(ד) הַנְּפִלִ֞ים הָי֣וּ בָאָרֶץ֮ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵם֒ וְגַ֣ם אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָבֹ֜אוּ בְּנֵ֤י הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם וְיָלְד֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם הֵ֧מָּה הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר מֵעוֹלָ֖ם אַנְשֵׁ֥י הַשֵּֽׁם׃
(4) The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of nobles came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.
הנפלים: על שם שנפלו והפילו את העולם, ובלשון עברית לשון ענקים הוא:
Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 22 and Targum Jonathan
יבא הפליט: [מדרשו] לפי פשוטו זה עוג שפלט מן המלחמה, והוא שכתוב (דברים ג יא) כי רק עוג נשאר מיתר הרפאים, וזהו נשאר שלא הרגוהו אמרפל וחבריו כשהכו את הרפאים בעשתרות קרנים, תנחומא (חקת כה). ומדרש בראשית רבה (מב ח) זה עוג שפלט מדור המבול, וזהו מיתר הרפאים שנאמר (ו ד) הנפלים היו בארץ וגו' ומתכוין שיהרג אברהם וישא את שרה
הנפילים: ענקים מבני שמחזאי ועזאל שנפלו מן השמים בימי דור אנוש
מיתר הרפאים: שהרגו אמרפל וחביריו בעשתרות קרנים והוא פלט מן המלחמה שנאמר (בראשית יד, יג) ויבא הפליט זהו עוג:
ויכו אותו: משה הרגו, כדאיתא בברכות בהרואה (דף נד ב) עקר טורא בת תלתא פרסי וכו'
(ד) וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵיכֵן וַתַּעֲמֹד מִלְחָמָה בְּגֶזֶר עִם פְּלִשְׁתִּים אָז הִכָּה סִבְּכַי הַחֻשָׁתִי אֶת סִפַּי מִילִדֵי הָרְפָאִים וַיִּכָּנֵעוּ. (ה) וַתְּהִי עוֹד מִלְחָמָה אֶת פְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיַּךְ אֶלְחָנָן בֶּן יעור [יָעִיר] אֶת לַחְמִי אֲחִי גָּלְיָת הַגִּתִּי וְעֵץ חֲנִיתוֹ כִּמְנוֹר אֹרְגִים. (ו) וַתְּהִי עוֹד מִלְחָמָה בְּגַת וַיְהִי אִישׁ מִדָּה וְאֶצְבְּעֹתָיו שֵׁשׁ וָשֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבַּע וְגַם הוּא נוֹלַד לְהָרָפָא. (ז) וַיְחָרֵף אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּכֵּהוּ יְהוֹנָתָן בֶּן שִׁמְעָא אֲחִי דָוִיד. (ח) אֵל נוּלְּדוּ לְהָרָפָא בְּגַת וַיִּפְּלוּ בְיַד דָּוִיד וּבְיַד עֲבָדָיו.
(עמוס ב', 9). אופן זה מצוי הרבה בדברי הנביאים כולם, כוונתי לדברים שנאמרו בדרך הגזמה והפרזה ולא בדרך הגדרה ודיוק.
אך לא ממין זה מה שכתבה התורה על עוג: הנה ערשֹו ערשֹ ברזל [הלֹה היא ברבת בני עמון. תשע אמות אָרכה וארבע אמות רָחבה באמת איש] (דברים ג', 11). כי ערשֹ הוא המיטה: אף ערשֹנו רעננה (שיר השירים א', 16). ואין מיטתו של אדם שווה למידתו, שהרי אינה בגד שהוא לובש. אלא המיטה תמיד גדולה יותר מן האדם הישן בה. נהוג ומקובל שהיא ארוכה יותר מן האדם בשליש אורכו. ואם היה אורכה של מיטה זאת תשע אמות, יהיה אורכו של הישן עליה - לפי היחס הנהוג של מיטות - שש אמות או קצת יותר. ודברו: באמת איש (דברים ג', 11) כוונתו בְּאַמַּתוֹ של אדם מבינינו, כלומר, משאר האנשים, לא באמתו של עוג4. כי כל אדם הוא בעל איברים פרופורציונליים, על-פי רוב. הכתוב אומר אפוא שאורכו של עוג היה פי שניים מאורכו של איש משאר האנשים או קצת יותר5. זאת היא בלי ספק אחת מן החריגות של פרטי המין [האנושי], אך בשום פנים אין היא נמנעת.
Moreh Nevuchim Section 2: Chapter 47
"Whose height is like that of cedar trees" (Amos ii. 9). Instances of this kind are frequent in the language of all prophets; what they say is frequently hyperbolic or
exaggerated, and not precise or exact. What Scripture says about Og, "Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead, nine cubits its length," etc. (Deut.), does not belong to this class of figures, for the bedstead (eres, comp. arsenu, Song of Sol. i. 16) is never exactly, of the same dimensions as the person using it; it is not like a dress that fits round the body; it is always greater than the person that sleeps therein; as a rule, is it by a third longer. If, therefore, the bed of Og was nine cubits in length, he must, according to this proportion, have been six cubits high, or a little more. The words, "by the cubit of a man," mean, by the measure of an ordinary man, and not by the measure of Og; for men have the limbs in a certain proportion. Scripture thus tells us that Og was double as long as an ordinary person, or a little less. This is undoubtedly an exceptional height among men, but not quite impossible.
NOTES For The Sheer
Intro Speak about Giants. Napoleon did not have a Napoleon complex.
Look at two Giants in the text. Og and Goliath. We all battle Giants in our lives. The seemingly insurmountable obstacles that seem gargantuan.
Og is born.
the Story of OG
Ogs death.
Read the Gemara from the last page. Brachot and Nidah.
Nidah- Why Moshe was concerned about fighting Og
A. Schut Avot
B. How great is a mitzvah .
Rosh Hashanah.
Goliath, Origin story is in Safer Ruth.
Duvid battled other giants.
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1. Where they real giants? The Gemara has other stories about Rebbayim walking through the bones of a giant. The book of Enosh .
We are going with the Pshat of the text.
Source 8 and source 5 provide us with measurements for both men.
Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim.
How much is an Amah, Talmudic debate, hairsplitting Halacha.
According to Rav Moshe Feinstein, the Amah is 21.25 inches (53.98 centimeters), the Tefach is 3.54 inches (9.00 centimeters), and the Etzbah is 0.89 inches (2.25 centimeters). [9]
According to Rav Chaim Noeh, the Amah is 18.90 inches (48 centimeters), the Tefach is 3.15 inches (8 centimeters), and the Etzbah is 0.79 inches (2 centimeters) [10]
According to the Chazon Ish, the Amah is 24 inches
So how can we reconcile the two ideas of the Gemara and the Mefarshim and the Pshat? Rashi/Medrash Vs Rambam. At the heart of the argument is rational vs supernatural.Perspective.
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Who did these Giants battle? Duvid and Moshe. both men of Emunah, Anshey Emunah. What do we also know about them, they were both Humble, the opposite of the lofty Giant the lowly servant of hashem. Moshe and Duvid had a question of Emunah, but not Emunah in HAshem it is the reverse, if Hashem has Emunah in them.
Modeh Any, speaks about Emunah but nit Emunah in Hashem, Hashems faith in us. This is what Moshe was concerned about with Og. he was not scared of this giant for a minute , he was only concerned that Hashem was protecting him. The same is true of Duvid, during the confrontation, he says , who is this uncircumcised man...
Foils in source number 4 and 8. Who was supposed to step up and fight Goliath? The spies are scared to go in, that is the one thing Moshe wants to do his entire life is go in to Israel. Each of these counterparts has the same flaw that our hero’s excell at , that is Emunah.
Shaul we see constantly has a spear in his hand , he is scared of dying and is focused on physical strength , that was the same issue with the spies
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rmada Invencible, literally "Invincible Fleet") was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in August 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England. The strategic aim was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Tudor establishment of Protestantism in England,
Spanish Armada , after her death. The repulsing of the Spanish naval force may have given heart to the Protestant cause across Europe and the belief that God was behind the Protestant cause. This was shown by the striking of commemorative medals that bore variations on the inscription, "1588. Flavit Jehovah et Dissipati Sunt" - with "Jehovah" in Hebrew letters ("God blew, and they are scattered"), or He blew with His winds, and they were scattered.
Kamakazi waves. The Japanese word Kamikaze is usually translated as "divine wind" (kami is the word for "god", "spirit", or "divinity", and kaze for "wind"). The word originated as the name of major typhoons in 1274 and 1281, which dispersed Mongolian invasion fleets under Kublai Khan.
The latter fleet, composed of "more than four thousand ships bearing nearly 140,000 men"[1] is said to have been the largest attempted naval invasion in history whose scale was only recently eclipsed in modern times by the D-Day invasion of allied forces into Normandy in 1944. According to James McClain, "On each of those two occasions the Mongols gained a toehold on Japanese soil, but then kamikaze, a "divine wind", supposedly stirred up by Japan's protective deities, ravaged the invasion fleets and forced the Mongols back to their continental bases."[2]
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Are the Giants real? What is with the Medrashic explanation?
Line from Gemara Sukkah about the Yetzer Hara. The Giants are what we create in our mind.
Nidah 61A- Ogs backstory
And the Lord said unto Moses: Fear him not'.47 Consider: Sihon and Og were brothers, for a Master stated, 'Sihon and Og were the sons of Ahijah the son of Shamhazai',48 then why was it that he feared Og while he did not fear Sihon? R. Johanan citing R. Simeon b. Yohai replied: From the answer that was given49 to50 that righteous man51 you may understand what was in his mind.52 He thought: Peradventure the merit of our father Abraham will stand him53 by, for it is said, And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew,54 in connection with which R. Johanan explained: This refers to Og who escaped the fate of the generation of the flood.55
Brachot 54B
'The stone which Og, king of Bashan wanted to throw at Israel'. This has been handed down by tradition. He said: How large is the camp of Israel? Three parasangs. I will go and uproot a mountain of the size of three parasangs and cast it upon them and kill them. He went and uprooted a mountain of the size of three parasangs and carried it on his head. But the Holy One, blessed be He, sent ants which bored a hole in it, so that it sank around his neck. He tried to pull it off, but his teeth projected on each side, and he could not pull it off. This is referred to in the text, Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked,9 as explained by R Simeon b. Lakish. For R. Simeon b. Lakish said: What is the meaning of the text, Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked? Do not read, shibbarta [Thou hast broken], but shirbabta [Thou hast lengthened]. The height of Moses was ten cubits.10 He took an axe ten cubits long, leapt ten cubits into the air, and struck him on his ankle and killed him.