Tracing the Giants Series

Azazel and the Scapegoat: From Genesis 6 to 1 Enoch

Azazel and the Scapegoat: From Genesis 6 to 1 Enoch

When I first stumbled into Genesis 6 as a teenager, it felt like I had found a crack in the floor of my Sunday School world. Who are these “sons of God”? Who are the Nephilim? Why does the Bible open that door and then move on so quickly? Ancient Jews asked the same...

Why Your Bible Translates “Nephilim” as “Giants”

Why Your Bible Translates “Nephilim” as “Giants”

If we start with many of our English Bible translations, it can sound like the Bible clearly says the Nephilim were “giants.” But when we slow down and look at the Hebrew text itself, things are not that simple. The word nephilim appears only three times in the Old...

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Pirkei de‑Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 6 and the Giants

Pirkei de‑Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 6 and the Giants

Pirkei de‑Rabbi Eliezer (often abbreviated PRE) is one of the most vivid post‑biblical Jewish retellings of Genesis. In chapter 23, it gives a striking interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4: the “sons of God” are angels who fall from heaven, lust after the daughters of...

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Rabbi Samuel Z. Glaser and the Genesis 6 Problem

Rabbi Samuel Z. Glaser and the Genesis 6 Problem

Rabbi Dr. Samuel Z. Glaser (1929–2022), an Orthodox-trained rabbi and clinical psychologist, reads Genesis 6:1–4 as a deliberately muted remnant of a broader demigod myth. Drawing on ancient Near Eastern parallels, Second Temple writings like 1 Enoch and the Genesis...

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