Does 2 Baruch have a Nephilim Story?
Chapter 56 of 2 Baruch mentions the angels that descended and ‘mingled with women’ in a vision describing the history of the world. However, there is no mention of giants or progeny from this angelic descent in 2 Baruch.
The Story of Angels that ‘mingled with women’ in 2 Baruch
For he [Adam] became a danger to his own soul: even to the angels For, moreover, at that time when he was created, they enjoyed liberty.
And became he a danger some of them descended, and mingled with the women.
And then those who did so were tormented in chains.
But the rest of the multitude of the angels, of which there is (no) number, restrained themselves.
And those who dwelt on the earth perished together (with them) through the waters of the deluge.
Similar to many other writings from around the time of Christ, 2 Baruch helps demonstrate that it was very common to believe that the ‘sons of God’ of Genesis 6 were angels at that time.
According to 2 Baruch, Adam’s sin affected even the angels who descended and mingled with women, resulting in their being chained and tormented for their crime.
2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical work thought to have been composed in the late first century CE or early second century CE, following the fall of the Temple in CE 70.
The book claims that the writer is the biblical Baruch – scribe to the prophet Jeremiah. But 2 Baruch is not considered scripture by most Jewish or Christian groups.
The content is similar to the Biblical book of Jeremiah and includes a combination of prayers, laments and visions. The book speaks of the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar (586 BC). Scholars believe that the book was written after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
- Date: Around 100 AD
- View: Angel
- Oldest Manuscripts: 4th – 5th Century Greek
