calling the Hebrew-literate

[cellio]

A friend asked me about the word "n'filim" (or sometimes "nefilim"), which is the noun for the giants talked about in Gen 6:4 and Num 13:33. Or is it? ORT asserts that the former is literally "fallen angels", but armed with a dictionary, 501 Hebrew Verbs, and the knowledge that "angel" is usually a completely different word, I'm not seeing it. Oh, and there's a slight difference in the Hebrew in the two places cited, a small matter of an extra yud, and I don't know if that's a root change or some grammatical transformation.

The discussion is here (and specifically here). We'd welcome further clues from you folks who know a lot more of this language than I do. :-)

Comments

[the-never.livejournal.com]

The meaning of 'angel' changes over time, too. In Greek 'angel' (angelos) is used interchangeably to designate a celestial entity and/or to siginify the original meaning 'a messenger' (which can also be an absolutely ordinary, mortal messenger).

[cellio]

And then there's the whole issue of angels vs men when Yaakov wrestles with someone, and when the three visitors appear to Avraham, and probably other places. The latter are clearly messengers in any case.

A lot of what's written about angels isn't in the Torah but came later. Discussions of the heavenly host show up in various places in the talmud, and have found their way into the liturgy, but I don't know the history of any of it.