GIBBORIM

Thomas Horn claims that the word “gibborim” is “the same Hebrew term used elsewhere in ancient literature to describe theNephilim....”He also writes that the gibborim is “one of the offspring of Nephilim” To see if this is true, we need to look at several Biblereferences where the word “gibbowr” is mentioned. This will help ussee if the gibborim are actually hybrids or half-demon, half-humanoffspring.

In Joshua 8, when the children of Israel were ready to conquerAi, Joshua chose 30,000 “mighty [Hebrew: gibbowr] men of valour”to go to war. These weren’t giants. They were heroic men from amongthe Israelites who were able to fight a battle. Jephthah, who becamea judge of Israel, was called a “mighty man of valour.” King Davidwas called “a mighty valiant man, and a man of war.” David certainlywasn’t a giant or there wouldn’t have been any concern about hissafety when he fought Goliath. David himself had a group of mightymen, one of whom was Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. In IIChronicles 17 we find that at least 700,000 “mighty men” waited onKing Jehoshaphat. If it were true that the gibborim (or mighty men)were giants, that would be a lot of giants in Israel but we need toremember that Jehoshaphat was a good king and God was with himso it would be hard to believe that he had that many half-demonattendants. In II Chronicles 13 we see that there was a war betweenthe king of Israel and the king of Judah and there were 400,000 mightymen on one side and 800,000 on the other side. This would be over 1million so-called “giants” or gibborim involved in just this one warbetween Israel and Judah!! Remember, too, these “gibborim” areISRAELITES. There were not of some surrounding pagan nation.Even God is referred to as “mighty” [Hebrew: gibbowr]. Obviously,God was not half-demon or the offspring of the Nephilim.

Below are a few more references (in boldface) where theHebrew word “gibbowr” is used.

“For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords,a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons,nor taketh reward” (Deuteronomy 10:17).

“And their brethren among all the families of Issachar werevaliant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies fourscoreand seven thousand” (I Chronicles 7:5). (Notice the number of thesemighty men: 87,000—and that’s just the families of Issachar!)

“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and theterrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy...” (Nehemiah 9:32).

“Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, andrejoiceth as a strong man to run a race” (Psalm 19:5).

“Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty,the Lord mighty in battle” (Psalm 24:8).

“Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, thatdo His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word”(Psalm 103:20).

“His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation ofthe upright shall be blessed” (Psalm 112:2).

“...Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty manof wealth....”

“A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth notaway for any” (Proverbs 30:30).

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and thegovernment shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be calledWonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, ThePrince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

“The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, untothe mighty God” (Isaiah 10:21).

“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty...”(Zephaniah 3:17).

Remember, Horn tell us that “gibborim” is “one of the offspring of Nephilim. Are we to believe Horn? If so, then God Himself is the offspring of a fallen angel!! Isn’t this blasphemous?!