Nephilim: New Testament

In Mark 1 we read about a possessed man.

Mark 1 v 23-26

Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

Jesus encounters an impure spirit and casts it out of a possessed person.

Demonology is a complex area of theology, with different traditions at different times having various interpretations. Anything ranging from possession is simply a mental illness to these spirits are fallen angels.

The word translated as impure is akathartos. It can mean unclean or mixed. The other word associated with possession is daimonion, which is where we get the word demon. Glancing through the New Testament, these two terms are used interchangeable in the Godpels. Though some commentators suggest that unclean spirits relate to a breach of the Torah in a specific way, while demon is simply an evil spirit.

In the context of Jesus’ ministry, the 1st century Judeans saw impure spirits in a particular way. They believed they were the spirits of the Nephilim who drowned in the Great Flood. After their human bodies were destroyed by the waters and their human souls had gone to the Underworld, their demonic spirits roamed the Earth.

One difficulty with the Nephilim being completely destroyed in the Flood, was finding them still around afterwards. You’d think that they’d all been completely wiped out.

One theory is that the Nephilim ‘gene’ had come down through Noah’s line. But a more likely situation is the new Nephilim had been created through sexual intercourse, just like they were in Genesis 6.

So how are Nephilim or Men of Renown born according to the ancient world? The Bible does not specifically say, however we can draw conclusions from the Sumerian literature. According to the Sumerians and Babylonians, the great kings before the Great Flood were 2/3 divine and 1/3 human. Afterwards, they were 1/3 divine and 2/3 human. This suggests three agents were involved in the conception of a Nephilim.

The birth story of Alexander the Great explains that Zeus impregnated his mother the night before his father did. This would mean, according to Alexander, there were three agents involved with his conception. Implying, he was a Nephilim.

We find another story which could support this view from the story of the Greek hero Heracles. Zeus impregnated Heracles’s mother, Alcmene, while disguised as Amphitryon (his earthly father). Alcmene was tricked into having sex with Zeus and created a ‘man of renown’.

So in this idea, Nephilim are conceived through a sexual act involving not just the couple, but a third agent too, which was demonic. Yes, Zeus is a demon from a Christian perspective.

We see several birth stories in the Bible, where a child is foretold. In all these occasions, there are only two agents. Even in the birth of Christ, it is St Mary and the Holy Spirit. The Angel Gabriel announces the birth, but only two agents are involved in the conception.

A key point to make is not all demon possessed people are Nephilim. This is when they are born with a demon already living within them. The spirit of a Nephilim can still possess other people after their human side has died. But that doesn’t make the possessed person a Nephilim.

So why was casting our demons so important in Jesus’ ministry?

In Hebrew, Jesus is the same word as Joshua. Where Joshua goes through the Land of Canaan destroying the Nephilim giant clans, Jesus does the same thing when casting out or driving out demons (Nephilim) from possessed people.

In Modern times, we don’t tend to see demonic possession in this way. We think of the film the Exorcist or other similar movies. Demonology is not a high priority in the traditional churches, while the Pentecostals and Charismatics have developed their own theologies on the topic, some which are quite fleshed out.

Whatever our view on this, demonic activity is apparent and active in this World. And we should always pray for God to stop their influence in our cultures.