Giants, Ancients & Strange Beings

Genesis 6:1-4

The offspring of the 'sons of God' and 'daughters of men' — mighty ones of old, men of renown.

The Hebrew word נְפִילִים may derive from 'naphal' (to fall). Their existence immediately precedes God's decision to send the Flood.

1 Enoch 7:1-5

Giants born from the union of the Watchers (fallen angels) and human women. They grew to 3,000 ells tall and consumed all the produce of humanity.

When there was nothing left to eat, the giants turned against the people and began to devour them. They also consumed birds, beasts, reptiles, and fish.

Deuteronomy 2:10-11, Numbers 13:33

A race of giants descended from Anak. The Israelite spies said: 'We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.'

Three named Anakim — Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai — dwelt in Hebron. Caleb later drove them out (Joshua 15:14).

Genesis 14:5, Deuteronomy 3:11

Ancient giant race predating Israel. Og, king of Bashan, was the last of the Rephaim — his iron bed was 13 feet long and 6 feet wide.

The word also refers to shades of the dead in Sheol (Isaiah 14:9), suggesting a link between these ancient giants and the underworld.

1 Samuel 17:4-7

The Philistine champion from Gath, over 9 feet tall. His coat of mail weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze, his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron.

Goliath may have been a descendant of the Rephaim. Other giants from Gath are named in 2 Samuel 21:15-22.

Ether 15:26, Moses 7:15

The Jaredite civilization included mighty men of great stature. Coriantumr was the last survivor of an entire nation destroyed by war — found by the people of Zarahemla.

The Book of Moses describes a time when 'giants of the land stood afar off' as Enoch prophesied. Wars among the Jaredites resulted in millions of deaths and total extinction.

Ramayana, Mahabharata

Shape-shifting giant demons with fearsome powers. Ravana, the ten-headed Rakshasa king of Lanka, kidnapped Sita and fought Lord Rama.

Rakshasas could assume any form, fly through the air, and were said to feast on human flesh. Some were righteous — Vibhishana defected to Rama's side.

Rig Veda, Puranas

Powerful, giant anti-gods who wage war against the Devas. Originally divine beings, they fell through pride and desire for power.

In early Vedas, 'asura' simply meant 'powerful being.' Over time it came to mean the opponents of cosmic order (similar to the Titan/Olympian divide).

Vishnu Purana

A race of giant Asura demons, sons of Diti and the sage Kashyapa. Hiranyakashipu, a Daitya king, became virtually indestructible through penance.

Vishnu incarnated as Narasimha (half-man, half-lion) specifically to slay Hiranyakashipu, who could not be killed by man or beast, by day or night.

1 Enoch 6-8

200 angels led by Semyaza who descended to Mount Hermon and swore an oath to take human wives. They taught humanity forbidden knowledge.

Azazel taught metalworking and weapons; Shemihazah taught enchantments; Armaros taught counter-spells; Baraqiel taught astrology; Kokabiel taught constellations.

1 Enoch 8:1, 10:4-6

Leader among the Watchers who taught men to make swords, knives, shields, and breastplates, and taught women cosmetics and adornment.

God commands Raphael to bind Azazel hand and foot, cast him into darkness in the desert of Dudael, and cover him with rocks until the Day of Judgment.

1 Enoch 6:3, 69:2

The chief of the 200 Watchers. He feared taking the oath alone and convinced the others to bind themselves together by mutual curse.

His name means 'he sees the name' or 'the name sees.' Some traditions equate him with the constellation Orion, hung upside down between heaven and earth.

Quran 2:34, 7:11-18

A jinn (not an angel) who refused to bow to Adam when commanded by Allah. He was cast out and became the adversary of humanity.

Unlike the Christian Satan, Iblis was never an angel — the Quran specifies he was made of 'smokeless fire' (a jinn). He asked for respite until Judgment Day to lead humans astray.

Quran 2:102

Two angels sent to Babylon as a test for humanity. They taught people sorcery but warned: 'We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve.'

The Quran mentions them in the context of Solomon's kingdom and the magic practiced there. Their story parallels the Watchers teaching forbidden arts.

Isaiah 14:12, Revelation 12:7-9

The morning star who fell from heaven. 'How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!'

Revelation describes a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil.

Moses 4:1-4, D&C 76:25-29

In LDS theology, Lucifer was a spirit son of God who rebelled in the pre-mortal council. He proposed to save all humanity by removing free will, and was cast out with a third of the hosts of heaven.

D&C 76 describes him as 'an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son.' His fall is tied to the War in Heaven before mortality.

Ezekiel 10:1-22, Genesis 3:24

Four-faced beings with four wings — the faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle. Under their wings were human hands. They guarded Eden with a flaming sword.

Nothing like modern 'cherubs.' Ezekiel describes them as terrifying creatures whose wings were full of eyes, accompanied by wheels within wheels (the Ophanim).

Isaiah 6:1-7

Six-winged beings surrounding God's throne. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

The name means 'burning ones.' One took a live coal from the altar with tongs and touched Isaiah's lips to purify him. They cried 'Holy, holy, holy!'

Revelation 4:6-8

Four creatures around the throne — like a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle — each with six wings and covered with eyes all around and within.

Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'

Quran 15:27, 55:15, 72:1-15

Beings created from 'smokeless fire' before humans. They live in a parallel world, have free will, and can be Muslim or disbelieving.

An entire surah (Al-Jinn, 72) is dedicated to them. Solomon commanded jinn to build for him (Quran 34:12-13). They can hear the Quran and be moved to faith.

Garuda Purana, Mahabharata

A divine eagle with a human body — the king of birds and mount of Lord Vishnu. Large enough to block out the sun.

Garuda is an eternal enemy of the Nagas (serpents). He stole amrita (nectar of immortality) from the gods to free his mother from slavery.

Pali Canon, Jataka Tales

Serpent beings who dwell in underwater kingdoms. They can take human form and are guardians of Buddhist scriptures.

The Naga king Mucalinda sheltered the Buddha during meditation by spreading his cobra hood over him. Nagarjuna, a key Buddhist philosopher, is said to have retrieved the Prajnaparamita sutras from the Naga realm.

3 Nephi 28:1-12

Three of Jesus' twelve disciples in the Americas who asked to remain on earth until His Second Coming. They were 'changed' so that death and pain had no power over them.

They were cast into furnaces, dens of wild beasts, and pits, but were unharmed each time. They minister among mortals but cannot be identified. Mormon says 'they are as the angels of God.'

Ether 3:6-16

The Brother of Jared saw the finger of the Lord touching sixteen stones, and because of his extraordinary faith, the veil was removed and he saw the full spirit body of Jesus Christ.

The Lord told him: 'Never has man believed in me as thou hast.' He was shown 'all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be.' The vision was sealed up.

Pali Canon, Jataka Tales

Nature spirits ranging from benevolent guardians to fearsome man-eating giants. They guard the treasures of the earth.

Kubera, king of the Yakshas, is the god of wealth. Some Yakshas became protectors of Buddhism after being converted by the Buddha.

Job 41, Psalm 74:14, Isaiah 27:1

A massive sea serpent or dragon that no human can tame. 'Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour from his mouth.'

Some scholars connect Leviathan to Lotan from Ugaritic mythology. God will slay Leviathan at the end of days (Isaiah 27:1).

Job 40:15-24

A colossal land creature — 'Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. It eats grass like an ox. Its tail sways like a cedar. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron.'

Behemoth is the land counterpart to Leviathan. In Jewish eschatology, both will be served as food at the messianic banquet.

Bhagavata Purana 7.8

The half-man, half-lion avatar of Vishnu — created to circumvent a demon king's boon that he could not be killed by man or beast.

Narasimha burst from a stone pillar at twilight (neither day nor night), placed Hiranyakashipu on his lap (neither earth nor sky), and tore him apart with his claws (neither weapon nor bare-handed).

Isaiah 51:9, Psalm 89:10, Job 26:12

A primordial sea monster representing chaos. 'Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through?'

Not the woman from Jericho — Rahab here is a chaos dragon God defeated at creation, parallel to Marduk defeating Tiamat in Babylonian mythology.

Zhuangzi, Chinese Mythology

Four dragon kings ruling the four seas, each controlling rain, storms, and water. They can take human form and dwell in crystal palaces beneath the ocean.

The Dragon King of the East Sea is the most prominent. Dragons in Taoist tradition are benevolent symbols of power and wisdom, unlike Western dragons. They are intermediaries between heaven and earth.

Vedas, Puranas

A sea creature with the body of a fish and head of an elephant (or crocodile). The vahana (mount) of the river goddess Ganga and the god Varuna.

Makara appears at temple gateways as a guardian figure. Its open jaws symbolize the gateway between the earthly and divine worlds.

Revelation 13:1-4

A beast rising from the sea with ten horns, seven heads, and ten crowns. It had the body of a leopard, feet of a bear, and mouth of a lion.

The dragon (Satan) gave the beast his power and throne. The number of the beast is 666. A second beast rose from the earth with two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon.

Isaiah 14:9, 26:14; Proverbs 9:18

The spirits of the dead dwelling in Sheol — 'The dead do not live; the Rephaim do not rise.' The same word used for the ancient giants.

This double meaning (giants and ghosts) suggests the ancients believed the spirits of the fallen Nephilim/giants became the shades that haunt the underworld.

1 Samuel 28:3-20

King Saul, desperate before battle, asked a medium to summon the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel. She saw 'a god coming up out of the earth.'

Samuel's ghost rebuked Saul: 'Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?' He prophesied Saul's death the next day. The passage is one of the Bible's strangest encounters.

Petavatthu, Tibetan Book of the Dead

Beings with enormous stomachs and pinhole mouths, tormented by insatiable hunger and thirst — reborn into this realm through greed and attachment.

The Hungry Ghost Realm is one of the six realms of samsara. The Ghost Festival (Ullambana) honors these beings with offerings of food and prayers.

Atharvaveda, Garuda Purana

Flesh-eating demons that haunt cremation grounds and dark places. They can possess the living and drive them to madness.

Pishachas are said to be the spirits of those who committed crimes, were liars, or went insane. They are feared as carriers of disease and insanity.

Quran 7:65-72, 89:6-8

An ancient Arabian people of enormous stature who built 'Iram of the Pillars' — a city with lofty columns the like of which had never been created in the land.

The prophet Hud was sent to them. They rejected him, and Allah destroyed them with a furious wind that raged for seven nights and eight days.

Quran 7:73-79, 91:11-15

An ancient people who carved homes into mountains and rocks. The prophet Salih was sent to them with a miraculous she-camel as a sign.

They hamstrung the she-camel despite warnings. Allah destroyed them with a mighty blast (earthquake/thunderbolt). Their ruins are identified with Mada'in Salih in Saudi Arabia.

Genesis 4-6, 1 Enoch 7-8

The pre-Flood civilization that received forbidden knowledge from the Watchers — metalworking, weaponry, cosmetics, astrology, and enchantments.

Multiple traditions recall an advanced antediluvian civilization destroyed by flood: Sumerian (Eridu), Hindu (Manu's flood), Greek (Deucalion). The Watchers' teachings mirror Prometheus giving fire to humanity.

Deuteronomy 2:10-11

An ancient race considered as tall as the Anakim. The Moabites called them 'Emim' — meaning 'the dreaded ones' or 'the terrors.'

Like the Rephaim and Anakim, they were a pre-Israelite giant race of Canaan. Their very name suggests they inspired supernatural fear.

Book of Ether

An ancient civilization that sailed to the Americas after the Tower of Babel. Over millennia they grew into a vast nation, then destroyed themselves in apocalyptic civil war.

Their final battle at the Hill Ramah/Cumorah killed millions. Only Coriantumr survived, fulfilling Ether's prophecy. The brother of Jared, their founder, had the greatest recorded faith in LDS scripture.

Book of Mormon

A civilization descended from Lehi who left Jerusalem around 600 BC. After a thousand years and a visit from the resurrected Christ, they were annihilated by the Lamanites at Cumorah.

Mormon, their final prophet-general, abridged their entire history onto gold plates. His son Moroni buried them and later appeared as an angel to Joseph Smith.

Moses 7:13-21

Enoch built a city so righteous that 'the Lord came and dwelt with his people.' Eventually the entire city of Zion was 'taken up into heaven' — translated from the earth.

Moses 7 describes enemies fleeing as mountains moved and rivers changed course. The city of Enoch will return at the Second Coming to meet the New Jerusalem.

Deuteronomy 2:20-21

A people 'great and many, and tall as the Anakim' who dwelt in what later became Ammonite territory. God destroyed them before the Ammonites.

The name may mean 'plotters' or 'murmurers.' They are identified with the Rephaim.