Mike Heiser in Michael S. Heiser

8 years ago

Many of you will know that there's a lot of chatter online about how the nephilim factor into biblical prophecy via Matt 24:38. I reject that view. I don't believe in any sort of nephilim presence beyond the biblical period, and don't believe that has anything to do with eschatology. Here's an email I got recently about this and my reply. It provides my reason for rejecting this idea. >> Question: What source is Jesus referencing in Matthew 24:38 when he says marriage? You point out in UR that the ANE polygamy theorists or wrong because the text never says marriage or wives. But then we get Jesus saying it was marriage. Is He referencing Enoch "wives" in the Hermeneia translation? Or is He clarifying what actually went down? >> My answer: >> The language in Matt 24:38 is not the LXX for Gen 6:1-4, so Matthew isn't referencing Gen 6:1-4. Here are the relevant passages with relevant English and Greek material. Mat 24:38 38 ὡς γὰρ ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις [ἐκείναις] ταῖς πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ τρώγοντες καὶ πίνοντες, γαμοῦντες καὶ γαμίζοντες, ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας εἰσῆλθεν Νῶε εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν, The phrase for "marrying and giving in marriage" is γαμοῦντες καὶ γαμίζοντες (these terms do not appear in LXX; the lemmas are gameo and gamizo, respectively). LXX Gen 6:1-4 (esp. vv. 2, 4) 1 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα ἤρξαντο οἱ ἄνθρωποι πολλοὶ γίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ θυγατέρες ἐγενήθησαν αὐτοῖς. 2 ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς θυγατέρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅτι καλαί εἰσιν, ἔλαβον ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας ἀπὸ πασῶν, ὧν ἐξελέξαντο. 3 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ὁ θεός Οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας, ἔσονται δὲ αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι ἔτη. 4 οἱ δὲ γίγαντες ἦσαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ μετʼ ἐκεῖνο, ὡς ἂν εἰσεπορεύοντο οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὰς θυγατέρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐγεννῶσαν ἑαυτοῖς, ἐκεῖνοι ἦσαν οἱ γίγαντες οἱ ἀπʼ αἰῶνος, οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ὀνομαστοί. Septuaginta: With Morphology (electronic ed.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1979), Ge 6:1–4. Translation: *And Noah lived five hundred years, and Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And it happened, when humans began to become numerous upon the land, and ⌊they had daughters⌋, 2 the angels of God, having seen the daughters of humans, that they were beautiful, took for themselves women from all whom they picked out. 3 The Lord God said, “⌊My breath will not at all reside⌋ in these humans ⌊for very long⌋ because they are flesh, but their days will be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 Now giants were upon the land in those days, and after that, ⌊whenever⌋ ⌊the sons of God visited⌋ the daughters of humans, they fathered children for themselves; those were the giants who were from long ago, the people of renown.  Rick Brannan et al., eds., The Lexham English Septuagint (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Ge 6:1–4. 1 Enoch 6:1-2 6 1* In those days, when the children of man had multiplied, it happened that there were born unto them handsome and beautiful daughters. 2 And the angels, the children of heaven, saw them and desired them; and they said to one another, “Come, let us choose wives for ourselves from among the daughters of man and beget us children.” 7:1 And they took wives unto themselves, and everyone (respectively) chose one woman for himself, and they began to go unto them James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (vol. 1; New York; London: Yale University Press, 1983), 16. The above Enoch passages in Greek: 6:1-2   1 Καὶ ἐγένετο ὅταν ἐπληθύνθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐγεννήθησαν θυγατέρες ὡραῖαι καὶ καλαί. 2 καὶ ἐθεάσαντο αὐτὰς οἱ ἄγγελοι υἱοὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐπεθύμησαν αὐτάς, καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους· Δεῦτε ἐκλεξώμεθα ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ γεννήσομεν ἑαυτοῖς τέκνα. 7:1   1 Καὶ ἔλαβον ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκες· ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ἐξελέξαντο ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας, καὶ ἤρξαντο εἰσπορεύεσθαι πρὸς αὐτὰς καὶ μιαίνεσθαι ἐν αὐταῖς· καὶ ἐδίδαξαν αὐτὰς φαρμακείας καὶ ἐπαοιδὰς καὶ ῥιζοτομίας, καὶ τὰς βοτάνας ἐδήλωσαν αὐταῖς. Ken Penner and Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology” (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008). The point: Greek Enoch also does not have the lemmas of Matt 24:38. Consequently, Matthew isn't using a source (either LXX or Greek Enoch). There is no way to tell (much less prove) if he had Gen 6:1-4 or the Enochian tradition in his head when he wrote Matt 24:38. There is no textual evidence upon which to base that assumption. Linking Matthew 24:38 to the nephilim is not a text-based interpretation.