Biblical Demonology: Part 6 – The Origins of Evil Spirits
We are now able to discover the origins of evil spirits, having learned the cultural background to the second temple period understanding of the three falls and explored
- the various falls of the elohim, “sons of God” from the Divine Council,
- The Watchers Tradition in second temple literature
- Whether human women and spirit beings were able to produce offspring
We shall investigate the offspring of these unauthorised and cosmic boundary breaching unions as recorded in Genesis, which led Second Temple period writers to believe they were the origins of evil spirits:
The Nephilim [הַנְּפִלִ֞ים, γίγαντες] were on the earth in those days—and also afterwards—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes [הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים, γίγαντες] that were of old, warriors of renown.
הַנְּפִלִ֞ים – Hebrew: Nephilim, giants (Strong’s Hebrew 5303)
Genesis 6:4 (NRSV)
הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים, gibbōrîm – Hebrew: mighty men (Strong’s Hebrew 1368) –
γίγαντες, gigantes – Greek: giants
Note: The Nephilim Are Not Giants!
Much has been written regarding the Nephilim, and we shall cover these beings in a later article: what were they and how did they survive a flood. For now, it is sufficient to think along the lines of Wright [1], who shows that various targums mentioning the Nephilim held the view that they were the fallen Watchers we’ve mentioned previously. Thus there would have been two tranches of fallen Watchers, which fits biblical narratives well:
- Tranche One: ante-diluvian, led by Semjâzâ and Azâzêl,
- Tranche Two: post-diluvian, part of the “and also afterwards” of Genesis 6:4. These fell after the division of the earth in the time of Peleg (Genesis 10:25) and the building of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). They were judged (Psalm 82/89) and were assigned over the nations (Deuteronomy 32:8,9). We shall look into this fall in a later article.
Gibbōrîm – Physical Giants?
There have been many claims to have found giant skeletons. Unfortunately, these seems to be based upon a lot of speculation and circumstantial evidence, and there is a severe lack of peer-reviewed scientific papers on such sensationalised discoveries.
Space doesn’t permit a detailed exploration of these giants in terms of their size. It is possible that these were not physically gigantic, like the Titans, who were born of union between heaven (Uranus) and earth (Gaia) and share similarities in their dealings with humans. It is also equally possible they were simply very tall, like Goliath and King Og, or the sons of Anak (Numbers 13:33; Deuteronomy 1:28). Note that being ‘tall’ is a subjective term. Hundreds of years ago, certain explorers (eg Magellan in Patagonia) reported giant indigenous peoples they encountered [2]. This still happens in modern times – I’m 6’6″ and have been called a giant by some!
Frölich [3] notes that גבור, gibbōr does not denote their gigantic physical stature and that this feature only appears with the Septuagint usage of γίγαντες; terms such as ממזר, mamzêr (bastard / mongrel) and רוח, ruaḥ (spirit) are used as descriptions for these beings in various places such as 1 Enoch 10:9; 15:8. Frölich [4] also notes that the spirit, wind-like nature of these beings also led to them being understood as cosmic giants, able to move through the air, and uses the prodigious Syrian temple of Ain Dara as an example of how deities were perceived as giants.
Some translations (e.g. NRSV) steer clear of the giants terminology, using the term “heroes” for the gibborim in Genesis 6:4. However, the Septuagint translators deliberately used γίγαντες, gigantes (giants) and not the term ‘ήρωεσ, heroes. Wright [5] comments that this stems from an attempt to link their readers knowledge of Hesiod’s Theogony with the Enochic tradition as a way of explaining the ontology of these beings.
The close parallels between the many varied Flood narratives of the Ancient Near East are explored in West’s The East Face of the Helicon and worthy of reading if you can get a copy.
Whatever the physical stature of these giants, their activities were not conducive to life, emulating their fathers, the fallen Watchers, as we shall see.
The Iniquities of the Giants
The offspring of the union between the Watchers and humans were particularly violent in their behaviour towards all flesh – human and animal. Humans appear to have become enslaved to them and they consumed vast resources, becoming bloodthirsty in their desire to satiate their appetites:
They [the giants] were devouring the labor of all the sons of men, and
1 Enoch 7:3-6 (Nickelsberg translation)
men were not able to supply them. And the giants began to kill men and to devour them. And they began to sin against the birds and beasts and creeping things and the fish, and to devour one another’s flesh. And they drank the blood. Then the earth brought accusation against the lawless ones.
Genesis 6:11 states “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s (הָאֱלֹהִים, ha-elohim) sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” Wright [6] notes that the Hebrew הָאֱלֹהִים, ha-elohim in Genesis 6:11 can be translated as “the angels”, and thus the verse be read: ‘”and the earth was corrupted by (in) the presence of the angels (i.e. bene haelohim) and the earth was filled with violence,” thus implicating the angels (Watchers) as a cause of the Flood.’
The Petitions of the Archangels
The cry of the earth was herd by the archangels and a petition made to God in the heavenly courts:
Then Michael and Sariel [Uriel] and Raphael and Gabriel looked down from the sanctuary of heaven upon the earth and saw much bloodshed on the earth. All the earth was filled with the godlessness and violence that had befallen it.
And entering in, they said to one another, “The earth, devoid (of inhabitants), raises the voice of their cries to the gates of heaven. And now to , the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men make suit, saying, ‘Bring in our judgment to the Most High, and our destruction before the glory of the majesty, before the Lord of all lords in majesty.’”And approaching, they said to the Lord of the Ages, “You are the God of gods and Lord of lords and King of kings and God of the ages. And the throne of your glory (exists) for every generation of the generations that are from of old. And your name (is) holy and great and blessed for all the ages. For you have made all things and have authority over all. And all things are manifest and uncovered before you, and you see all things, and there is nothing that can be hidden from you.
You see what Asael has done, who has taught all iniquity on the earth, and has revealed the eternal mysteries that are in heaven, And (what) Shemihazah (has done) to whom you gave authority to rule over them who are with him. They have gone in to the daughters of the men of earth, and they have lain with them, and have defiled themselves with the women. And they have revealed to them all sins, and have taught them to make hate-inducing charms.
And now look, the daughters of men have borne sons from them, giants, half-breeds. And the whole earth is filled with iniquity. And now look, the spirits of the souls of the men who have died make suit, and their groan has come up to the gates of heaven, and it to come forth from the presence of the iniquities that have come upon the earth.
You know all things before they happen, and you see these things and you permit them, and you do not tell us what we ought to do to them with regard to these things.”
1 Enoch 9
The Judgement of the Giants
Hearing the petition, God pronounces judgement upon the giants; in the next chapter, he instructs Sariel (Uriel) to go to Noah’s father, Lamech to tell Noah about the upcoming judgement. Just as with human beings, God chooses to work with members of his creation in order to achieve various purposes.
Enoch was a man known for walking “with God”, or “with the angels” [7] and had been taken into heaven 669 years prior to the Flood judgement upon that land. In 1 Enoch, he appears to have been tasked by the imprisoned Watchers to make a petition to God over their sins. God hears this petition and then sends him back to them with this message [8]:
Go [Enoch] and say to the watchers of heaven, who sent you to petition in their behalf, ‘You should petition in behalf of humans, and not humans in behalf of you. Why have you forsaken the high heaven, the eternal sanctuary; and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men; and taken for yourselves wives, and done as the sons of earth; and begotten for yourselves sons, giants? You were holy ones and spirits, living forever.
1 Enoch 15:2 – 16:1 (Nickelsberg translation)
With the blood of women you have defiled yourselves, and with the blood of flesh you have begotten, and with the blood of men you have lusted, and you have done as they do – flesh and blood, who die and perish. Therefore I gave them women, that they might cast seed into them, and thus beget children by them, that nothing fail them on the earth.
But you originally existed as spirits, living forever, and not dying for all the generations of eternity; therefore I did not make women among you.’ The spirits of heaven, in heaven is their dwelling; But now the giants who were begotten by the spirits and flesh – they will call them evil spirits on the earth, for their dwelling will be on the earth.
The spirits that have gone forth from the body of their flesh are evil spirits, for from humans they came into being, and from the holy watchers was the origin of their creation. Evil spirits they will be on the earth, and evil spirits they will be called. The spirits of heaven, in heaven is their dwelling; but the spirits begotten on the earth, on the earth is their dwelling. And the spirits of the giants <led astray> , do violence, make desolate, and attack and wrestle and hurl upon the earth and <cause illness> . They eat nothing, but abstain from food and are thirsty and smite. These spirits (will) rise up against the sons of men and against the women, for they have come forth from them.
From the day of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the soul of whose flesh the spirits are proceeding, they are making desolate without (incurring) judgment. Thus they will make desolate until the day of the consummation of the great judgment, when the great age will be consummated. It will be consummated all at once.
From this Enochic material, Stuckenbruck [9] observes the origin of evil spirits (as understood by the Watchers Tradition) therefore as the spirits of the angelic-human offspring whose fleshly bodies were destroyed both in warfare against each other as well as in the Noahic Flood. They were judged and ‘allowed to survive, albeit in a radically altered [non corporeal] form, that is, as “evil spirits” ([1 Enoch] 15:8-9).’
It should be noted that there appears to be no forgiveness available for these particular beings for the chaos they created in the cosmos.
In the Image of Watchers – a Source of Evil
Wright [10] states that we are presented with two images of humans – one made in the image of God, and one made in the image of the Watchers. The spirit of God within humans results in Good within the created order, whereas the spirit of the Watchers resulted in giants that is the origin of evil in creation. Imaging is discussed by Heiser [11] who argues against the image of God being defined as a set of attributes / abilities (such as emotion, intelligence, presence of a soul / spirit, conscience, freewill, language); instead he says it is a status: ‘We are God’s representatives on earth.’ This is where the Edenic concept of stewardship in looking after the planet and its resources for the good of all, human and non-human comes from. To be a cosmically illegitimate hybrid, made in the image of the fallen Watchers, born of hubris, would be highly destructive for the planet, wreaking all kinds of evil, as the Enochic accounts tell us.
Wright [12] explains that this is why Second Temple Jews understood the origin of evil not as coming from the Edenic fall, but as the corruption caused by these giants.
Evil Spirits: The ‘Earth-bound’
Whilst the Watchers and humans were created with God-originated spirits, only humans were given physical bodies.
The giants on the other hand had human flesh, but their spirits did not originate from God; instead, these came from the fallen Watchers. Like humans, whilst alive in the flesh, they would be constrained to the physical realm. However, whereas human spirits would enter the realms of the dead upon death (1 Enoch 22:3), the illegitimate, earth-both spirits of the giants would be constrained to the earth in a form that did not permit them to satiate their appetites (1 Enoch 15:10). Could this be one reason why, given the opportunity, they may seek to enter a human body: to gratify their desires for being in the flesh once more?
The bodies of the giants may well have been destroyed but the spirits of these giants, being of earthly origin rather than heavenly, are to stay ‘earth-bound’ where they will torment humans until the final judgement (1 Enoch 15:8 – 16:1).
Non-human, wandering, destructive spirits have been known about since ancient times. Frölich [13] likens the spirits of the giants to the Mesopotamian demonic utukkū, ‘originating from the union of the sky god Anu and Earth (erṣetum)’ and were tall, ill-defined, dark shadow beings that emitted no light (which sound a lot like the ‘shadow people’ of modern paranormal culture). Lucarelli [14] notes that the Egyptians had a class of spirits, the “malevolent demon”, ontologically different from other demons and deities recognised by them.
For now, try to put aside any modern notions of the word “demon” meaning only an “evil spirit”. In ancient times, including that of the New Testament, daimones, were understood to be a much more varied group of beings than our modern, conflated understanding. We shall discuss this distinction in the next part of this series.
Conclusion
What the Bible terms “evil spirits” would have been understood by Second Temple Jews and Christians as “earth-born” spirits, “bastards” of questionable birth, made in the image of arrogant, fallen angels. They are ontologically different from fallen angels / Watchers, which were fully non-human in origin.
Their highly destructive attitude towards life whilst in the flesh remained so after the diluvial destruction of their bodies.
Wright [15] makes three observations regarding reasons for the judgement by destruction of their physical bodies:
- to prevent further physical destruction of humanity [and the rest of the planet],
- to prevent further reproduction of their illegitimate lineage,
- a second, final judgement (1 Enoch 10:16) will result in destruction of their spirits.
In the meantime, unlike the fallen Watchers who are incarcerated in ταρταρόω, tartaroō (2 Peter 2:4) until the final judgement, these particular spirits are able to roam the earth, causing destruction to life and attempting to possess the bodies of humans even today. Could this be the reason why one of the recognised signs of possession by an evil spirit is speaking in ancient, earthly languages unknown to the possessed at the time as Perry [16] notes?
Next Time – We discuss the various classes of daimons which the ancients believed in, from deities and their intermediaries, to the spirits of the dead, and how this can unlock certain Bible passages which seem strange to our modern understanding of these beings.
Bibliography
Frölich, I. (2016), ‘Giants and Demons’ in Goff, M., Stuckenbruck, L. T. and Morano, E. (eds), Ancient Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan, Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck.
Heiser, M. S. (2015), The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible, Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Lucarelli, R. (2010), ‘Demons (Benevolent and Malevolent)’, In Dieleman, J. and Wendrich, W. (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles.
Nickelsberg, G. W. E. and VanderKam, J C. (2012), 1 Enoch – The Hermeneia Translation, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Perry, M. (1996), Deliverance – Psychic Disturbances and Occult Involvement, London: SPCK.
Stuckenbruck, L. T. (2014), The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
West, M. L. (1997), The East Face of the Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myths, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Wright, A. T. (2015), The Origin of Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6:1-4 in Early Jewish Literature. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Footnotes
[1] Wright, 83.
[2] Magellan in 1520 visited Patagonia and claimed to have encountered people of enormous stature who were the Tehuelche people, with a range of between 1.80m and 2.10+ metres tall. Other reports are mentioned here.
[3[ Frölich, 107.
[4] Ibid, 107-108.
[5] Wright, 88-89.
[6] Ibid, 147.
[7] In Hebrew, Genesis 5:24 reads as וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ חֲנוֹךְ אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים וְאֵינֶנּוּ כִּי לָקַח אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים: – which Second Temple Jews would understand as “Enoch walked with the angels [Hebrew הָאֱלֹהִים ha’elohim]; then he was no more, for God [Hebrew אֱלֹהִים, elohim] took him.” Wright [6] confirms this is indeed a valid textual interpretation.
[8] We are told by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:3 that we shall judge angels. Perhaps it is because of their falling and corruption of the human race (and our physical realm) which Paul has in mind.
[9] Stuckenbruck, 15.
[10] Wright, 167.
[11] Heiser, 40-43.
[12] Wright, 167.
[13] Frölich, 105.
[14] Lucarelli, 2.
[15] Wright, 155.
[16] Perry, 123.
