My Weird Bible: Week 3 | Brent Cunningham

Week 3: When Giants walked the earth Part 2: When Giants became Demons

KEY TERMS 

Watchers - The divine beings ("sons of God") from Gen 6:1-4. Their rebellion involved creating offspring (Nephilim giants) with human women.   

Nephilim - Hybrid giants born from Watchers and human women (Gen 6:4) who are a lethal threat to Israel and all humanity. When they died, their spirits became

demons. 

Demon (63) / Unclean spirits (23) / Evil Spirits (8) / Unclean demon (1) – Titles for this kind of malevolent disembodied spirit (as used in the NT). 

                  —Specific demon names in NT: Legion (3) / Abaddon/Apollyon (1) 

“Bastard spirits” - Dead Sea Scrolls term for demons (illegitimate offspring—part divine, part human).

ANCIENT SOURCES 

1 Enoch (chs. 15-16) - Ancient Jewish text quoted in NT (Jude 14-15). Explains

Watchers' rebellion and demons as disembodied Nephilim spirits. 

Book of Jubilees (chs. 10-11) - Jewish text explaining why demons cause illness and why Noah needed healing remedies. 

Dead Sea Scrolls - Ancient manuscripts using "bastard spirits" terminology for demons. 

Book of Giants - Tells of the giants’ demise and the release of their spirits.  

Joseph and Philo - Jewish writers 

Irenaeus, Tertullian, Justin Martyr - Christian writers (standard view for 300+ years until Augustine)