier acceptance for what looks like (from NASA photographs) evidence for some sort of previous construction activity on the planet Mars, on the Moon, and by latest reports, even on the moons of Jupiter.

The concept of pre-Adam civilizations was well accepted by early sages. Also in support of the notion of lost civilizations, we read in Tehillim (Psalms) (105:8) the words: “He remembered His covenant forever - the Word he commanded for a thousand generations ...”The Talmud reveals that this verse indicates that G-d’s Law, the Torah, was given to Moses and all the Hebrews at Mount Sinai after the elapse of 1,000 human generations. Since Moses was of the 26th generation following the first progenitor of the human race, this indicates some 974 generations before Adam.

There is a notable Biblical passage that may provide further evidence for pre-Adam races. Bereshit (Genesis) 36: 31-39 gives the names of the kings who “...reigned in the land of Edom before a king reigned over the Children of Israel”. With Adam, himself, being considered the first ‘King of Israel’, the hidden Kabbalistic explanation of this listing relates to the seven one thousand year rounds of the previous world, with the eighth king mentioned representing our current world -- he is the only one of the eight not to have died, and whose wife’s name is also given. In Kabbalistic literature, the world of the Edomite kings who pre-dated Adam, is known as Olam HaTohu, literally, “world of emptiness”, which is referred to at the beginning of the Bible, in Bereshit (Genesis) 1:2: “...when the earth was empty...”. (The word ‘chaos’ has also been taken as being a direct translation of Tohu.) This ‘empty world‘ notion coincides very neatly with the Shmita scenario which postulates a thousand year period of desolation at the close of each Sabbatical cycle.

VIII. Anakim

Who are the Anakim (Anakites)? The Torah’s first mention of these giants is in:

Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:17-23 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:28-33 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

In the above passage we see that Anak and his descendants were giants. They were so big that they made the Israelites appear as grasshoppers.

In this next passage we see that the Anakim had other names; they were also called “Emims” (Emites):

Deuteronomy 2:9-11 Then HaShem said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.” (The Emites used to live there--a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.

The Emites were first seen in:

Bereshit (Genesis) 14:1-11 At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim Went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea). For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim And the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

In the above passage, we notice that Kedarlaomer also defeated another giant people, the Rephaites. This is the first place in the Torah where we see the Rephaites as well.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 2:20-21 That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but HaShem destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 9:2 A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!

Yehoshua (Joshua) 14:13-15 Then Yehoshua (Joshua) blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed HaShem, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 15:13-14 In accordance with HaShem‘s command to him, Yehoshua (Joshua) gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah--Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites--Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai--descendants of Anak.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 21:8-13 So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as HaShem had commanded through Moses. From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they allotted the following towns by name (These towns were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them): They gave them Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pastureland, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) But the fields and villages around the city they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession. So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Libnah,

Shoftim (Judges) 1:8-10 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire. After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.

Shoftim (Judges) 1:20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.

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The Legends of the Jews I, 151, says that the anakim “touched the sun with their necks.”

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According to The Zohar, the anakim were so tall that “the Hebrews were like grasshoppers in comparison.” Uzza and Azael are singled out in The Zohar as having children “whom they called anakim.”

IX. Rephaites

The first usage, in the Torah, of Rephaites, is in:

Bereshit (Genesis) 15:12-21 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then HaShem said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day HaShem made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- The land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

The Moabites considered the Emim to be Rephaites:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 2:9-11 Then HaShem said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.” (The Emites used to live there--a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.

In this next passage, we see that the Rephaites were all destroyed except for Og the King of Bashan. We are also given some idea of the tremendous size of these giants:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:8-13 So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon. (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.) We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.) Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.

Nidah 61a And the Lord said unto Moses: Fear him not’.[55] Consider: Sihon and Og were brothers, for a Master stated, ‘Sihon and Og were the sons of Ahijah the son of Shamhazai’,[56] then why was it that he feared Og while he did not fear Sihon? R. Johanan citing R. Simeon b. Yohai replied: From the answer that was given[57] to [58] that righteous man[59] you may understand what was in his mind.[60] He thought: Peradventure the merit of our father Abraham will stand him[61] by, for it is said, And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew,[62] in connection with which R. Johanan explained: This refers to Og who escaped the fate of the generation of the flood.[63]

Yehoshua (Joshua)h 11:23 - 12:6 So Joshua took the entire land, just as HaShem had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war. These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites had defeated and whose territory they took over east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern side of the Arabah: Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge--from the middle of the gorge--to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. This included half of Gilead. He also ruled over the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), to Beth Jeshimoth, and then southward below the slopes of Pisgah. And the territory of Og king of Bashan, one of the last of the Rephaites, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan to the border of the people of Geshur and Maacah, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon. Moses, the servant of HaShem, and the Israelites conquered them. And Moses the servant of HaShem gave their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to be their possession.

So, the land of the giants was given to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 13:6-13 “As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you, And divide it as an inheritance among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.” The other half of Manasseh, the Reubenites and the Gadites had received the inheritance that Moses had given them east of the Jordan, as he, the servant of HaShem, had assigned it to them. It extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and included the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon, And all the towns of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, out to the border of the Ammonites. It also included Gilead, the territory of the people of Geshur and Maacah, all of Mount Hermon and all Bashan as far as Salecah-- That is, the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei and had survived as one of the last of the Rephaites. Moses had defeated them and taken over their land. But the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 17:14-18 The people of Joseph said to Yehoshua (Joshua), “Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people and HaShem has blessed us abundantly.” “If you are so numerous,” Yehoshua (Joshua) answered, “and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites.” The people of Joseph replied, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth Shan and its settlements and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” But Joshua said to the house of Joseph--to Ephraim and Manasseh--”You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment But the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have iron chariots and though they are strong, you can drive them out.”

X. Giants

Giants –

(1.) Hebrew nephilim, meaning “violent” or “causing to fall” as used in Bereshit (Genesis) 6:4. These were the violent tyrants of those days, those who fell upon others. The word may also be derived from a root signifying “wonder,” and hence “monsters” or “prodigies.” In Num. 13:33 this name is given to a Canaanitish tribe, a race of large stature, “the sons of Anak.” The Revised Version, in these passages, simply transliterates the original, and reads “Nephilim.”

(2.) Hebrew rephaim, a race of giants as in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:11, who lived on the east of Jordan, from whom Og was descended. They were probably the original inhabitants of the land before the immigration of the Canaanites. They were conquered by Chedorlaomer (Bereshit (Genesis) 14:5), and their territories were promised as a possession to Abraham (15:20). The Anakim, Zuzim, and Emim were branches of this stock.

In Iyov (Job) 26:5 (R.V., “they that are deceased;” marg., “the shades,” the “Rephaim”) and Yeshayah (Isaiah) 14:9 this Hebrew word is rendered (A.V.) “dead.” It means here “the shades,” the departed spirits in Sheol. In Shmuel (Samuel) 21:16, 18, 20, 33, “the giant” is (A.V.) the rendering of the singular form ha raphah, which may possibly be the name of the father of the four giants referred to here, or of the founder of the Rephaim.

(3.) Hebrew ‘Anakim (Devarim (Deuteronomy) 2:10, 11, 21; Yehoshua (Joshua) 11:21, 22; 14:12, 15; called “sons of Anak,” Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:33; “children of Anak,” 13:22; Yehoshua (Joshua) 15:14), a nomad race of giants descended from Arba (Joshua 14:15), the father of Anak, that dwelt in the south of Palestine near Hebron (Bereshit (Genesis) 23:2; Joshua 15:13). They were a Cushite tribe of the same race as the Philistines and the Egyptian shepherd kings. David on several occasions encountered them (2 Shmuel (Samuel) 21:15-22). From this race sprung Goliath (1 Shmuel (Samuel) 17:4).

(4.) Hebrew ‘emin, a warlike tribe of the ancient Canaanites. They were “great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims” (Bereshit (Genesis) 14:5; Devarim (Deuteronomy) 2:10, 11).

(5.) Hebrew Zamzummim (q.v.), Devarim (Deuteronomy) 2:20 so called by the Amorites.

(6.) Hebrew gibbor (Iyov (Job) 16:14), a mighty one, i.e., a champion or hero. In its plural form (gibborim) it is rendered “mighty men” (2 Shmuel (Samuel) 23:8-39; 1 Melakim (Kings) 1:8; 1 Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) 11:9-47; 29:24). The band of six hundred whom David gathered around him when he was a fugitive were so designated. They were divided into three divisions of two hundred each, and thirty divisions of twenty each. The captians of the thirty divisions were called “the thirty,” the captains of the two hundred “the three“, and the captain over the whole was called “chief among the captains” (2 Shmuel (Samuel) 23:8). The sons born of the marriages mentioned in Bereshit (Genesis) 6:4 are also called by this Hebrew name.

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Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:11-13 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.

In the above passage, we see that Bashan is called the land of the giants.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 12:4 And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

Yehoshua (Joshua) 13:12 All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite, and cast them out.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 15:8 And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:

Yehoshua (Joshua) 17:15 And Yehoshua (Joshua) answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 18:16-17 And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel, And was drawn from the north, and went forth to Enshemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,

2 Samual 21:20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

1 Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) 20:6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.

Who, or what, are these guys:

Daniel 2:40-44 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron--for iron breaks and smashes everything--and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

Ephesians 6:10-17 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The Book of Jubilees:

[Chapter 10]

1 And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray the children of 2 the sons of Noah, and to make to err and destroy them. And the sons of Noah came to Noah their father, and they told him concerning the demons which were leading astray and blinding and 3 slaying his sons’ sons. And he prayed before the Lord his God, and said: ‘God of the spirits of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto me And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of perdition;

For Thy grace has been great towards me, And great has been Thy mercy to my soul;

Let Thy grace be lift up upon my sons, And let not wicked spirits rule over them Lest they should destroy them from the earth.

4 But do Thou bless me and my sons, that we may increase and Multiply and replenish the earth. 5 And Thou knowest how Thy Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of thy servant, my God; for these are malignant, and 6 created in order to destroy. And let them not rule over the spirits of the living; for Thou alone canst exercise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous 7,8 from henceforth and for evermore.’ And the Lord our God bade us to bind all.

* * *

[Chapter 6]

And in the twenty-eighth jubilee [1324-1372 A.M.] Noah began to enjoin upon his sons’ sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their souls 21 from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. For owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth, namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all which they 22 chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness. And they begat sons the Naphidim, and they were all unlike, and they devoured one another: and the Giants slew the Naphil, and the 23 Naphil slew the Eljo, and the Eljo mankind, and one man another. And every one sold himself 24 to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the earth was filled with iniquity. And after this they sinned against the beasts and birds, and all that moves and walks on the earth: and much blood was shed on the earth, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity and evil 25 continually. And the Lord destroyed everything from off the face of the earth; because of the wickedness of their deeds, and because of the blood which they had shed in the midst of the earth 26 He destroyed everything. ‘And we were left, I and you, my sons, and everything that entered with us into the ark,

XI. Midrash

Midrash Rabbah - Bamidbar (Numbers) XVI:11 AND SAID UNTO THEM: GET YOU UP (‘ALU) HERE INTO THE SOUTH (XIII, 17), namely, to a people who rise high (‘olim). R. Berekiah the priest, son of Rabbi, expounded: They found the three sons of the Anakim; And Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there (ib. 22). Why was his name called ‘Ahiman’? Because he used to boast: ‘ O my brothers (ahai), who (man) can come against me?’ ‘Sheshai’? Because he was as strong as marble (shayish). ‘Talmai’? Because he used to make ridges (telamim) in the earth.[64] ‘The children of Anak’? Because they saw that he wore the sun like a chain about his neck (‘onek).[65] When the spies saw them they were afraid, and they therefore said: For they are stronger than He (Num. XIII, 31).[66] Resh Lakish explained: They cast insulting words at the One above. Because of this transgression severe decrees were issued against them. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Yirimiyah (Jeremiah)?[67] ‘Go and tell them: “You do not know what you have uttered with your mouth. With the noise of a great tumult (Jer. XI, 16) which you uttered, what have you brought upon yourselves? He hath kindled fire (ib.) upon you; For every day a year, shall ye beat your iniquities “ ‘ (Num. XIV, 34). When the spies said, And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers (ib. XIII, 33), the Holy One, blessed be He, observed: ‘I shall forgive them this remark.’ But when they said: And so we were in their sight (ib.), He asked: ‘ Did you know how I made you appear in their sight? Who can say that you did not appear in their sight as angels? What have you brought upon yourselves? After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land,’ etc. (ib. XIV, 34). As though this punishment was not enough for them, they did not even enter the land. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: ‘ In this world it was decreed against the spies that they should not enter into the land, because they were human messengers. In the World to Come, however, I shall send you My angel, suddenly, and will clear the way; as it says, Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall clear the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple‘ (Mal. III, 1).

XII. Anunaki: Giants and Aliens in the Torah [68]

In Devarim, Moses recounts the journeys and battles of the Israelites and mentions a number of mysterious peoples:

The Emim dwelled there previously, a great and numerous and tall people, like the Anakim. They are also considered Rephaim, like the Anakim, and the Moabites called them Emim… Rephaim dwelled there formerly, and the Ammonites called them Zamzumim. A great and numerous and tall people, like the Anakim, but God exterminated them… For only Og, the king of Bashan, was left from the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed was a bed of iron… nine cubits was its length and four cubits its width… (Deuteronomy 2:10-11, 20-21, 3:11)

Moses is apparently describing a race of giants, “great and tall”, of whom only one remained—Og (of whom we’re written in the past)—whose bed was nine cubits long, or approximately 18 feet! Who were these Rephaim, and how are they different from Anakim? What do they have to do with the Nephilim of Genesis, who are also thought to be giants?

The Zohar (III, 160b-161a) carefully explains the difference between these giant titles. They were first called Nephilim, literally “fallen ones”, referring to a group of angels that descended to Earth to live among men. Jewish tradition generally speaks of two such angels, Shemhazai and Azazel (or Aza and Aza’el), though other texts speak of many more. The apocryphal Books of Enoch describe some 200 angels, and Shemhazai was only one of their leaders. They are called ‘Irin, “watchers”, originally sent to Earth to watch over humans.

When these angels mated with human women, they produced hybrid offspring that were giants, and these were called Anakim, literally “giants”. When the Anakim themselves mated with humans, their children were already much weaker than their predecessors, and more human-like. This third generation were called Rephaim, which literally means “weak ones”. This is why the parasha says that Og was the last of the Rephaim, for the Talmud (Niddah 61a) teaches that Og was the son of Ahiyah, who was the son of Shemhazai, the fallen angel. Therefore, Shemhazai was one of the Nephilim, Ahiyah was one of the Anakim, and his son Og was of the Rephaim. The Israelites decimated Og and his army when he confronted them in the Wilderness, putting an end to the last trace of the ancient giants and fallen angels.

In Hebrew, rephaim also has the connotation of “ghosts”. This actually comes from the Zohar, which goes on to state what happened to the Rephaim: while they had partially angelic souls, their bodies were far too human. The result of this was that their spirits would live long, but the bodies would deteriorate and they would become incredibly ill, again explaining why they are called Rephaim, or “weak ones”. Once they got really old and decrepit, the Rephaim had no will to live, but their angelic souls simply wouldn’t die! So, the Zohar explains, they had no choice to but to commit suicide.

Most of the Rephaim jumped into the sea and had themselves drowned. Others imbibed various poisons. Unfortunately for the Rephaim, this did not help. Their bodies were dead but their souls were still too attached to this world. The souls were unable to escape and wandered the Earth aimlessly as spirits. This is why “Rephaim” also refers to ghosts, as we see in a number of places in the Tanakh, such as Isaiah 14:9 and Proverbs 9:18, where the Rephaim are described as stirring in She’ol (the underworld); or Isaiah 26:14 and Psalms 88:11, which suggests Rephaim are among the dead which cannot rise again.

If that’s the case, why was Og so unique? He did not show any signs of getting weaker. Og was a mighty warrior, and the Midrash states that Moses feared him greatly. I believe Og was able to avoid the fate of the Rephaim because he had become a disciple of Abraham. The Zohar goes so far as to state that he had himself circumcised, too, together with Abraham (Zohar III, 184a). This is why Moses feared him, for Og had a great deal of merit being a student and servant of Abraham, and Og bore the mark of the Covenant as well. God came to Moses and said, “Do not fear him for I will deliver him, and all his people and his land, into your hand” (Numbers 21:33).

While Og had merits from his past, he left the path of righteousness. It seems that as the last of the giants, his power and longevity got to his head. He styled himself a god on Earth, and that hubris led to his downfall. There is historical evidence for this suggestion, as archaeologists have discovered a 13th century BCE clay tablet (Ugarit KTU 1.108) which describes Og as “king of eternity”, and the “god who rules in Edrei”. The text calls him Rapiu, which scholars believe is the Ugaritic word for Rephaim.

The Ugaritic culture operated a strong cult of the dead, and worshipped the Rapiu, thought to be great kings that have passed away. This is another explanation for why Rephaim refers to ghosts, particularly the ghosts of great kings. Indeed, Isaiah 14:9 links the word Rephaim with the “chiefs of the earth” and “kings of the nations”. While historians still have little documentation for the Rapiu, there is a far richer set of texts describing the Anakim, more popularly known as the Anunaki.

Anunaki and Conspiracy

An Akkadian engraving from c. 2300 BCE depicting an Anunaki with worshippers. Note that the giant is as tall sitting down as the servants are standing up.

Ancient Mesopotamian texts all speak of a race of “gods” referred to as the Anunaki. They are depicted as the children of An, the god of the sky, and Ki, the god of the Earth—hence the name. They are powerful giants that sometimes descended to this Earth and interacted with humans, often exploiting them for their own benefit. In one later version of the myth, a weaker race of “gods” called the Igigi (perhaps related to the name “Og”) were being used for hard labour and eventually rebelled against their Anunaki overlords. The Anunaki, led by Enki, then created humans as a replacement for the Igigi, to serve the Anunaki.

Essentially all the cultures and nations of Mesopotamia worshipped some form of the Anunaki. They created idols bearing their images, and built massive temples in their honour. How do we make sense of the Rapiu and Anunaki, and their seemingly strong connection to the Rephaim and Anakim of the Torah? I believe the answer may be as follows:

We know that the Nephilim became sinful and exploited humanity (see for example Yalkut Shimoni, Beresheet 44). They taught humans all kinds of things, including warfare, astrology, prostitution, and the consumption of animals. (The Midrash above states that a single of them could eat “a thousand camels, a thousand horses, and a thousand bulls” in a day!) The Books of Enoch give more specific details as to which of the angels did what: Azazel taught humans how to make weapons, Barakiel taught astrology, Armoni taught them magic, Gadriel taught the use of cosmetics (for seductive purposes), and Yakum was the first to start mating with humans.

The fallen angels abused their powers, and eventually made themselves like gods on Earth. It appears that they turned themselves into idols for humans to worship, allowing them to exploit those humans in turn. It is possible that they were the original subjects of that idolatry, the original polytheistic “pantheon” from which all others sprang. Over time, a whole mythos developed around them. What the Torah tells us are Anakim became the Anunaki “gods” of Mesopotamia, with a rich made-up literature to explain their origins, with many variations of the story depending on the specific culture. Even after they were long gone, the peoples of Mesopotamia continued to worship them.

Unfortunately, those myths live on. Today, there are still countless people (thanks to YouTube and the internet) believing silly conspiracy theories that the Anunaki are still around, and secretly keep mankind enslaved. Some identify them with the Illuminati, or with an alien race of reptiles, or even with the Jews—and sometimes all three at once! The damage that those fallen angels have caused has yet to be repaired.

The confusion is exacerbated by the fact that “extraterrestrial” beings are constantly spotted all over the world. This recently made headlines when the US Navy admitted to the existence of UFOs, and had to brief the president and the Senate. The footage released surprised a lot of people, but it wasn’t new. Similar footage has been captured over the past several decades, and a ton of evidence has been amassed. Much of this evidence is presented by Robert Hastings, one of the top experts in the field. In his UFOs & Nukes: Extraordinary Encounters at Nuclear Weapons Sites (both a book and documentary) presents stunning evidence from around the world. He interviews dozens of high-ranking US and former Soviet officers that served on nuclear submarines or at nuclear silos. They report that the “aliens” played instrumental roles in preventing nuclear disasters, at times even disabling the weapons systems to prevent a nuclear war! The conclusion was that these “UFOs” were benevolent, and sought to protect mankind.

In all of these sightings, the UFOs always take a characteristic shape: a flying disk or “flying saucer”. The expert on these is Stanton Friedman, a nuclear physicist that spent fourteen years working on top-secret projects for the US government and military industry. In 1970, he left his career to spread awareness of the existence of UFOs and “alien” life. In 5 books and over 90 papers, he presents convincing evidence of extraterrestrial flying saucers visiting our planet regularly. Stanton’s work earned him the title of “the flying saucer physicist”. It must be mentioned that Stanton was a respected scientist, not a charlatan or conspiracy theorist, and presented evidence before Congress and the United Nations.

Can we reconcile this with the Torah?

Angels and Aliens

Throughout the Tanakh, we read how our ancient prophets encountered “extraterrestrial” beings, and even witnessed “unidentified flying objects”. Eliyahu was walking with his student Elisha when suddenly, out of the sky, “there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both asunder; and Eliyahu went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (II Kings 2:11) A “chariot” from the sky literally abducted Eliyahu! Far more detail is provided by Ezekiel in the famous opening prophecy of his book. One who carefully reads his description of the “divine chariot” will undoubtedly see the striking parallels to “flying saucers”.

‘Ezekiel’s Vision’ by Simon Wong

Ezekiel describes a flying vehicle with wings, flashing lights, electricity; a shiny, “brass-like” (or metallic) exterior, torches of fire shooting out the bottom, all controlled by a creature sitting behind a cockpit of clear “ice” (Ezekiel 1:22)—as the prophet was unfamiliar with glass. Best of all, the mechanism of propulsion is ofanim, “spinning wheels”, or “discs” (Ezekiel 1:19). We must remember that this was not just a vision or hallucination; Ezekiel interacted with this flying craft and, like Eliyahu, it took him up and transported him: “Then a wind lifted me up and I heard a great noise behind me…” (Ezekiel 3:12)

Some inaccurately believe that there is just one such holy Merkavah, or “chariot”. In reality, the Sages speak of multitudes of such chariots in God’s legions, as it says in Psalm 68:18, “The chariots of God are myriads, even thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in holiness.” Based on this verse (as well as Deuteronomy 33:2), the Sages state that 22,000 such chariots descended upon Mt. Sinai during the giving of the Torah (see Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 41). This is one reason why God is sometimes referred to in the Tanakh as Hashem Tzva’ot (יהוה צבאות), the “God of Legions”.

So, if we know that God has thousands of legions upon flying “chariots” decked out with spinning wheels at His disposal, why should we be surprised at the countless sightings of flying saucers—breaking the laws of nature and generally acting benevolently—visiting Earth? All that one has to realize is that the supposed “aliens” we hear about in the media and in science fiction are none other than God’s angels.

The Torah on Extraterrestrial Life

It is often said that the existence of extraterrestrial life is contrary to the Torah. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Way back in the 14th century, Rabbi Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410) already wrote (in his Ohr Adonai) that there is nothing in the Torah to negate the possibility of life on other worlds. On the contrary, the Sages of the Talmud understood the vastness of the cosmos, writing about the countless billions of stars out there (Berakhot 32b), the various parts of the “Heavens” and their inhabitants—and that the journey from one “Heaven” to the next takes over 500 years! (Chagigah 12b-13a) Amazingly, Sefer HaBahir, one of the oldest known Kabbalistic texts, suggests that this 500 year journey can be made by the Ofanim, those spinning wheels which “reach out” to Earth, the lowest of worlds (ch. 169).

Possibly the most blatant evidence of extraterrestrial life from the Talmud is in Moed Katan 16a. There, the Sages discuss what Deborah meant in her song when she said:

They fought from heaven, the stars from their paths fought against Sisera… “Cursed be Meroz,” said the angel of God, “Cursed be its inhabitants, because they did not come to help God, to help God against the mighty.” (Judges 5:20, 23)

The Tanakh is apparently telling us that beings from the Heavens descended to Earth to help her in the great battle against the evil Sisera. Deborah then quotes an “angel of God” who curses a place called Meroz because its inhabitants failed to help in the battle. Where is Meroz? Who are its inhabitants? Why is it an angel that is criticizing them for not coming to help? The Talmud first cites an opinion that Meroz was the name of a great man. But how could this be if the Tanakh says that the “inhabitants” of Meroz are cursed? It cannot be referring to a man; the language is clearly referring to a place. The Talmud then says that Meroz is a star! One might deduce that angels inhabit various other worlds, and they came to help Deborah and Barak in their battle. The angels from Meroz didn’t show up, so a fellow “angel of God” curses them.

Indeed, Kabbalistic texts speak of angels inhabiting other planets and worlds. The Zohar states that God created many hidden worlds in the cosmos, and they are inhabited by 60 million of God’s supernal servants and soldiers. (See, for example, Zohar II, 126b, which states: ואתעביד עלמא חדא, דנהיר לכל עלמין, עלמא סתימא דלא ידיע כלל, ובגויה דיירין שית רבוא אלף, דאינון דיורין וחילין ומשיריין עלאין) Perhaps this is the meaning of the Talmud’s statement that “God roams over 18,000 worlds” (Avodah Zarah 3a). The source for this teaching is also Psalm 68, where we read of His 22,000 chariots. Here, the Talmud interprets the verse slightly differently, concluding that God “rides his Cherub” over 18,000 worlds.

As much as mainstream media and science would like to ignore it, the conclusion from our own ancient texts and from the countless sightings of “extraterrestrial” beings is that there is certainly other life forms out there. God created far more than the little we see here on this lowly world. While it may be hard to wrap our heads around the idea of aliens and angels being one and the same, the evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of this conclusion. It is also important to move past the notion that angels are entirely “spiritual” entities that have no physical form, or that they inhabit some other realm outside of this universe.

Throughout the Tanakh (and beyond) we see that angels are just as much a part of this universe as humans are, and are created within the same space, as are the “Heavens”. (This idea was explained and supported fully in Mayim Achronim Chova – Secrets of the Last Waters.) They are God’s special servants and messengers, and as such are generally concealed from us. The truth is that most of this vast universe is concealed from us anyway. Scientists have determined that what we can presently see is no more than 4% of the universe. The rest is hiding behind mysterious things like “dark matter” and “dark energy”. We shouldn’t be surprised if we one day find God’s angels there.

We’ll conclude with another beautiful passage from the Talmud (Bava Batra 75a) which, upon closer examination, ties everything together. The Sages ask: what does it mean when the Tanakh says that the gates of Jerusalem will be made of precious stones? (Isaiah 54:12) Rav Yochanan taught that in the Messianic future, God will bring massive gems that are thirty by thirty cubits in size and fashion them into Jerusalem’s gates. One of Rav Yochanan’s students scoffed at this unbelievable idea, for the Earth’s precious stones are no larger than an egg! Some time later, the student was out at sea and saw a vision of angels mining massive gems precisely of that size. He asked them: “For whom are these?” The angels replied: “For the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who will in the future place them at the gates of Jerusalem.”

XIII. Conclusion

Because the aliens that have been seen on space craft are generally four to five feet tall, it seems unlikely that they are the Nephilim or other giants. It could be that they are the sons of God. The Nephilim, and other giants, are not scripturaly connected with procreation, whereas the sons of God are connected with procreation or sex. Procreation and sex seems to be a major force behind the aliens.

This study was written by

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

(Greg Killian).

Comments may be submitted to:

Rabbi Dr. Greg Killian

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[1] Clearly implying all excesses of an immoral generation. This was lechery, as well as coercion and theft. Rashi explains: even a married woman, even a male, even a beast. Adultery, pederasty, and bestiality lead to the destruction of humanity.

[2] We will look in more depth at this idea later in this study.

[3] The Day of Atonement

[4] Bereshit Rabbah 26:8

[5] Bereshit (Genesis)5:3

[6] The Call Of TheTorah, An Anthology of interpretation and commentary on the five books of Moses, by Rabbi Elie Munk, translated from the French by E.S. Mazer.

[7] Strong’s number 05309.

[8] I heard this from Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

[9] Tzeror HaMor. The Torah Anthology – Meam Loez, by Rabbi Yaakov Culi, translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.

[10] This is the root cause of the flood. It was the theft of life from those in the womb.

[11] Compare with Mattiyahu (Matthew) 24:37-42 and Luqas (Luke) 17:26-30.

[12] Uza and Azael. Rashi, Yoma 67b

[13] Insights In The Torah, the Chumash with translation and the complete classic commentary of the master Rav and Maggid, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin, translated by Raphael Blumberg

[14] The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon gives the meaning of Nephilim as “giants”. Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon p.658

[15] A term normally referring to Hakhamim, Rabbis, or Judges.

[16] V. Deut. II, 10 f, 20 f, 23.

[17] Gibborim denotes mighty, great.

[18] Th. holds that this does not actually explain the meaning of the word zamzumim, but is a comment on their might. Th. also conjectures that R. Jose connects zamzumim with zamam, to devise, intend, and it implies that owing to their superior military power they could always carry out their schemes.

[19] As ornaments. Jast. (reading ohcrn ): they increased the chains (‘anakim) around the necks (‘anakim)-they subjugated many people.

[20] Th. Jast.: they seized (fr. anak ‘to press’, ‘ force,’ ‘ rule’) the globe of the sun.

[21] Num. R. XVI, 11; Deut. R. l, 24; Yoma 10a; Shab. 85a.

[22] Infra, XXXVIII, 4.

[23] The verse of Job is understood to refer to this generation of the Flood.

[24] In the preceding chapter, but does not necessarily imply renown.

[25] Supra XXIII, 2.

[26] Bereshit Rabbah 26:16

[27] Found in Radak.

[28] Bereshit (Genesis) 14:5. Eimah means terror. The Eimim thus induced terror into the hearts of those who saw them.

[29] Sanhedrin 56b, 57a

[30] Since the leaders are in a position to stop it.

[31] The idea is the same: what hope is there when the leaders and guardians of religion themselves transgress?

[32] As though they were divine.

[33] A long life was required for making the necessary observations.

[34] Through their long life of ease they were now fully liable for all the punishment their sins merited.

[35] Singular (טובת ) instead of toboth (טובות), plural, though it is read as plural, The idea is that one woman was taken by many men.

[36] An allusion to the ius primae noctis.

[37] They took women married to others.

[38] or perhaps: until they wrote marriage deeds for males and beasts- i.e. they fully legalised such practices.

[39] l.e.for sexual purposes only.

[40] Iyov (Job) 24:21

[41] Great Sanhedrin. ch. 10, not found in our edition, but in Gen. Rabbah 23:2.

[42] Bereshit Rabbah – The Torah Anthology – Meam Loez, by Rabbi Yaakov Culi, translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.

[43] Yafeh Toar, quoting R, Eliahu Mizrachi.

[44] We will look in more depth at this idea later in this study.

[45] Yafeh Toar

[47] V. J.E. vol. IV, pp. 514f, and Nachmanides on Lev. XVII, 7.

[48] Prescience is a divine attribute,

[49] V. p. 95, n. 10.

[50] The power of learning to speak the Hebrew language is common to all men.

[51] That a woman may be waiting for him there.

[52] The Gemara now proceeds to explain why all the three reasons must be mentioned.

[53] So that there is no danger of falling debris.

[54] The assumption is that where two are together there is no danger of an attack by demons.

[55] Num. XXI, 34.

[56] One of the fallen angels referred to in Gen. VI, 2, 4 as ‘sons of God’ or ‘Nephilim’.

[57] By God.

[58] Lit., ‘of’.

[59] Moses

[60] Lit., ‘heart’.

[61] Og.

[62] Gen. XIV, 13.

[63] Cf. Zeb. 113b.

[64] With his heavy steps.

[65] His neck reached the sun. Aliter: They saw him press the sun.--In both versions the passage of course is only metaphorical, pointing to his giant stature.

[66] E.V. ‘we’.

[67] In allusion to the iniquity of the spies.

[68] From: https://www.mayimachronim.com/anunaki-giants-and-aliens-in-the-torah/

I. Introduction

II. The sons of God – Bne Elohim - בני־האלהים

III. The Nephilim

IV. What Caused the Flood?

V. Robbery

VI. Demons

VII. Selected Essays

VIII. Anakim

IX. Rephaites

X. Giants

XI. Midrash

XII. Anunaki: Giants and Aliens in the Torah[68]

XIII. Conclusion

XII. Anunaki: Giants and Aliens in the Torah [68]