Gibborim is a Hebrew word that can be glossed "mightiest" which is an intensive for "gabar" that can be glossed "mighty." Many time it is used of people who are valiant, mighty, or of great stature.
As a class of beings, Genesis 6:1-4 says: "When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not content with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be 120 years. The Nephil'im were on earth in those days -and also afterward- when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."
The Nephil'im were the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men before the Deluge.
Ezekiel talks about this class of beings by saying, "In the 12th year, on the 15th day of the month, the Word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the Earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, with those who go down to the pit.'
Say to them, 'Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.'
They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let Egypt be dragged off with all her hordes. From within the grave the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, 'They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.' (Ezekiel 32: 17-21)"
"Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the Land of the Living are slain, fallen by the sword." (Ez. 32: 22-23)
"Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the Land of the Living went down uncircumcised to the Earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the Land of the Living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain." (Ezekiel 32: 24-25)
"Meshech and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the Land of the Living. Do they not lie with the other uncircumcised warriors who have fallen, who went down to the grave with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads? The punishment for their sins rested on their bones, though the terror of these warriors had stalked through the Land of the Living." (Ez.32: 26-27)
"Edom is there, her kings and all her princess; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down the pit." (Ez.32: 29)
"All the princes of the North and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down the pit." (Ezekiel 32: 30)
"You too, O Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword." (Ez.32:28) "Pharaoh -he and all his army- will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. Although I had him spread terror in the Land of the Living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord." (Ezekiel 32: 31-32)
The "sons of God"have been interpreted to be the "fallen angels" who were expelled from Heaven. In the Abrahamic religion adopted by the Islamic Empire from the 7th century, the fallen angels are ex-agents of God and enemies of humanity. The term 'fallen angel' neither appear in the Hebrew Scripture nor in Islamic Scripture.
2 Peter 2:4 says; "For if God do not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the Judgment Day." This is used to describe how angels were cast down to Earth during the War in Heaven described in the Book of Revelation between angels led by the Archangel Michael against those led by the Dragon identified as "the devil or Satan."
The word "Gibborin"is loosely translated in some Bibles as 'giants' and left untranslated in others. Numbers 13 says: "The Lord said to Moses, 'Send some men to explore the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.' So at the Lord's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites."(13: 1-3)
"When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, 'Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the Land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of Land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the Land."(It was the season for the first ripe grapes) (13: 17-20)
"So they went up and explored the Land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath.
They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahi'man, Shesh'ai, and Talm'ai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built 7 years before Zoan in Egypt)." (13: 21-22)
"They came back (at the end of the 40 days) to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran."(13:26) "They gave Moses this account:'We went into the Land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes (That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes they cut off there) that two of us carried on a pole between us, along with some pomegranates and figs. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.' Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 'We should go up and take possession of the Land, for we can certainly do it.'
But the men who had gone up with Caleb said, 'We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are.' And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the Land they had explored. They said, 'The Land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephil'im there (the descendants of Anak come form the Nephil'im). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." (13: 26-33)
The word Gebborin should be applied in this case to Joshua and Caleb that were terrible angered and shocked at the manner in which their fellow scouts had spoken and acted. Both of them tore their clothes and said to the entire assembly, "The Land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord our God is pleased with us, He will lead us into that Land, a Land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the Land because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us." (13: 5-9)
God took the lives of those who made a false report: "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 'How long will this wicked community grumble against Me? I have heard the complains of these grumbling Israelites.' So tell them, 'As surely as I live,' declares the Lord, 'I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall -every one of you 20 years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against Me. Not one of you will enter the Land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.' " (13: 26-31)
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