Rephaim

Timeline

1. Deuteronomy 2:11 / Proverbs 9:18

   1. 750–400 BCE

      Deuteronomy 2:11

      Hebrew Bible

      9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession. 10 (The Emites used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. 11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; the Moabites call them Emites. 12 Previously the Horites lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land the Lord gave them.)

   2. 600–201 BCE

      Proverbs 9:18

      Hebrew Bible

      16 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here, ”To those who lack understanding she has said, 17 “Stolen waters are sweet, and food obtained in secret is pleasant!” 18 But they do not realize that the Rephaim⁵⁰ are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

2. Isaiah 26:14 / Psalm 88:11

   1. 740–450 BCE

      Isaiah 26:14

      Hebrew Bible

      13 O Lord, our God, masters other than you have ruled us, but we praise your name alone. 14 The dead do not come back to life, the spirits of the dead do not rise. That is because you came in judgment and destroyed them, you wiped out all memory of them. 15 You have made the nation larger, O Lord; you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor; you have extended all the borders of the land. 16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline.

   2. 600–201 BCE

      Psalm 88:11

      Hebrew Bible

      10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and give you thanks? (Selah) 11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave, or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? 12 Are your amazing deeds experienced in the dark region, or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? 13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord; in the morning my prayer confronts you. 14 O Lord, why do you reject me, and hide your face from me?²³

3. 1 Enoch 7:2 / Athenagoras, Plea for the Christians 25

   1. 300 BCE – 100 CE

      1 Enoch 7:2

      Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

      1 And all the others together with them took wives for themselves, each choosing one for himself, and they began to unite with them and defiled themselves with them. They taught them sorcery, spells, and the art of extracting medicinal substances from plants. 2 The women became pregnant and gave birth to enormous giants, whose height was three thousand ells. 3 These giants consumed everything humans produced. 4 And when humans could no longer support them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.

   2. 175–180 CE

      Athenagoras, Plea for the Christians 25

      Early Christian

      These angels, then, who have fallen from heaven, and haunt the air and the earth, and are no longer able to rise to heavenly things, and the souls of the giants, which are the demons who wander about the world, perform actions similar, the one (that is, the demons) to the natures they have received, the other (that is, the angels) to the appetites they have indulged. But the prince of matter, as may be seen merely from what transpires, exercises a control and management contrary to the good that is in God: Ofttimes this anxious thought has crossed my mind, Whether 'tis chance or deity that rules The small affairs of men; and, spite of hope As well as justice, drives to exile some Stripped of all means of life, while others still Continue to enjoy prosperity.