What's the deal with the Nephilim?

New video discussing the religious and textual significance of the "Nephilim" or Giants and the "Sons of God" referenced in the Hebrew Bible. In this video I try to tackle the meaning of these strange and obscure biblical creatures/beings in the Bible in their original intended contexts. In this video I cover a lot of the history and origins of Judaism as well as the Bible itself. I talk about everything from the Documentary Hypothesis to the Dead Sea Scrolls to Greek Mythology! I hope you enjoy and learn something new ;)

Citations:
Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible by Karel van der Toorn and Pieter Willem van der Horst
Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan by John Day
From Creation to Babel: Studies in Genesis 1-11 by John Day
Of Demigods and the Deluge: Toward an Interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4 by Ronald S. Hendel
The Genesis of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden by Mark S. Smith
The Early History of God by Mark S. Smith
The Exodus by Richard Elliot Friedman
Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliot Friedman
Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God By Michael S. Heiser

[TREYtheExplainer]

Hey guys! I'm so happy a lot of you enjoyed this video!
Thanks for messaging me about this minor correction, I know my knowledge of Hebrew grammar is a bit lacking.
My handling of the name "elohim" was a little bit off because the word's usage in the Hebrew bible grammatically is rather strange and inconsistent. In Hebrew, the ending -im (as in elohim) normally indicates a masculine plural; however the word elohim is used in the Bible associated with interchangeably plural and singular adjectives and verbs. For instance in Genesis 1:1 the verbs and adjectives are singular despite elohim at it's root meaning denoting a plural "gods" instead of "God" (so my translation of Genesis 1:1 that I gave in the video isn't 100% correct, but then again the text is a little weird too). There are other instances in which elohim has plural verbs and adjectives as its root would imply. The plural interpretation of Genesis 1:1 I think is strengthened despite the singular verbs and nouns used by the fact the Genesis Elohim refers to itself in the plural at times like Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, “Let *us* make mankind in *our* image, in *our* likeness..."

It's all a bit odd, but I think again somewhat supports the idea that the existence of other gods wasn't denied within the original biblical canon/religion of the Hebrew authors with the inconsistent usages of "elohim" suggesting a remnant of an older age. Looking back I wish I took a deeper and more thorough dive at the grammar and stuff in this video but odds are it would have turned out even longer.
I'll likely make a minor correction video including some small corrections like this. Regardless, I think the main interpretation of the Nephilim and Sons of God(s) I presented in the video should stay relatively the same.

[shadowsnake]

JUDAISM PATCH NOTES:
- All gods but Yahweh nerfed
- Minor text fixes

[morale.]

I've learnt more about the Bible and it's stories from skeptics and atheists than I have in my years of church service.

[killercat]

I thought this video was on how to deal with Nephilim. I've got a real problem out here

[beerich]

I am 67 yrs old and have never been taught in depth about the Nephilim. Thank you, Trey for sharing this withus! 🤗

[thegod]

How people imagined "living" 3000 years ago: Temples, Pharaohs etc.

How it *really* was: *Attack on Titan theme starts playing*

[AlternateHistoryHub]

I that the Canaanite religion was just a hodge-podge Smash Bros version of everyone else'd highest diety

[timothymoore]

Things are gearing up in the Bible fandom

[wendigo]

As a kid i thought nephilim, leviathan, and bohemoths would be a lot bigger of a problem in my life

[ofirbun]

In Hebrew, when we say happy birthday we also say "ad 120" meaning "may you live till 120" (kindof)

I somehow never knew that verse so I just it was just a may you live to grow old blessing, but apparently it's just a reminder of our expiration date

[seranonable]

One issue I noticed: You mention Gil being from before the flood, but he's clearly from after the flood, because one of the main points of his story is he goes on a journey to seek out the only human left from before the flood which is Utnapishtim. He goes to him and he's like "how do i get some of that sweet immortality you guys had before the flood" and Utna was like "sorry man the gods don't give that shit out anymore but i'll put a quest marker on your map where you can find an herb" and Gil was like "wtf that's in the ocean" and Utna was like "lol yeah glhf"

[mildlymarvelous]

As a Christian, I really appreciate how you treated the material with total respect while exploring the historical and literary context! Thank you for this very interesting video!

[Based_Preacher]

God loves all of his creations unless he decides to retcon you.

[nintenx]

What if the Nephilim was the friends we made along the way?

[phony]

What I like about this video is it treats the bible like just kinda a fun story to analyse, instead of getting all mad and ranting about how it makes no sense and 'how could people believe this?'

[tr]

I did theology at university and it was taught in a secular context. I absolutely loved studying the history, textual analysis, and source theory, behind the scriptures, and it is so important to study these texts in their original languages too. Far from undermining my faith, my faith was matured by understanding the complexity of the Bible's composition and the diversity of ideas in the library of books which we call the Bible.

[richardleeskinneriii]

Wow. I once had a pastor who said that seminary is often called "cemetary" because there are many who go and study at seminary and lose their faith.

I can see why. It's a little more nuanced than Sunday school.

[hailgiratinathetruegod]

That is a weird kind of owl, in my opinion

[Masterblader]

The Nephilim were the ancient Chads who worked out extensively.

[DevinDTV]

in the bronze age of the mediterranean, all of the city states and nations had a patron deity. anu, yahweh, marduk, ashur, athena, artemis, etc. most of them even had a physical idol which was regarded as being literally their god or their primary connection to their god, and they would capture and ransom these idols