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October 9, 2015

The Monotheistic Message of the Giants of Genesis

What are demigods doing in the Torah?

The sixth chapter of Genesis begins with a puzzling episode in which “sons of gods” (to render the phrase literally) mate with human women to produce a race of giants. At this point, God announces that the human lifespan will henceforth be capped at 120 years. Benjamin Sommer notes that legends of deities begetting quasi-divine offspring with mortal consorts were common in ancient Near Eastern and Greek myth, but seem out of place in the monotheistic Torah. Yet the tale of the giants may not be so anomalous after all:

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October 9, 2015

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    And perhaps complicit.

  2. The Afghan Hospital Bombing, Civilian Casualties, and State Department Hypocrisy

    The fruits of instantaneous criticism of Israel.

  3. The Monotheistic Message of the Giants of Genesis

    What are demigods doing in the Torah?

  4. What Happened When I Spoke at My Graduation from an Israeli University

    In Egypt, outrage.

  5. New Light on the Mysterious Origins of the Philistines

    They were there all along.