Pastors fight, theologians bicker and rabbis debate the biblical N'filim. This antediluvian race, an offspring of giants begotten by fallen angels with mortal females is first introduced in Genesis 6: 1-4. It was their existence that caused the Flood and their existence why God commanded the Hebrews to complete the extinction of the race under Moses and Joshua. This angelic / divine mongrel race is evoked in all ancient civilizations and seems to be the precursor of most polytheistic mythologies and vampire traditions. Whether you believe in the Judeo-Christian N'filim or not, modern society is still steeped in their stories, creating heated theological debates and the most compelling entities in supernatural horror films. As we explore the N'filim, let's first look at their Jewish sources, then their vampire characteristics, and finally their connection to ancient polytheistic religions.
Origins of N'filim
According to Genesis and the Book of Enoch, somewhere between 460 and 1065 years after the creation of man, 200 angels came down to earth and took women for themselves. These angels taught their wives that God did not want humans to possess: the art of weaponry and metallurgy; the art of enchantments and witchcraft; the art of cosmetology; the art of abortion; and the art of astrology, signs and root division. Mankind has corrupted itself by abusing knowledge for selfish gains and hurting all who stand in their way.
The offspring of these angels and women, called the N'filim, were giants on earth and turned to humans for their sustenance and slavery. the Book of Jasher and the Book of Enoch tell tales of N'filim drinking the blood of mortals and feasting on their carcasses. Then they started to mate with animals to create N'filim entities with a mixture of human and animal body parts. All in all, humanity - the race chosen to rule the earth and all that it contained - had fallen prey and was being hunted and ruled by a stronger mixed race than themselves. To save humanity, God chose Noah, a spotless man, with his family and drowned the N'filim and therefore the corruption that plagues his creation.
In addition, the Book of Enoch explains that when the mortal part of an N'filim died, his spirit found itself trapped here on earth waiting to be judged along with the rest of humanity. Their ghosts and spirits have been noted to be of a cloud-like substance and have been known to possess and torment humans. These evil spirits and demons were not washed away by the flood and are exorcised by Jesus Christ many times in the New Testament.
Were all N'filim bad? In Genesis 6: 4 He says: The Nephilim were on the earth in those days - and also after - when the sons of God came to the daughters of men and had children through them. They were the heroes of old, famous men. It seems that some N'filim were heroes, and with their biblical presence after the Flood, we must presume that God spared a few either for their righteousness or for other reasons. Some Jewish myths claim that Noah spared the N'filim Og who promised to be their slave forever. Others point out that Japheth's wife (Japheth is Noah's eldest son) may have been an N'filim since two of Japheth's sons, Gog and Magog, are later documented in the Bible as being of lineage N 'filim.
For some reason, some N'filim survived the flood. During the days of Abraham, it is reported that the giants fought among themselves. In Deuteronomy 3:11 he states that: Only Og, king of Bashan, was left of the rest of the Rephaites (Rapha means giant, the Rephaites are biblically recorded as being the descendants of the N'filim) ... Og was defeated and killed by Moses , but other Rapha (giant) tribes were still blocking the way to the Promised Land of Israel. The Bible mentions Goliath and several tribes as descendants of the N'filim, including the Anakim, Amorites, and Assyrians.
Vampire Traits
Historical and biblical records tell that humans worshiped a pantheon of gods made up of N'filim and fallen angels. Most polytheistic religions required human sacrifices and drank sacrificial blood. It was noted that the Assyrians, descendants of N'filim, drank the blood of conquered nations while besieging their next conquest for the purpose of intimidation. Like the Hebrews Book of Enoch includes records of semi-divine entities drinking blood directly from a human, as well as many other ancient religions. Egyptian Sekhmet, Greek Hecate, Indian Kali, and Babylonian demons Lilitu are just a few examples.
In Jewish texts, the post-Flood N'filim race was described as having an unusually long life, reached heights of nine to twelve feet, and had much paler skin than mortals. Historically, these N'filim tribes were known to drink blood from skulls, skin people alive, and sacrifice babies to demons / gods. Therefore, we are faced with a paranormal, pale and unusually long tribe known to drink blood recorded by ancient civilizations and religious texts.
Polytheistic religions
Did N'filim's Hebrew tales create the rest of the world's mythologies? There is a good probability of this. Scholars recognize that the Greek gods closely resemble what the Hebrews would call fallen angels living among and having children with mortal women. We always hear stories of Hercules, Medusa, Thor, and other half-divine heroes and villains who survived a great flood. In Norse mythology, great battles were fought between gods (fallen angels) and cannibal giants before a flood wiped out the giants for humans to repopulate the earth. The Celtic mythology of the Tuatha de Danaan continues this trend and has documentation for their ancestors from the Middle East where the N'filim tales were first recorded. In almost all ancient religions there are stories of angel / divine-like creatures mating with humans and / or animals to create their king-gods or a higher semi-divine race worshiped by humans. Additionally, every ancient religion has evil spirits and demons who torment and possess humans and provide methods of protection against these entities. The Hebrews are the only ones who give a thorough explanation of all the supernatural entities documented in the ancient world.
In conclusion, all ancient civilizations and religions speak of these N'filim and their habits of drinking blood and possessing. Each ancient and modern culture provides its own knowledge of how to protect themselves from N'filim entities: demons, spirits, ghosts and vampires. Even today, the stories and testimonies of N'filim entities are still recorded. The N'filim still seem to travel the world among us, whether in reality or in legends.