After Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam makes a pretty ridiculous decision. The Israelites ask him if he is going to be easier on them than their father. Instead of appeasing them, Rehoboam institutes forced labor and says in 1 Kings 12:14 “My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” I don’t think that statement would go over well for any ruler ever in history. This causes 10 of the 12 tribes to split and form the northern kingdom which becomes known as Israel. The remaining 2 tribes are Judah and Benjamin who form the southern kingdom to be called Judah. Also important is that Jerusalem and the temple were located in Judah.

Since Israel (the northern kingdom) didn’t have their own place of worship, they created their own places to worship and elevated 2 golden calves to the status of gods (1 Kings 12:25-33). These worship spots became known as the high places. As punishment God sent the nation of Assyria to capture and take captive the northern kingdom (2 Kings 15-17). The Assyrians force them them out of the promised land into exile in other parts of the Assyrian empire.

Judah, even though they had a temple, opted to follow in the footsteps of their brothers to the north and worshipped idols as well. The Assyrians invaded and gave Judah quite a bit of trouble, but God didn’t allow them to completely drive Judah out mainly due to the faithfulness of Hezekiah. After Hezekiah dies though, Judah turns even worse to the point where they didn’t even know that the Torah existed. So God sends the nation of Babylon, who had just defeated the Assyrian army, to invade and exile the people of Judah (2 Kings 25).

So now at this point there are virtually no Israelites living in the promised land. The 10 tribes of the northern kingdom were scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire, but it was then defeated by the Babylonians. The 2 tribes of the southern kingdom are now exiled out into the Babylonian Empire. The only Israelites who seem to be remaining in the promised are a few of the poorest people of Judah who the Babylonians allowed to stay (2 Kings 25:12). Ironically in the northern kingdom the Assyrians had resettled it with foreigners who began to worship God (though not exclusively) after He sent lions to kill a bunch of them (2 Kings 17:24-41).

Fast forward a few years and the Persian empire now has defeated the Babylonian empire and controls the fate of the Israelites who were exiled. Ezra and Nehemiah go about rebuilding the city of Jerusalem and the temple, but only two and a half tribes are now present. If you read Nehemiah 11, you’ll see only Judah, Benjamin and Levi mentioned because they are the only ones to return to the land. Levi is only counted as half because the Levites were scattered throughout the northern and southern kingdom in cities dedicated to them. This was so they could have a presence all over the land to carry out their priestly duties.

The obvious question now is what happened to the 10 lost tribes of Israel. In 2 Chronicles 30, we do see that at least some people from the northern tribes had escaped the Assyrian exile and found their way back to Israel. They still choose to ignore the need to worship God in Jerusalem at the temple. There were probably very few of them left and they are likely ignored for the rest of the Bible because of their refusal to worship God. The only other mention of one of those tribes comes in Luke 2:36 where the prophetess Anna is said to be part of the tribe of Asher.

So what happened to them? It seems likely that they were just assimilated into the populations of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. There were a few who returned and probably lived in the promised land, but by the time of the New Testament the Romans had come and built roads leading to more dispersion. Any Jews left would have been scattered after the Romans war with the Jews in the first century.

There have been many wilder theories. One Portuguese guy in the 17th century claimed they were all living in South American when he traveled there. There have been random people groups all over the world who claim to be descended. The current nation of Israel has even declared some of these people groups legitimate enough to have the right to return to Israel and live there. There are even crazier theories that say the Japanese and Irish are actually just descendants of these 10 tribes. I’m not sure how that even makes sense.

So while He was here what Bible did Jesus use? Some of Jesus’ Old Testament quotations seem to come from a Hebrew text like the aforementioned Masoretic Text and some of them seem to line up with an Aramaic text. But of the 250 Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, the majority are from the Septuagint. The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The word Septuagint means “seventy” which allows us to abbreviate it as LXX. It got its name from a story, possibly legend, about the origins of this Greek translation.

A letter from a court official of King Ptolemy, supposedly from the 3^rd century BC, speaks of the origins of LXX. Ptolemy was a big fan of literature and boasted the world’s largest library in Alexandria. He became interested in the Hebrew Bible, especially the Torah, and wanted it translated into the common language at the time, Greek. The High Priest of Jerusalem, Eleazar, sent him six elders from each of the tribes of Israel to translate. They confined themselves to the island of Pharos and 72 days later they emerged with a Greek translation of the Pentateuch. The name Septuagint was adopted at some point to acknowledge the 72 elders who translated it in 72 days.

While that story makes you feel all warm and cozy, the letter is suspect in its dating and authenticity. The LXX may have also been created to accommodate the popularity of the Greek language which was even spoken commonly in Jerusalem. It also was convenient for the large amount of Jews who, as a result of a new invention called roads, had moved far away from Jerusalem into primarily Greek-speaking areas.

It seems that the LXX was not intended to be the authoritative Scripture that was used by priests in the synagogue, but was meant for use by everyone else. Similar to most churches where the congregation uses the NIV at home, while the pastor may preach from another translation, if not the Greek. That is why the Apostles and Jesus chose the LXX. Christianity did not spread rapidly through the elite of society such as the Pharisees. It spread to common folk and especially Gentiles who where ignorant of the Hebrew language. The Jews however seem to have abandoned the use of the LXX in the 2^nd century AD, probably because of the popular usage by Christianity (a competing religion) and because of the dispersion of the Jews after the Temple was destroyed. Many Jews after 70 AD didn’t stay in the unaccommodating Roman Empire and probably ended up in areas, like Persia, where Aramaic was more commonly spoken. The Christians however, continued to use the LXX through the 4^th century. In the 4^th century, Jerome translated the Bible into Latin and found the Hebrew to be more accurate. His Latin Vulgate took over predominance and is still important today in the Roman Catholic Church.

Jerome was correct in noticing the differences between Hebrew and the Septuagint. If the LXX was created in only 72 days, it might help explain the differences from the Masoretic Text, which is seen as the authority in Judaism today. The Septuagint grew to include several non-canonical books in addition to the books found in the Hebrew Bible. The LXX also has books in a different order and some books, such as Job, Joshua and Proverbs are shorter than the Hebrew Bible. The LXX also appears to lack a set translation style. In some areas it has a literal translation while in others a more free translation is apparent. Even with these faults, the LXX is still remarkably consistent with the Masoretic Text and most differences are due to translation style.

The greatest consequence of the LXX is that it bridged the gap between Hebrew believers and Gentile believers. Without it, the spread of Christianity may have been greatly hindered. It also offers an interesting application for us when debating between different translations. Jesus and the Apostles saw fit to base their teachings on what is today seen as only the second best in accuracy. While the LXX did not provide them the best verbatim translation, it was more culturally relevant. As a long-time proponent of literal translations, it makes me think differently of more culturally relevant translations.

According to Genesis, the people of the ancient times decided to ignore God’s command to “fill the earth and subdue it” but instead they all gathered in the land of Shinar, also known as Mesopotamia. They decided to make a tower to heaven to make a name for themselves and God disagreed.

The tower of Babel is likely one of the largest of many towers called ziggurats, built as religious temples to gods. In the ancient ruins of Babylon, outside of Baghdad, archaeologists have uncovered multiples sites which probably were the base of large structures such as ziggurats. One of these sites is a square, 300 feet on each side.

There are many other theories that place the tower in Turkey, but the best description of a ziggurat comes from Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Babylon and the tower in 440 BC.

In the middle of the precinct there was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. When one is about half-way up, one finds a resting-place and seats, where persons are wont to sit some time on their way to the summit. On the topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its side.

The tower Herodotus referred to was likely a restoration of the original tower of Babel. The fact that Herodotus was so amazed by its size is important because the tower had probably been deteriorating since the city was taken over by Persian King Xerxes in 478 BC.

Besides the disobeying of his command to fill the earth, God may have been angry at the construction of the tower for other reasons as well. The ziggurats usually had a stairway wrapping around the outside and it was built high enough so you could ascend to the heavens where the gods resided. Another possible reason for his anger is that the ziggurats were built with elaborate drainage systems to avoid erosion. Many think that since they were built to withstand water, the people thought they could use the tower to avoid being destroyed by God like their grandfathers were in the flood.

The height of the tower seems to be the most desired trivia piece, so I would be cruel to leave you in ignorance. One source claims it was 8,150 feet high, which seems impossible since it would be four times larger than the largest structures today. The other puts the tower at about 694.5 feet making it larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza, but about 300 feet short of the Eiffel Tower.

The theories about the location and specifics of the tower of Babel are based on slight references to large towers from multiple ancient documents. The true nature of the tower of Babel may have to remain from educated guesses or maybe it can be found by playing Stairway to Heaven backwards…
References:

• Genesis 11:1-9
• The UnMuseum
• Wikipedia
• Soniclight – Genesis notes (PDF)

1. What are the time period of 430 years and the promises referred to in Galatians 3:17?
2. In the Septuagint, Exodus 12:40 mentions a 430 year time period also, but also says that the nation of Israel sojourned in Egypt and Canaan (as opposed to just Egypt found in your English Bible). Explain.

Here was my response after some research:

The two covenants (or promises) that Paul is referring to are the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3) and the Mosaic Covenant (or the giving of the Law in Exodus 19-24). The 430 year period between them is probably referring to the last time God reaffirms the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob (Genesis 46:1-4) until the Mosaic Covenant (giving of the Law in Exodus 19). I think the years were roughly between 1876 BC to 1446 BC.

As for the Septuagint version, I would be careful following that version.The Septuagint was not meant to be a version for extreme accuracy, but was a version for the layperson to read. Most of our Old Testament English translations are based off of the Masoretic Texts which were copied down with unbelievable accuracy. The words “and Canaan” probably do not appear in the majority of manuscripts which is why they were not included in English translations today. However, it could be referring to the period when Joseph lived in Egypt but his family still lived in Canaan.

There are also a number of other references to time periods around the Exodus. Some say 400 years and another says 450 years. The below image and quote I got from Soniclight.com’s commentary might help reconcile the time period of the Exodus.

Scholars have debated hotly and still argue about the date of the Exodus. Many conservatives hold a date very close to 1446 B.C. Their preference for this date rests first on 1 Kings 6:1 that states that the Exodus took place 480 years before the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. That year was quite certainly 967 B.C. Second, this view harmonizes with Judges 11:26 that says 300 years elapsed between Israel’s entrance into Canaan and the commencement of Jephthah’s rule as a judge. Most liberals and many evangelicals hold to a date for the Exodus about 1280 B.C. This opinion rests on the belief that the existence of the city of Raamses (1:11; et al.) presupposes the existence of Pharaoh Ramses II (ca. 1300-1234 B.C.). Also followers of this view point to supposed similarities between the times of Pharaoh Ramses II and the Exodus period. Another view has also been popularized that places the Exodus about 1470 B.C.

There is really no concrete explanation of what lots were or how one would cast them. From the context it would seem that it is likened to the modern day use of dice or flipping a coin. The biggest use of casting lots is in the division of the land amongst the tribes and clans of Israel. The very first time it appears is in Numbers 26:52-56 as a command by God to determine the proper division of the land. Lots were cast and each group received their rightful inheritances according to the result. David also uses lots to determine the roles of temple personnel in 1 Chronicles 24:5 and for the Levitical musicians in 1 Chronicles 25:8.

Casting lots was also commanded by God for the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. According to Leviticus 16:7-10, two goats were selected as an offering and after casting lots one would be sacrificed and the other would be set free. An interesting thing about lots is revealed in verse 8. Apparently two separate lots were used, one for each goat. So however they were used, it could not have been a yes or no response like flipping a coin.

Casting lots is used approximately 70 times in the Old Testament and much less frequently in the New Testament. It is possible that the use of casting lots became less popular with its aligning to pagan religion. Cleromancy is a form of divination (attempting to determine the will of God), more commonly associated with pagan religions. Examples of pagan cleromancy might be casting bones or reading cards, where the result is random. Lots were used in Acts 1:26 to determine who would be the disciple to replace Judas, but many people think the disciples were in the wrong because Jesus had previously told them in Acts 1:4-5 their next move should just be to await the Holy Spirit.

Although the practice of casting lots or its modern day equivalents are generally shunned ways to determine God’s will these days, it was clearly commanded by God in the Old Testament. It seems that it was used only in very specific instances and never appears to override other forms of God’s revelation, such as the word spoken through His prophets. These are just some thoughts you might want to consider the next time you pull out your Magic 8-ball.

References:

• Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament
• What was the practice of casting lots?
• Cleromancy
• Leviticus 16:7-10
• Numbers 26:52-56
• 1 Chronicles 24:5 ; 1 Chronicles 25:8
• Mark 8:12
• Acts 1:4-5 ; Acts 1:26

Perhaps the most confusing passage is the burning bush episode with Moses. In Exodus 3:2, the Angel of the Lord is said to be speaking in the bush, yet as the passage continues the “person” speaking is referred to as the Angel, the Lord and God almost as if they are interchangeable. You can see the Angel of the Lord with Moses again in Exodus 14:19 (here called the Angel of God) after the Red Sea crossing. However when Moses goes and speaks and sees the Lord on Mount Sinai, he is not said to speak with the Angel of the Lord.

Another place you will find a more belligerent Angel of the Lord is in Numbers 22:22. God is not too happy with Balaam and so the Angel of the Lord stands in his way, but Balaam doesn’t see Him although his donkey does. After the whole talking donkey thing, the Angel of the Lord opens Balaam’s eyes and speaks to him.

You can find two more big encounters with the Angel of the Lord in Judges. The first is to Gideon in Judges 6:11-23 where Gideon panics because he thinks he will die after seeing the Angel of the Lord face to face. However, Gideon does not recognize the Angel of the Lord at first, which might change the mental picture you have been building. The Angel of the Lord appears again to Samson’s parents in Judges 13:3-23 who identify him as a man of God at first, but then make a claim that they have seen God. Manoah, Samson’s father, asks the Angel for His name and He replies that it is wonderful. Good luck figuring out that one.

There are a few theories about the identity of the Angel of the Lord, one being that it is a pre-incarnate Christ. This is mainly based on the fact that the Angel of the Lord does not appear or speak after Christ comes, but there is no other good evidence that He truly is a pre-incarnate Christ. We do know that the Angel can appear or speak from heaven or in dreams. He can also perform the supernatural and while not always immediately recognizable, the sight of Him is overwhelming and leads most humans to label Him as the Lord. I think the most logical solution is that He is a messenger for the Lord like a modern day agent. He speaks for the Lord and appears in His stead probably due to the point God Himself makes in Exodus 33:20. Like an agent or ambassador for a county, where the messenger generally personifies the party represented, sometimes the Angel speaks as if He is the Lord. As for the humans reacting to Him as God, we can only assume that the sight of an angel is overwhelming enough to confuse even the most theologically sound.

References:

• Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament
• Genesis 16:7-10, Genesis 21:17
• Exodus 3:2, Exodus 14:19, Exodus 33:20
• Numbers 22:22-35
• Judges 6:11-23, Judges 13:3-23

The Talmudists copied between about 100 to 500 AD, similar to the time of the compilation of the Talmud. This was an important time for the transcription of Jewish teachings and text since there was no Temple in Jerusalem for Jews as of 70 AD. Thank you Titus Flavius Vespasianus. The Talmudists had some very strict rules regarding the practice of replicating the Holy Scriptures.

1. A synagogue roll must be written on the skins of clean animals
2. prepared for the particular use of the synagogue by a Jew.
3. These must be fastened together with strings taken from clean animals.
4. Every skin must contain a certain number of columns, equal throughout the entire codex.
5. The length of each column must not extend over less than 48 or more than 60 lines; and the breadth must consist of thirty letters.
6. The whole copy must be first-lined; and if three words be written without a line, it is worthless.
7. The ink should be black, neither red, green, nor any other colour, and be prepared according to a definite recipe.
8. An authentic copy must be the exemplar, from which the transcriber ought not in the least deviate.
9. No word or letter, not even a yod, must be written from memory, the scribe not having looked at the codex before him…
10. Between every consonant the space of a hair or thread must intervene;
11. between every new parashah, or section, the breadth of nine consonants;
12. between every book, three lines.
13. The fifth book of Moses must terminate exactly with a line; but the rest need not do so.
14. Besides this, the copyist must sit in full Jewish dress,
15. wash his whole body,
16. not begin to write the name of God with a pen newly dipped in ink,
17. and should a king address him while writing that name he must take no notice of him.

If these guidelines were not followed when copying then the scrolls were buried in the ground or burned. The Talmudists were so confident in their accuracy that they saw new copies as having the same authority as older.

The Masoretes are probably the best known group since their manuscripts, known as the Masoretic Text, are the standard used for the Jewish Bible today and were the oldest OT manuscripts until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Masoretes (500 – 950 AD) gave us an Old Testament with vowels. Ancient Hebrew did not use vowels when writing because those fluent could understand without them. (R u thinking that is weird? jk lol ttyl) The Masoretes inserted the appropriate vowels to ensure accuracy and correct pronunciation by those of us unfamiliar with nonconsonantal locution.

The Masoretes also had a tedious system that guaranteed accuracy in their copying. They counted each word and letter in the Old Testament and assigned them a number. This way they could identify the middle consonant or word of each book or section. For example, the middle consonant of the Pentateuch was ALEPH, the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. The manuscripts with even one letter off were destroyed.

The Masoretes also had strict rules regarding the skins that they wrote on and the ink they used. It is also said that the Masoretes had to perform a ritual each time before writing the name of God. These groups have made my own reverence for the Scriptures seem negligible.

References:

• Evidence For Christianity
• Masoretic Text – Wikipedia

After Abraham defeats them and frees Lot, Abraham has a meeting with the King of Sodom and a mysterious King of Salem named Melchizedek. This is the only place in the Bible that Melchizedek shows up. He is referred to later in Psalm 110:4 and a few times in the book of Hebrews. Many questions arise when reading about him. Who is this King of Righteousness? Why did Abraham give him a tithe? Why don’t we know much about the first priest in the Bible? Did he really have no father or mother?

Melchizedek means “king of righteousness” or “my king is righteous”. Some have speculated that Melchizedek was a title rather than the name of a person. We do know that he was the king of Salem, which is more than likely modern day Jerusalem. He was also a priest of El Elyon or God Most High. Melchizedek is the first priest ever mentioned in the Bible, but he is not a Levitical priest like we see later in Jewish law because that hadn’t even been established yet. We don’t know who decided he was a priest but apparently Abraham recognized it since he gives him a tithe of ten percent. Mel(chizedek) goes on to give a theological interpretation of Abraham’s victory by saying God delivered the enemies into his hands. That’s it. No more is told to us about Mel and I really can’t offer you any more facts.

Some have theorized that Mel might have actually been Noah’s son Shem. This view is especially common with Jewish scholars. Even though Shem was Abraham’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, he outlived Abraham by 35 years, so the age thing isn’t a problem. The problem is that Chedorlaomer was probably a descendant of Shem, just like Abraham and it would seem weird for Shem to bless and celebrate Abraham for the killing of his descendants.

Others say that Mel was some sort of pre-incarnate Christ. Mel did offer bread and wine just like at the Lord’s Supper and the writer of Hebrews brings out many similarities between the two. Yet the writer of Hebrews distinguishes between the two men saying that Jesus is following in the priestly order of Melchizedek and not that he is Melchizedek.

To find out more (or perhaps confuse us further) about this king of righteousness we will turn to Hebrews 7. The writer of Hebrews drops a bomb by saying that Mel has no father or mother and no genealogy. Most people explain this away by saying that since his genealogy is not ever mentioned in Genesis, the writer is just speaking metaphorically. I think that is a most logical explanation, but leaves unexplained why, of all the characters without a listed genealogy, is Mel the only one seen as without father or mother? So there is another theory that looks at an ancient writing called the Tell el-Armana written circa 1400BC. There is mentioned in these letters about a King of Urusalim (Jerusalem?) named Abd-Khiba. Abd-Khiba is quoted as saying,

Neither my father nor my mother set me in this place: the mighty arm of the king established me in my father’s house.

Since Abd-Khiba sounds nothing like Melchizedek, the thought is that perhaps Jewish tradition saw them as the same person. Or if Melchizedek was just a title then maybe Abd-Khiba was his actual name.

That’s about all there is to know about Melchizedek. He is just a mysterious king and priest mentioned briefly, yet important enough that the writer of Hebrews dedicates a whole chapter to saying Jesus is a high priest following Mel’s order. Since you still don’t know who Mel really is, I would like to propose that maybe I am eternal Melchizedek. Please begin referring to me as “king of righteousness.”

References:

• Genesis 14
• Psalm 110:4
• Hebrews 7
• John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
• Soniclight Notes on Hebrews and Genesis
• Bible Dictionary

The Nephilim are generally seen as the oldest and possibly the founding race of the other three groups of giants. We run into the Nephilim first in Genesis 6:1-4 which proves to be a very difficult passage to understand…

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

The most common explanation of this passage is that some of the fallen angels came and had children with some women on earth and the children ended up as giants. This holds up at a glance but looking closer at the verses we see some problems. The first thing we notice is this group of “people” being referred to as the “sons of God”. There are at least three explanations that I have found about who they are:

1. The default explanation is that they are fallen angels. The reason for this is that the term “sons of God” is usually used to refer to angels in the OT. Of course there are many problems with that theory, some biological and the fact that it is just weird.
2. One of the more conservative explanations says that “sons of God” means those in the chosen lineage thus descended from Seth. This seems to be logical since the Godly are sometimes called sons, except the usual usage of sons of God in the OT still means angels.
3. They could have been kings since many ancient texts use “sons of god” to describe kings. However the OT is not like other ancient texts in that it does not call kings “sons of god”.

Another enigma comes with the sons of God’s relationship to the Nephilim. Many people think that this verse implies that the Nephilim came about from the sons of God, but the text does not necessarily say that. It seems to say that the Nephilim were already “on the earth in those days”.

This passage only refers to them as mighty men, but we know that they were giants from later passages referring to them as giants. The spies who went into Canaan reported that the people who lived there were Nephilim and they made them feel like grasshoppers in their sight. Of course this could have been an exaggeration since the Nephilim were more than likely destroyed in the flood. I guess though that Noah had a little Nephilim in him as you can see in They Might Be Giants: Part Deaux.

References:

• Soniclight Notes on Genesis (PDF)
• Genesis 6:1-4; Numbers 13:33

Related Articles:

• They Might Be Giants: Part Deaux
• They Might Be Giants: Bonus Materials

It would seem in Deuteronomy 2:11, that the Rephaim were the common ancestor of the Anakim and Emim. Except that we see very early in Genesis 14:5 that the Raphaim were defeated alongside the Emim, so maybe Rephaim became a generic term for all giants. The only specific Rephaim that we know about is Og the king of Bashan, who was the last of the Rephaim. The Israelites captured all sixty of his cities and for some reason Moses seemed in Deuteronomy 3:11 to be amazed by his bed which was made of iron and 13.5 feet long by 6 feet wide.

The best known giant besides Goliath would have to be Anak, even though we know nothing of him in particular. We do know that his father was Arba and he had three sons named Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, whom were spotted by the spies Moses sent to Canaan. Josh and Caleb eventually drove all of the Anakim out of Israel according to Joshua 11:22. They were driven out to the same area by the coast that the Philistines came from years later. This has led many to believe that Goliath was a remaining descendant of the Anakim.

There is very little fact given about the giants of the Old Testament, so it is hard to really understand who they really are. Many people think that stories about these giants are how the Greeks formed their belief in the Titans. What we do know is that they all seemed to be enemies of God and he systematically wiped them out.

The very limited information about the giants of the OT has led to speculation and wild theories. Some people think that the giants are the result of aliens living on earth and having children with humans. Yet another says that they have the ability to condense their bodies to blend in with others and still exist today somewhere around Mexico and Texas. More realistically, there is archaeological evidence that leads us to believe that the average Israelite was just barely 5 foot tall, so any one over 6 foot would have seemed pretty large. Less than 300 years ago, George Washington at 6 foot 3 inches was said to have towered over most any other man. Think of what high school seniors were like when your were a freshman…

Related Articles:

• They Might Be Giants: Part I
• They Might Be Giants: Bonus Materials