The name Nephilim was not actually used in the original languages of the Bible. Somebody added it later. They were originally referred to essentially as “the fallen ones”, the Authorized Bible (KJV) referes to them as giants.
The Nephilim, angels, and Satan and his demons were all created by God as well, but are not people. Therefore, not part of the question.
nephilim (Gen. 6:4; Num. 13:33, R.V.), giants, the Hebrew word left untranslated by the Revisers, the name of one of the Canaanitish tribes. The Revisers have, however, translated the Hebrew gibborim, in Gen. 6:4, “mighty men.”
Source: Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary
Isaiah 34:14-15 in the NIV Bible (emphasis mine):
In the Darby Translation:
The passage seems to be refering to “night creatures” as lilith as opposed to a person… Do you have any cites for the first part of your statement?
Gp
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith contains a discussion of the ways this passage has been translated viz. Lilith vs. “nightcreatures.”
As an aside, this amplifies one of my biggest concerns with citing the Bible as anything but a work of literature - it has been revised, translated, and appropriated by every person, sect, group, cult and wacko that has ever dealt with it.
Thank you - very interesting indeed…
As an aside, just because the Bible has been mis-translated and mis-used by many, does not exclude it from containing the Truth.
Gp
To the OP:
First was Adam & Eve. They had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel in Gen 4:8.
Cain realizes he has screwed up royally, and leaves Eden, travelling to the land of Nod to the east. Gen 4:16
We are then given this interesting tidbit of info:
Gen 4:17 "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."
Keep in mind that Adam & Eve are STILL man & wife, and did NOT follow Cain to Nod. So armed with this knowledge, we can safely assume that there were other people on earth at the time. The reason for the story involving Adam & Eve, is because they were the original sinners, not the rest of the population. Where better to begin a great story?
Think of the bible as a history book: When you read about the Revolutionary war, you are told the story of the main characters, George Washington & Co., not the details of every individual soldier.
So it is safe to assume then the GOd created many people out of dust? Not just A&E?
From the biblical sense, yes. God created many people out of dust, they were just not pertinent to history until Cain needed a wife.
From the evolution stance, Adam & Eve are the first (widely written) recorded history figures. I expect whoever wrote Genesis was a direct decendent of A&E.
Either way, they were the stories that had been handed down, generation by generation, until it was written by a family member. (I am having a brain spasm, and I can’t remember for the life of me who wrote Genesis at the moment)
“the Truth”
With a CAPITAL T, no less.
no, but it makes it a heck of a lot less certain, doesn’t it?
Not to pick a fight, but that is a ridiculous statement on several levels.
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The stories were written quite a while back, AFTER they had been passed down generation by generation, so naturally there are going to be some fuzzy details. That is where the word “faith” comes in. You either have it or you don’t.
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The media constantly mis-translate and mis-use facts, but that does not mean they don’t contain some truth.
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Hi Opal!
My point exactly.
The fact that it was based on an oral tradition, translated, re-translated, edited, re-re-translated, re-re-edited, etc. etc. etc. leads me to the conclusion that contains just as many falsehoods as it does true statements.
That, I suppose, is where blind faith comes in to play.
Yes, but so what?
True, there are the Jack Chick’s of the world who take it to the extreme, but they are in the minority, and will most likely be on the first train to hell during the rapture.
But for the people who have faith, it gives them comfort, maybe even to live a better life. What is wrong with that?
I re-reading my posts I don’t see where I said there was anything wrong with having faith. If that’s what gets you through life, great. The fact that humans (notoriously sloppy, opinionated, biased, and flawed creatures) had anything to do with actually writing the thing makes it suspect.
Besides, I have it on good authority that God mumbles and has loose fitting dentures. That makes it hard to understand him sometimes.
Actually, your fifth pont is incorrect. The Bible does record Adam and Eve (or at least Adam) having other “sons and daughters” in Genesis 5:4.
It has always been explained to me that Adam and Eve had Cain, Abel, Seth and other sons and daughters. Cain didn’t kill Abel until the “process of time” (Gen. 4:3) allowed Cain and Abel to grow up enough to be tiller of the soil and keeper of the flock (probably at least teenagers). Cain then flees. Seth is born. Other sons and daughters are born. One of these other daughters later becomes Cain’s wife. (25 year age difference can’t be that big of a deal if you’re life expectancy is in the hundreds of years.)
The in-breeding question become more interesting to me a few generations later with Noah’s family being the only humans left to “replenish the earth.”
According to Genesis, The other siblings were not born until several years after Cain met his wife in Nod. We also find out later on that it is a sin (Lev 18:9) to uncover a siblings nakedness,and that incest is a mortal sin, thus it is doubtful God would have interbreeding amongst family. So we can still safely say that there were other people.
Is there one definitive answer as to how many people were created from the dust? Or is this something that is being researched by the scholars in the Vatican?
A definitive answer to a question concerning Biblical mythology is impossible. You may as well ask how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
so have faith. i’m not questioning whether god exists or anything else based on faith. just saying that in with that TRUTH is some falsehood created by the mis-translations, etc. do you claim that there is not?
but it does mean that they contain some untruth. that’s what i said, and that’s all i said.
sorry for the hijack, y’all.
There is incest now and god isn’t stopping that.That doesn’t disprove the idea