that the Nephilim appeared on earth—when the divine beings cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown.
GENESIS 6:1 – 4
I had never seen one of the Nephilim, but when I was a child, my father had tried to keep me from wandering from our tent when he was overseeing his grove by warning me that there were creatures that had fallen from heaven. “They are angry at humans, and also,” he said, “hungry.”
“Why are they angry with people,” I asked, “when it was the sons of God who came down and defiled the daughters of man?”
“And so they are angry at these daughters of man for their father’s seductions.”
“But without these seductions, they would not exist.”
“They do not understand this, and much else. They think girls are wicked. They will eat you and worse if you stray from the tent.”
“But if they look at the ugliness upon my brow, they will see I could not seduce a mortal man, much less a son of God.”
“They are so big that, to them, we all look like flies. They are not blessed with their fathers’ perfect sight.”
My heart swelled like an infected wound. I knew my father was exaggerating to scare me and keep me safe. These Nephilim could not possibly be angry at mortal girls when, without these girls, they would not be alive.
I tried not to smile or sing that day, for fear my father would know what I was thinking, which was that someday I might be able to win the favor of one of these massive creatures who could not make out the dark stain upon my brow.
• • •
I n my father’s village, there had been only one girl who was not filled with fear at the sight of me. She did not want to be any less than ten cubits away from me, but that was closer than most people let me get, and her eyes did not shun me. I sensed that the other children did not want to be around this girl any more than they wanted to be around me. Otherwise, why would she have allowed me near her?
Not half a moon after learning of the Nephilim’s poor sight, I sneaked out to the girl’s tent to borrow a cup of lentils. Like me, shehad no mother, and her father was off plucking olives for my own father. I placed my cup on the ground, called to her, asking her to fill it with lentils, and backed away so she could pick it up. As she did, she told me a man had recently come to speak with her father about taking her as a wife. “Has any man come to talk to your father about taking you as a wife?”
Surely she knew no man would have me. I was both angry and ashamed. I surprised myself by saying, “Yes.”
The look of disappointment on her face was very satisfying, and I wished to deepen it. “Well, not really a man,” I said.
She smiled. “I did not think so.”
“No, not a man. One of the Nephilim.”
She laughed. “Why would a grandson of God, who could have any girl he wanted, take a marked one for a wife?”
“They do not see well,” I told her. “They choose their wives not by how they look but by the strength of their spirits and their ability to bear sons.”
She looked skeptical, but the disappointment did not fade from her face, so my work was done. “Thank you for the lentils,” I said. “I hope your husband is a big and powerful man. Or at least as big and powerful as a mere man can be.”
I secretly followed my father the next day as he made his way to the trade route with a sack of olives he intended to barter for some incense. That is when I saw the man, the donkey, and the girl. The man was neither large nor powerful. Well, he was not tall and powerful. He was so fat, and his donkey so old, that he did not ride it.
The girl rode the ass, staring down at the animal’s neck as though she might wring it and bring the slow journey to a halt. Then she cast her gaze around her to see who witnessed her humiliation, and her eyes landed on me. She straightened her back and held her head high. Perhaps it occurred to her
GENESIS 6:1 – 4
I had never seen one of the Nephilim, but when I was a child, my father had tried to keep me from wandering from our tent when he was overseeing his grove by warning me that there were creatures that had fallen from heaven. “They are angry at humans, and also,” he said, “hungry.”
“Why are they angry with people,” I asked, “when it was the sons of God who came down and defiled the daughters of man?”
“And so they are angry at these daughters of man for their father’s seductions.”
“But without these seductions, they would not exist.”
“They do not understand this, and much else. They think girls are wicked. They will eat you and worse if you stray from the tent.”
“But if they look at the ugliness upon my brow, they will see I could not seduce a mortal man, much less a son of God.”
“They are so big that, to them, we all look like flies. They are not blessed with their fathers’ perfect sight.”
My heart swelled like an infected wound. I knew my father was exaggerating to scare me and keep me safe. These Nephilim could not possibly be angry at mortal girls when, without these girls, they would not be alive.
I tried not to smile or sing that day, for fear my father would know what I was thinking, which was that someday I might be able to win the favor of one of these massive creatures who could not make out the dark stain upon my brow.
• • •
I n my father’s village, there had been only one girl who was not filled with fear at the sight of me. She did not want to be any less than ten cubits away from me, but that was closer than most people let me get, and her eyes did not shun me. I sensed that the other children did not want to be around this girl any more than they wanted to be around me. Otherwise, why would she have allowed me near her?
Not half a moon after learning of the Nephilim’s poor sight, I sneaked out to the girl’s tent to borrow a cup of lentils. Like me, shehad no mother, and her father was off plucking olives for my own father. I placed my cup on the ground, called to her, asking her to fill it with lentils, and backed away so she could pick it up. As she did, she told me a man had recently come to speak with her father about taking her as a wife. “Has any man come to talk to your father about taking you as a wife?”
Surely she knew no man would have me. I was both angry and ashamed. I surprised myself by saying, “Yes.”
The look of disappointment on her face was very satisfying, and I wished to deepen it. “Well, not really a man,” I said.
She smiled. “I did not think so.”
“No, not a man. One of the Nephilim.”
She laughed. “Why would a grandson of God, who could have any girl he wanted, take a marked one for a wife?”
“They do not see well,” I told her. “They choose their wives not by how they look but by the strength of their spirits and their ability to bear sons.”
She looked skeptical, but the disappointment did not fade from her face, so my work was done. “Thank you for the lentils,” I said. “I hope your husband is a big and powerful man. Or at least as big and powerful as a mere man can be.”
I secretly followed my father the next day as he made his way to the trade route with a sack of olives he intended to barter for some incense. That is when I saw the man, the donkey, and the girl. The man was neither large nor powerful. Well, he was not tall and powerful. He was so fat, and his donkey so old, that he did not ride it.
The girl rode the ass, staring down at the animal’s neck as though she might wring it and bring the slow journey to a halt. Then she cast her gaze around her to see who witnessed her humiliation, and her eyes landed on me. She straightened her back and held her head high. Perhaps it occurred to her
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