Chavarah- Jewish Community Learning

A blog of Jewish study and traditions. Notes from classes: Torah Study with Rabbi Marder, Toledot and Shabbaton as well as other details found of interest.

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Thursday, January 01, 2009

The Giants Did It! (Nephilim)

Torah Study with Rabbi Janet Marder 12/27
Genesis 6: 3-4

We covered a lot of territory in these two verses:
  • Life Span shortened to 120 years – 120 years till the flood. How and why explored!
  • Communication theories of how this concept was conveyed to Noah and others at that time.
  • “Spirit” / Breath / Nefesh– what is it and the connections between life, spirit, soul and consciousness.
  • Why 120? We explore the different theories of the number 120 years.
  • Nephilim – Giants – Their appearance in Genesis and other places in the Bible and the significance.
First we looked at Leon Kass' concept that incorporates 'momento mori' with the idea that a shortened life will make one 'more mindful of how they live'. (explored also last time a bit)

Moving on to the phrase "God said" - it is usually interpreted that God was talking to Noah but since it isn't really explicit it may be that God was reflecting within rather than actually conversing with Noah.

Spanish Commentator from pre-inquisition time: Levi ben Gershom (Hebrew: לוי בן גרשום‎), better known as Gersonides
during the time when Jews were forced to attend Church
He argued that Noah warned the people and they were given ample time to change their ways before the flood. (120 years)

Commentators tend to agree that Noah was given the warning and was instructed to 'spread the word' to people that they need to change their ways. And it is commonly understood that it was 120 years from the time of the warning to the time of the flood.

Va Yitzer - Spirit - Hebrew word analysis
Review where term is used in Genesis 2 - formation of humans

Adonai fashioned a human Va-yyitzer Adonai Elohim et-ha-adam, dust from the ground, and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living being.

Va-yyitzer Adonai Elohim et-ha-adam… In this one case, va-yitzer is spelled by doubling the letter yod, or “y”, not with the single yod the word is normally spelled with. A misspelling? A typo? Of course not. Rav Nachman ben Rav Hisda explains: The word va-yitzer is written with two yods to show that God created two inclinations, one tov and the other ra. After all, the word yetzer, or impulse, starts with the same letter — yod — as yitzer.

Reference to Eclesiastes 12:7 "dust returns to the ground. Spirit returns to God"
verse is used in burial services at graveside and give a sense of immortality of the soul.

Then again in Chapter 3 the famous verse implies the same idea in 'dust to dust'

The teaching from this is to live and enjoy the life that you have.

The concept of the 'soul' is one that has evolved and become more complex.
Rabbi Marder said: "The element of eternal is essential to humanity"
it is a value statement now a psychological one.

Nefish / Ruach / Neshema - all words that represent spirit or soul - all words that have a connection to breath and breathing.


Verb: Yadon -
5 tn The verb form יָדוֹן (yadon) only occurs here. Some derive it from the verbal root דִּין (din, “to judge”) and translate “strive” or “contend with” (so NIV), but in this case one expects the form to be יָדִין (yadin). The Old Greek has “remain with,” a rendering which may find support from an Arabic cognate (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:375). If one interprets the verb in this way, then it is possible to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as a reference to the divine life-giving spirit or breath, rather than the Lord’s personal Spirit. E. A. Speiser argues that the term is cognate with an Akkadian word meaning “protect” or “shield.” In this case, the Lord’s Spirit will not always protect humankind, for the race will suddenly be destroyed (E. A. Speiser, “YDWN, Gen. 6:3,” JBL 75 [1956]: 126-29). source

Different interpretations
1. Hirsch - spirit is intended to be the judge inside you - the inner voice.
2. Rashi - spirit is disputing within - there is a conflict. (Samuel 19 uses the same word regarding conflict) thus God is conflicted about the flood and destruction of people.
3. Or Ha-Hyim - Ḥayyim ben Moses ibn Attar - Moroccan scholar - God is no longer in dialogue with humans = 'my spirit will no longer have personal contact'
however, as stated in Isiah (2nd) 65 - the long life spans will return in Messianic times.

About 120 years:
Gematria -illusions to Moses.
Moshe lived 120 years. The Gematria of the Mem is 40. The Mem of Moshe represents forty years in Mitzriam, plus forty years in Midian plus forty years in Midbar {wilderness} for a total of 120 years.

On to the Giants: Nephilim

These giants are linked to the verb to 'fall' and thus are sometimes referred to as 'fallen angels'.
They are referred to again in Torah: Numbers 13:33
and in Joshua 11:21-22 and in 1st Samuel 17:4 where Goliath is a Nephilim.

Richard Friedman connects all these issues together to look at the Bible as a continuous work from Creation through David. Excellent Link

How did the Nephilim survive the flood?
1. one of Noah's sons married a Nephilim
2. Og and Amarite King who lived 3,000 years clung onto the Ark during the flood.

Book Reference: Giants in the Earth was 0. E. Rölvaag's most influential novel. It chronicles the story of a group of Norwegian pioneers who make the long trek from a fishing village in Norway through Canada to Spring Creek, in Dakota Territory.

1 Comments:

  • At 2:53 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    There is a common element in the second and fourth clause, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever,” and, “Nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.” Both these clauses look to the future and are not completed immediately as seen in the terms “forever” and “shall be.” Both clauses are linked together as a single response to the sin of the sons of God. I believe that the decree begins a process affecting spirit/human intercourse that is manifested in and linked to the declining lifespans of humanity. In other words, we can measure the progress of “My Spirit will not strive with man forever,” by how long people were living at a given point in history. When their lives declined to the prescribed 120 years, spirits (God’s Spirit and the sons of God) would no longer “strive with” or “abide with” or judge humans as they did up until that point.

    I am claiming that in Genesis 6:3 God is setting in motion a “gulf of separation” between mankind and spirits that was linked to declining lifespans and that could be measured against that timeline. Physical human/spirit copulation and the birth of Nephilim would be ending. Spirits, both God and the sons of God, would become “unphysical” to humans and human/spirit interaction would become less tangible. Once this gulf was complete, there could be no more Nephilim because the sons of God were no longer able to copulate with the daughters of men – the gulf rendered them incapable of sexual spirit/human intercourse. Looked at in this light the punishment does fit the crime. Because the sons of God exploited mankind instead of contending with them against sin as we have see in Genesis and Psalm 82, God removed their ability to tangibly interact with humanity and corrupt them directly. God did this by changing humanity and this change was also reflected in a shortened life. I am not claiming that spirits were totally prevented from exerting their influence on humanity. I am claiming that their influence became less tangible. After human lives had degraded to 120 years, instead influencing humans through the 5 physical senses, the sons of God interacted with humans through the mystical spiritual experiences, spiritism, and divination listed in Deut 18.

    According to this paradigm, after God’s decree in Genesis 6:3 a clock was set in motion to restrict direct human/spirit interaction that was only fully imposed when human life spans decreased to 120 years. The time from the flood to Moses was a unique time of spirit/human interaction, an era that came to an end just as certainly as the creation of Nephilim came to an end. It was during this time that God came and physically spoke to Abraham. God and two angels sat and ate with Abraham before giving Abraham the promise, a promise of words that were heard with real human ears. God also met with Isaac and physically wrestled with Jacob. In a separate account, it was during this time God came and spoke to Job and his friends. We are certain it was during this time because Job lived 140 years after God restored his fortunes. The patriarchs were not mystics but men who actually spoke, touched and ate with spirits and lived longer than 120 years. Following the “lifespan genealogies” we see a direct line of fathers/sons in which each and every father lived longer than 120 years. This type of genealogy ends with the most important person of the Old Testament, Moses. After Moses this “lifespan genealogy” is no longer used.

    K. Jentoft

     

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