Giants and Their Genes

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that,
Genesis 6:4

Goliath is the best known of all the giants, as his fight with King David has been forever immortalized in the pages of the Bible. But giants have existed on the earth since the time when the children of Adam first began to repopulate the earth. While the oral history of their exploits goes back long before the time of written texts, they are first described by the Bible in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 6:1-4). And they are referenced an additional 32 more times. Some of these hybrid alien beings were considered heroic to some human populations. But it appears they have never been friendly towards God’s chosen people the Jewish race.

Scripture tells us that before and after the food of Noah, giants remained present on the earth (Genesis 6:4). But after the flood, neither their populations nor reputations seem to have recovered. The reason is twofold. First, now that the earth’s human population was decimated, there was a lot of unclaimed territory. Thus kingdoms were declared, armies created and wars inevitably broke out with nations rising and falling (Genesis 10:8-12; I Chronicles 1:10). While giants became a must have status symbol for armies to help rally the forces, many were killed in battle. A second reason for their slow decline may have been that their population was so reduced by the flood that inbreeding occurred which caused mutations that ultimately ended in extinction. It should be noted that fossil records show that of all the lifeforms that have ever existed on the earth, only 2% still survive to this today.

From their initial inception as a race, giants represented a number of tribes both before and after the flood. Jewish literature has two ancient works concerning the creation and exploits of giants. According to the First Book of Enoch and the Book of Giants, they were created by two hundred angels who mated with human women living around Mount Hermon (I Book of Enoch, Chapter 6:6). See Related Paper, "The Transfiguration". Thus, the different offspring inherited different genes from different angelic fathers. So, just as all humans are from a certain race, they none the less have different physical and mental attributes. And so it was with the giants. One race but many tribes with genetically induced physical and mental differences (Deuteronomy 2:10-11, 20-21).

For example, the Amorites are mentioned in Genesis 14:13. They descended from Noah’s grandson Canaan (Genesis 10:15-16). Canaan inherited the gene from his mother Na’amah the current wife of Noah during the flood (Genesis 4:22; Rabbi Shlomo 1040-1105). She was the sister of Tubal-Cain the great grandson of Cain. She appears to have had a sexual encounter with her step son Ham. Scripture tells us that when Noah awoke from a wine induced stupor, he “knew” what Ham his younger son had done. The Hebrew word used for “knew” is the word gala which means an incestuous activity of a sexual nature. Na’amah became pregnant and gave birth to Noah’s stepson and first grandson named Canaan after the child’s great great grandfather Cain. This is why Noah did not curse Ham his son but instead cursed Canaan. He either knew or suspected that the Nephilim gene pool was now probably back on the earth in Canaan waiting in a recessive genetic mode to one day reemerge (Genesis 9: 21-25). The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus gives us the name of this ancestor of Canaan as Amorreus (Antiquities of the Jews 1.6.139). Other references to this giant tribe can be found in Amos 2:9-10 and Numbers 13:29, 32. The giant tribe of Emin is cited in Genesis 19:37. The giant tribe of Zuzim is cited in Genesis 14:5. The Land of Ammon was known as the Land of Giants (Deuteronomy 2:20-21). The tribe of Zuzim was destroyed by God so that the descendants of Lot’s son Ben-Ammi or the Ammonites could live in the land (Genesis 19:38, Genesis 14:5). The tribe of the Rephaim were located in the Promised Land (Samuel 21:16, 18, 20). Their name may be derived from the singular name Rapha possibly the angelic founder of this tribe. Scripture tells us they were largely subdued by the Ammonites which “dwelt in their stead” (Deuteronomy 2:21). Ben-ammi was the founder of the Ammonites and was fathered by Lot who had an incestuous relationship with both of his daughters. This tribe was a constant enemy of Israel. One of the most famous members of this tribe was Og the giant King of the Land of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:11). Scripture tells us he was one of the last giants of this tribe and was killed along with all the members of his tribe trying to prevent Joshua from crossing the Jordan to enter Canaan from the East and attack Jericho. The Hebrew word Nephilim is a generic term used to encompass all the tribes of the giants (Genesis6:4).

Moses had first approached the borders of the promised land forty years earlier. At that time, the Israelites insisted on sending spies into the land to assess the military might of the occupants. The spies returned saying that there were giants or Nephilim in the land and in particular they were Anakim or descendants of the giant King Anak (Numbers 13:28-33). The Anakim were founded by Anak the son of Arba (Joshua 15:13, 21:11). Arba was legendary and founded the city of Kiriath Arba. Arba was called the mightiest giant among the Anakim (Joshua 14:15). Kiriath Arba later became known as Hebron which in turn became synonymous with the name Mamre (Genesis 35:27). Mamre was the name of an Amorite man who was an ally of Abraham (Genesis 14:13). He owned a grove of trees on the outskirts of Kiriath Arba and it was this grove that Abraham decided to settle near. The area eventually became part of Hebron and thus synonymous with his name.

Joshua entered into the promised land and fought several battles with the Anakim and Amorites. He eventually completely destroyed their populations and pulled down their cities. Only a remnant of Anakim remained and were confined to Gaza, Ashod and Gath (Joshua 11:21-22). So it comes as no surprise that Goliath came from the city of Gath (I Samuel 17:4-7). Goliath’s ancestors must have originally been from the Anakim tribe and Goliath no doubt heard the stories of how the Israelites performed acts of genocide on his people. Therefore he was more than ready to fight against them as a Blood Avenger on behalf of his kin. He also knew that the Israelites had been given a command by their God to seek out and kill all giants in the land. So the battle with David was a kill or be killed situation for Goliath.

The giants were highly regarded by many tribes in the ancient Near East. Their existence has been recorded in three Phoenician burial inscriptions. These inscriptions are very similar to those found in the Ugaritic texts. These records were found in the ancient city of Ugarit in northern Syria in the 1950's. They show that giants were considered heroes from the most ancient of times. Some were also seen as rulers, generals and judges and the Greeks referred to them as Titians. They were seen as demigods and the mortal descendants of an immortal pantheon of gods. This description in some respects fits the later wittings made by Moses around 1,500 B.C. He wrote that some of the immortal angels of God, mated with human women and produced mortal giants. They apparently used their superior intellect and strength to create great cities and a perpetual dynasty for their off spring. The people of these cities reaped the benefits of their giants and in return loved and celebrated these alien beings in life and in death. But just as they were worshiped by pagan people, they were despised by the One True Creator God and His people. God had a future plan to create a Messiah who would be part man by way of Mary and part divine by way of His inception through the Holy Spirit. There was no room for a satanically induced race of beings to be worshipped in place of God and pollute the genome of mankind. This is why God caused the flood of Noah. The Nephilim had a small brief reemergence after the flood but were ultimately destroyed by King David and his men.

Goliath is described as a champion of the Philistines. He was said to have been between 9 and 10 feet tall (I Samuel 17:4). This is probably an accurate measurement as the Israelite army returned to their camp after destroying the Philistine army and would have inspected and measured his dead body still lying on the battlefield (I Samuel 17:53). We also know that Goliath’s chain mail body armor weighed 125 pounds and the tip of his spear weighed 15 pounds (I Samuel 17:4-7). Therefore, he must have been of a tremendous size and strength in order to be able to bear this weight in battle. No wonder David took Goliath's armor as a prize into his tent for safe keeping (I Samuel 17: 54).

We have part of Goliath’s family tree from the Books of Samuel and Chronicles . We know that because Goliath was from Gath, he is referred to as a Gittite. Other scriptural accounts suggest that his brother and three sons were all giants. Thus, his being a giant was not an anomaly caused by a hyperactive pituitary glandular condition. He was from a race of giants whose offspring were also giants. He had a brother whose name was Lahmi (Samuel 21:19; Chronicles 20:5). His first son was named Ishbi-Benob (Samuel 21:16) His second son was named Sippi or Sath (Chronicles 20:4). And while his youngest son is unnamed, we are told he inherited genes that caused him to have six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (Chronicles 2:6-7; II Samuel 21:20-21; Chronicles 20:5). This means there were probably other giants in other tribes that had similar unusual physical characteristics.

As almost everyone knows, David famously used a simple shepherd sling loaded with a small stone to immobilize and or kill Goliath. Initially, a simple sling shot would seem an improbable choice of weapon to use against a giant in full armor. But a sling in the hands of a proficient user backed by the will of God became a weapon as deadly as a modern sniper riffle. At this time in history, many nations had solders that specialized in the art of wounding or killing by using a sling. In this case, the projectiles were mass manufactured using fired clay and lead balls. The projectile was placed in a small leather pouch with long strings attached to each end. One string was tied to the slingers finger while the other end was held in the same hand. The solider would create centrifugal force by whirling the sling to the side. Then, by releasing the cord, the projectile would be launched through the air at tremendous speeds. The slingers were trained to accurately hit a small target at 200 yards. Stones were thrown 400 yards at mass troop formations. Today, modern slingers have been known to throw a stone over 550 yards! These projectiles have been clocked traveling at speeds in excess of 130 miles per hour which would break bones upon impact.

When David confronted Goliath, he used the second best projectiles available which were five smooth rounded brook stones (I Samuel 17:40). Rounded stones flew straighter than irregular fieldstones. This is why David chose stones from the wadi or stream as his ammunition before facing Goliath. Because the simple sling was considered a poor mans weapon, Goliath used this understanding to taunt David. He also berated David because he was only a young lad and a lowly shepherd (I Samuel 17:42-44). Goliath was not the least bit afraid of David because of his size, strength, skills at fighting and the fact that he was literally covered from head to toe with body armor. The only part uncovered by armor was the area around the eyes (History of Rome 38.29.7). To hit an area that small, David would need to be approximately 30 yards or less from Goliath. This left a very narrow range of survival on David's part as Goliath had a javelin that was a very accurate weapon at twenty yards.

David no doubt took all of this into account, and with a prayer and faith in God, he took his shot before Goliath walked to within javelin rage. The stone struck his skull at such a high velocity that it literally crushed bone and imbedded itself into the giants forehead (I Samuel 17:49). While the impact of the projectile caused Goliath to collapse to the ground, he was not necessarily dead. Only David was close enough to see if the giant was still breathing. David quickly took Goliath’s sword from its sheath and cut off his head. He performed this somewhat grisly act for four possible reasons. First and foremost, he had sworn publicly that he would kill Goliath and then cut off his head. Second, while Goliath was lying on the ground, he may still have been alive and possibly recovered so David erred on the side of abundant caution and decapitated him. Third, Goliath may have received a mortal wound and was suffering thus David performed an act of both mercy and justice. And finally, cutting off his head would be physical proof to both armies located in the valley that the symbol of the military might of the Philistines was now destroyed. And, this meant that his second public prophecy concerning the destruction of the Philistine army was now at hand (I Samuel 17:46). The armies of Israel immediately attacked and defeated the Philistines. David took Goliath’s armor to his home but took his head back to Jerusalem where he later showed it to King Saul (I Samuel 17:54, 57).

On an interesting note, Goliath was David's third cousin by birth through Orpah the daughter in law of Ruth who was David's grand mother.

Today, the condition medically known as giantism exist but it is not hereditary. Therefore the giants mentioned in the Bible are a race because these giants begot other giants (Deuteronomy 9:2; I Chronicles 20:6). Giantism in humans is caused when the body’s growth hormone secreted by the pituitary gland has an adenoma or non-cancerous tumor present. It is the tumor pressing on the gland that causes an excessive amount of growth hormone to be produced. This condition is rare and only approximately 100 case have been documented in the United States. Almost all case involved males with many reaching 8 feet or taller. The tallest man ever recorded was Robert Wadlow born 1918 who reached a height of 8’ 11” and weighed 491 pounds. He continued to grow until the time of his death at the age of twenty two. Because this condition is now treatable, it is caught early and rarely seen.

Hybrid giants are obviously capable of being born by average size women. It is after their birth that the abnormal growth rate begins. However, the average size of ancient females, including those during the time of Jesus, was approximately 4’11”. And since the birth weight of a baby conceived by a giant is estimated to have been approximately fifteen pounds or more, it may have been that their births often killed the mothers. This may also account for the relative scarcity of giants after the flood, as it was understood that a pregnancy involving a giant as the father could be a death sentence for the mother.

Scripture tells us that David, his servants and a nephew named Abishai were involved in the deaths of five Philistine giants in the direct family line of Goliath (II Samuel 21:15-22). These acts of genocide were ordained by God in an effort to rid the land of Israel from a satanically induced race of monsters. While Satan certainly directed the giants or the seed of the serpent to congregate in the land of Canaan or Israel, there are ancient accounts of other giant tribes living in other lands. But their sheer size, weight and stress on internal organs combined with the notoriety that came to those who killed them, put the race on an inevitable path to extension. However, they did not go down without a fight.

Those killed by David and his men are as follows. Goliath who was personally killed by David (I Samuel 17:1-58). Then Goliath’s brother named Lahmi was killed by Elhanan (I Chronicles 20: 4-8). At the battle of Gob, Goliath’s son Ishbi-Benob almost killed David but was instead killed by David’s nephew Abishai (II Samuel 21:16). It was during a second day of fighting at the battle of Gob that his son Saph was killed by Sibbechai. Goliath’s forth son whose name is not given was killed by Jonathan the son of Shimea who was David’s brother. Thus the four remaining giants of Canaan were systematically hunted down and killed by orders of King David. And we know that this was not easy as the giants were both physically quick for their size, mentally fearless and a deadly foe to be approached with great respect and caution.

There is no evidence in the bible to suggest that the Nephilim, Rephaim or Anakim were directly related. And scripture list six different tribes of giants living just in the area of Israel. This makes sense in that approximately 200 male angels were involved in mating with the daughters of men. So, the giants rightly reflected the various genetic traits of 200 angelic biological progenerators.

Scripture tells us that the giants survived the flood of Noah (Genesis 6:4). There are three ways the giants might have survived the flood. First the flood was not worldwide but only disseminated the cradle of modern man or the Middle East. This is a widely held theory among Biblical scholars. Second, there was a second infestation after the flood. But this seem highly improbable that God would have allowed this to happen yet again. The third and most probable is that the giant gene was carried safely above the flood waters by a passenger on Noah's ark.

Goliath is said to have been one of four giant sons of Rapha, thus he would most likely descended from the tribe of the Rephaim. However, because he was brought up in the city of Gath located in the ancient land of the Anakim, this would suggest that he may have had Anakim relatives. Or, it might be that he married into a family living in Gath and decided to make that city his new home. And, if there were no giants residing in this city, he would have been revered as the home town champion. We know he worshipped the Philistine god Dagon and bragged that he was the Philistine that captured the Ark of the Covenant by killing the two sons of the Temple Priest Eli (I Samuel 4:11).

The Bible does not mention giant females. In humans, the father genetically decides the sex of the child. But giants are a hybrid of human beings and angelic beings. Therefore, as descendants of angels, it may be that the genetics of giants dictate only male offspring. While scripture clearly states that angels do not marry, it does not state that they are incapable of creating offspring (Matthew 22:30).

The modern world occasionally hears reports concerning the remains of a giant being excavated. So far, these remains have all been proven to be fakes. Today DNA can be extracted from skeletal remains and accurate determinations can be made as to when, where and how the person lived. This technology can also delineate between tribal groups and identify any giant lineages mentioned in Scripture. That said, recent archeological evidence shows that the name Goliath was in use in the area of ancient Gath around 1,000 B.C. which is the time of the David vs Goliath story.

On a final note, Rabbinical interpretations of the word demon possibly refers to the departed spirits of the giants and their destination at death. The Bible uses a specific word Rephaim for a being that dies but has no resurrection. The word Rephaim in Hebrew has two meanings. One is that the word relates to unusually tall people. The second is that the word relates to the departed spirits of kings or powerful people who now, in death, have been brought down and made weak as they await judgement by God. The Book of Isaiah says that the Nephilim or giants will not participate in a resurrection as will all fully human people (John 5:28-29). This verse from Isaiah in the original Hebrew reads, “They are dead, they shall not live; they are the Nephilim, they shall not rise.” (Isaiah 26:14) And what are the saved dead rising to? The Book of Psalm says, “Will you show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.” (Psalm 88:10) The reason that giants will not be resurrected is that while they had human mothers, they had non-human fathers. And because their fathers are not sons of Adam but sons of God, the offspring are not considered members of the Adamic race. So, they are not the sons of man. Only members of Adam’s race have been offered redemption by God through Christ. The angels have no path to redemption thus their fates are sealed.

So, it is thought by scholars that when a giant died, the spirit disengaged from the body but was not confined in Sheol as were the spirits of all humans before Christ. Instead, these menevolent spirits were apparently forced to roam the earth primarily looking for living humans to indwell (Matthew 12:43). In the case of Jesus and the swine incident, the demons knew Jesus had the power to instantly disengage them from the man they currently indwelled. They knew He would not allow them to indwell the immediate residents of the land. They were frantic that He not send them into the Pit to be tormented before their time. So, they begged Him to allow them to indwell a nearby heard of swine. Jesus agreed but unfortunately for them, even the swine understood that it was better to commit suicide than to live with a demon spirt (Matthew 8:28-32).

The issue with the beastly demonic spirits of the giants is twofold. First, in their hybrid state, they are not of the race of Adam or mankind. And second, the Nephilim spirits adamantly refuse to repent and are determined to be continuously antithetical to the will of God in every way possible no matter the consequences. Paul states that he personally fought with beasts while at Ephesus. He stated that a beast’s motto was to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die (I Corinthians 15:31-32). He is speaking of all people who willfully believe there is no God. These people rage against the Gospel and the idea of eternal life in the manner of wild beasts. Their view of life is to enjoy it to its fullest regardless of how it effects those around them, “for we know we shall die and there will be the end of us.”(Matthew Poole’s Commentary) This is why people, of their own accord, freely give themselves over to the desires of the flesh in this life.

Giants lived their lives in the moment with no regard for man or God. They lived knowing they were in rebellion against God and against the people of God. They knew at their deaths they would be judged and knew their ultimate destination yet did not care. This would explain why the demon spirits feared Jesus. They knew only He had the power to cut short the activities that gave them pleasure in life and now continued to give them pleasure even in death. We know this because they are quoted in scripture as the first to announce publicly who Jesus was and begged Him not to send them to their final destination in the abyss (Matthew 8:28-31; Mark 5:7; Luke 8:27-31).

The Nephilim were figuratively blood thirsty due to the enjoyment they received from taking human life. But they were also literally blood thirsty by way of their diet. The Book of Enoch states that whenever animal meat was not available to them, they would eat the flesh of humans and drink their blood (Book of Enoch, Section I, Chapter VII). As disturbing as this sounds, the human race has a long and sorted history of eating human flesh and drinking blood. The consumption of human flesh is known as cannibalism. This practice has been well documented concerning the people of New Guinea, Melanesia, Fiji, Amazon Basin and New Zealand. It is still practiced today in Liberia and the Congo. The consumption of human flesh and blood is condemned by God. To stop this act, He has put into man a genetic mechanism that causes anyone who consumes human flesh to develop BSE or more commonly known as Mad Cow Disease. This medical understanding came about when farmers started feeding their cattle grain mixed with dried bovine meat pellets. Their cattle began to suffer from a disease of the brain which caused a breakdown of the central nervous system. A member of Doctors Without Borders saw a video of a cow with the disease and remembered he had seen these same symptoms in tribal members of the South Pacific. After an investigation, it turned out these tribes secretly practiced cannibalism.

God also forbids the drinking of blood. It was only after the flood that He gave permission for His followers to eat meat. However, He insisted that the blood must first be drained from the meat as it is the symbol of life (Genesis 9:3-4). Still, even today there are cultures that drink blood both straight or mixed with milk. The most notable are the Maasai of Tanzania who regularly consume blood and prefer to eat their meat raw. This practice was apparently pervasive in the Middle East during the first century. Scripture tells us that Paul went to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles and elders of the early church in order to establish his ministry to the gentiles. It was at that time that he received approval from Peter and the assembly concerning his ministry, but they insisted that born again gentiles were to abstain from drinking blood (Acts 15:20).

Therefore, while it is not remarkable to learn that the giants were capable of cannibalism, it is interesting to note how this practice parallels that of the animal world. Many scholars believe that when scripture refers to the beast of the fields it always infers a double meaning. Literally it is referring to both wild and domesticated four legged animals. They lack intellect, self-awareness and only interpret situations in terms of fight of flight. They are either in a state eating, resting, mating or consuming food. Figuratively, the term beast is also referring to those people and demonic spirits whose existence exhibits the same attributes as animals. They live with the motto that the secret of life is only about enjoying the passing of time. They have little or no regard for their fellow man. Their focus is purely self-gratification in the moment. This makes them in many ways like the beast of the fields. Prophetically, their reward for a life lived in this way is the condemnation of God and destruction. Just as they only consumed in life, their bodies will be consumed by nature in death, turned into fertilizer and their spirits will have no resurrection (Matthew 24:28; Ezekiel 39:17-20; Revelation 19:17). Ultimately, the memory of their existence will be completely erased by God and so it will be as if they never existed.

Thus, while the Nephilim were physically eradicated from the earth by civilized mankind and spiritually eradicated during the ministry of Jesus, the memory of their existence currently lives on in Scripture. And now we know that giants were more than just simply tall tales.