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Who Are the Nephilim?[1]

誰是拿非利人？

The mysterious beings of Genesis 6

創世紀第6章中的神秘生物

Who are the Nephilim? The giant Goliath is best known for facing the formidable but slight David and losing. Many theorists believe that Goliath was a descendant of the Nephilim of Genesis 6. This painting of the confrontation between David and Goliath was completed by William H. Johnson in 1944 during the Harlem Renaissance. The naïve style presents the scene in its basic, most essential parts. Credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

誰是拿非利人？巨人歌利亞最出名的就是他面對強大而渺小的大衛，然後被擊敗的故事。許多理論家相信歌利亞是創世紀第6章中的拿非利人的後裔。這幅畫是關於大衛與歌利亞之間的對峙，它是由William H. Johnson 1944年在哈林文藝復興時期所完成的。天真的風格呈現出了故事中基本卻最必要的部分。圖片來源：華盛頓特區的史密森尼美國藝術博物館

The Nephilim, the product of the sons of god mingling with the daughters of Adam, the great Biblical giants, “the fallen ones,” the Rephaim, “the dead ones”—these descriptions are all applied to one group of characters found within the Hebrew Bible. Who are the Nephilim? From where do the “heroes of old, the men of renown” come?

拿非利人、上帝的兒子與亞當的女兒所生下的產物、偉大的聖經巨人、「墮落者」、利乏音人、「死亡者」，以上這些描述都適用於一群在希伯來聖經中發現的角色。誰是拿非利人？「上古的英雄、著名的人」又是從何而來呢？

Genesis 6:1–4 tells the readers that the Nephilim, which means “fallen ones” when translated into English, were the product of copulation between the divine beings (lit. sons of god) and human women (lit. daughters of Adam). The Nephilim are known as great warriors and Biblical giants (see Ezekiel 32:27 and Numbers 13:33).

創世記6：1-4告訴讀者，拿非利人若翻成英文的話是指「墮落者」，他們是由神聖的生物（寫作神的兒子）與人類的女性（寫作亞當的女兒）交配後的產物。拿非利人被稱為偉大的戰士和聖經巨人（參見以西結書32:27和民數記13:33）。

It was once claimed that the mating of the sons of god and the daughters of Adam that resulted in the Nephilim caused the flood, and this caused the Nephilim to have a negative reputation. This was believed because the next verse (Genesis 6:5) is the introduction to the flood narrative and because their name means “fallen ones.” It is unlikely that this interpretation is correct because Genesis 6:4 presents nothing but praise for the Nephilim and no criticism is present. In addition, the name “fallen ones” is likely a reference to their divine paternity transforming—falling—into the human condition, albeit an almost superhuman condition.

曾有人說，就是因為上帝的兒子和亞當的女兒交配，產下拿非利人，才會造成大洪水，而這也使拿非利人擁有負面的名聲。會被這樣認為是因為下一節（創世記6：5）就開始了大洪水的敘事，也是因為他們名字的涵義就是「墮落者」。這種解釋可能不太正確，因為在創世記6：4中，提到的都是對拿非利人的讚美，而沒有任何批評。此外，「墮落者」這個名字很可能與他們父親的轉變有關，也就是「墮落」到人類的狀態，儘管這種狀態是轉變成一種近似超人類的狀態。

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在免費的電子書《探索創世紀：聖經上下文中的古代傳統》(暫譯)中，發現許多文化背景是關於以色列最早的傳統。探索美索不達米亞的創世神話、約瑟夫與埃及神廟習俗的關係，以及對亞伯拉罕的誕生地迦勒底的吾耳，其地點在哪有三種不同的看法。

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Genesis 6, Ezekiel 32, and Numbers 13 are the only passages that mention the Nephilim by that term. So where do the names Rephaim and “the dead ones” originate? The first thing to recognize is that these are not two separate titles, but rather a name, Rephaim, and a meaning, “dead ones.” The Bible refers to two groups as the Rephaim. The first are dead people who have achieved an almost divine status, similar to the concept of Saints. The second is a term that is applied to races of Biblical giants. It is this second usage that is often conflated with the Nephilim.

創世記第6章、以西結書第32章和民數記第13章是唯三用拿非利人這個詞提到他們的段落。那麼利乏音人和「死亡者」的名字又是源於何處？首先要知道到的是，它們並非兩個單獨的標題，而是一個名字(利乏音人)和一個意思(「死亡者」)。聖經將兩群人稱為利乏音人。第一群是幾乎已經達到神聖地位的死者，類似於聖徒的概念。第二群是一個適用於聖經巨人種族的術語。而正是這第二種用法，才經常讓人將其與拿非利人混為一談。

The Rephaim appear in Deuteronomy 2:11; 3:11; 2 Samuel 21:19 and Joshua 11:22 and almost always take the form of one member of the Rephaim (Anaqim, Og, Goliath) being in opposition with Israel or its representative. In this sense, the Rephaim live up to their name, as their purpose in each narrative is to die. The juxtaposition of the mighty Biblical giants defeated by the underdog, God’s chosen, is foreshadowed in the very name attributed to these characters.

利乏音人出現在申命記2:11；3:11、撒母耳記下21:19和約書亞記11:22，而且幾乎總是以只出現一位利乏音人（Anaqim、Og、歌利亞）的形式呈現出來，並與以色列或是代表以色列的人對立。在這個意義上，利乏音人確實無愧於他們的名字，因為他們在每個敘事中的作用就是去死。強大的聖經巨人卻被上帝選定的弱者擊敗，這樣的對比卻也早就預示在這些角色的名字當中。