# Rabbi Says "Giants" = "Aborted Fetuses" in Hebrew? Huh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595 "2007-06-27T03:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/21 "2007-06-27T17:14:18Z")
**Severus** linked to **Dex** ’s Staff Report on the subject. Dex says: [QUOTE=Dex] The word Nephilim itself unclear; the obvious root N-F-L would imply they are “fallen ones,” that is, fallen angels. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Torah, from about 200 BC) translates Nephilim as “giants,” likely based on the reference in Numbers 13:33 (see below) that Nephilim were “of great size.” Thus, the term is commonly translated as giants or heroes. [/QUOTE] That’s true, even today. If you ask most Americans what “N-F-L” means to them, they’ll speak of “men of great size.” ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/22 "2007-06-27T17:24:48Z")
I love this board. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/23 "2007-06-27T17:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] So basically, this self-styled “America’s Rabbi” (heaven knows _I_ never heard of him before now) [/QUOTE] Lapin has this radio show and writes books about how evil liberalism is, and he makes most of his money as a public speaker to Republican and conservative Christian groups. He was a friend of Jack Abramoff (Lapin’s brother, who’s a rabbi in Capetown, was involved in Abramoff becoming a baal tshuva), and got tied up in that scandal (his organization, “Toward Tradition”, was used for money laundering). He comes from a pretty famous family, though. His great-uncle, Elyah Lopian, was big in the Mussar movement, and the whole family were prominent Lithuanian mitnagdim. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/24 "2007-06-27T17:31:42Z")
[QUOTE=chappachula] On the other hand, some things don’t translate at all. For example, Hebrew has a neat two-word greeting, (often used by religious people): “Tizkeh lemitzvot”. Two simple words in Hebrew, but the only way to translate it into English is an entire awkard sentence: “Be well, and I hope you continue to have the pleasure of being able to do good deeds and have a meaningful life”. [/QUOTE] Hijack: That translates just fine … you just have to spell out the connotations. Just like any translation of “How are you doing?” into another language has to make clear that there is no actual query of … oh … “by what mechanism or means is some one doing something unnamed”. That previous paragraph jars the eye, but I trust everyone gets the gist. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/25 "2007-06-27T17:34:37Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] Hijack: That translates just fine … you just have to spell out the connotations. Just like any translation of “How are you doing?” into another language has to make clear that there is no actual query of … oh … “by what mechanism or means is some one doing something unnamed”. That previous paragraph jars the eye, but I trust everyone gets the gist. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but now go ahead and explain to someone who doesn’t even speak English what the difference between “How are you doing?” and “How _you_ doin’?” is… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/26 "2007-06-27T17:34:42Z")
[QUOTE=chappachula] In modern Hebrew, the word for giant is “Anak”. So the jolly green would be “ha-Anak ha-yarok ha-sameach”, but that sounds _very_ awkward in Hebrew. (Imagine saying in English: “the tall man who is green and happy”). [/QUOTE] How about “all your aborted fetuses are belong to us” ? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/27 "2007-06-27T17:53:31Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] **Severus** linked to **Dex** ’s Staff Report on the subject. Dex says: That’s true, even today. If you ask most Americans what “N-F-L” means to them, they’ll speak of “men of great size.” [/QUOTE] Thank you, I nearly spat breadstick. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/28 "2007-06-27T18:25:48Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Idunno. **They Might Be Aborted Fetuses** lacks something. [/QUOTE] No no. It’s pure genius. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/29 "2007-06-27T18:40:38Z")
As always, this Board comes through with its usual mixture of erudition, wit, and just plain wackiness. Thanks, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/30 "2007-06-27T18:55:49Z")
Which prayer is it that says of G-d ‘You keep faith with those who sleep in the dust’? While this is widely assumed to refer to the bodily resurrection of the faifthful in the time of the moshiach, can we be sure that it isn’t a reference to the Nefilim? 😉 Perhaps in the messianic age, the Nefilim will be revealed to be giant vegetarians thus fulfilling the prophecy. The children of Seth shall pass away and a handful of Nefilim will inherit the earth. Given the ratio of land to giants, there’ll be so much land and wealth that they’ll have no interest in making war on each other. The nations (of two, three Nefilim tops) will not lift up sword against nation and they shall make war no more. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/31 "2007-06-27T19:14:21Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] Which prayer is it that says of G-d ‘You keep faith with those who sleep in the dust’? [/QUOTE] Second blessing of the _Amidah_. The phrase is: _…u’m’kaiyem emunato lishenei 'afar_. I don’t see any Nefilim in that blessing; I read it as about both Divine mercy and Divine control over nature. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/32 "2007-06-27T23:10:16Z")
> [@](#): > > So, “Andre the Giant” would be “Andre ha-anak” [אנדריי הענק] Though all the Andre the Giant stickers I ever saw in Israel were in English. 🙂 > [@](#): > > So the jolly green would be “ha-Anak ha-yarok ha-sameach”, but that sounds very awkward in Hebrew. (Imagine saying in English: “the tall man who is green and happy”). > > Some things just don’t translate well. Yes, I had this trouble trying to translate a movie for an Israeli roommate–“Zombie love slave” sounds ever so much better in English than in Hebrew. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/33 "2007-06-28T00:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=chappachula] “Tizkeh lemitzvot”. Two simple words in Hebrew, but the only way to translate it into English is an entire awkard sentence: “Be well, and I hope you continue to have the pleasure of being able to do good deeds and have a meaningful life”. [/QUOTE] I thought the translation was “live long and prosper”. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/34 "2007-06-28T00:51:36Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] We don’t do Jolly Green Giant brand preserves here, so no idea about that one… _Ha-anak ha-yarok ha-same’akh_, I guess. [/QUOTE] Given that to this English speaker’s ears it looks like that would sound like someone was spitting something out, I can understand why you don’t have them. 😉 Perhaps, the rabbi is basing his case on that ancient Hebrew was often written without the use of vowels or spaces between the words, and that contemporary translators are misinterpreting things. However, it seems equally likely (if not moreso) that “people of the earth” could be the Old Testament version of “redneck” or that they’re talking about the last surviving remnants of neanderthals. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595/35 "2007-06-28T01:35:24Z")
Tangentially, the Arabic word for giant is _‘imlâq_ - but this is a loanword from Hebrew, originally referring to the Amalekites. Why Amalekites, I don’t know, unless it was a confusion of them with the Amorites, who were said to be “tall as cedars.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rabbi-says-giants-aborted-fetuses-in-hebrew-huh/409595.md?page=1)