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Genesis describes how God wiped out the giants of the ancient world by sending a flood. Simon’s prayer in 3 Maccabees recalls that judgment as the first proof that God brings down the proud and the violent.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Genesis 6:4
Septuagint
3 And the Lord God said, “My spirit shall not abide in these humans forever, because they are flesh, but their days shall be one hundred twenty years.” 4 Now the giants were on the earth in those days and afterward. When the sons of God used to go in to the daughters of humans, then they produced offspring for themselves. Those were the giants that were of old, the renowned humans. 5 And when the Lord God saw that the wicked deeds of humans were multiplied on the earth and that all think attentively in their hearts on evil things all the days,
3 Maccabees 2:4
Pseudepigrapha
3 For you, the creator of all things and the governor of all, are a just Ruler, and you judge those who have done anything in insolence and arrogance. 4 You destroyed those who in the past committed injustice, among whom were even giants who trusted in their strength and boldness, whom you destroyed by bringing on them a boundless flood. 5 You consumed with fire and sulfur the people of Sodom who acted arrogantly, who were notorious for their vices; and you made them an example to those who should come afterward.
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Notes and References
... The first incident cited is the well-known flood of Genesis 6-8. Less well-known is the connection between the flood and giants. The mysterious characters whom the Masoretic Text calls 'Nephilim' and 'heroes' in Genesis 6:4, the Septuagint calls γίγαντες in both cases. These are superhuman beings, akin to the Titans and heroes of Greek mythology, the offspring of angels or quasi-divine beings and human women. They are alluded to in apocryphal writings (Sirach 16:7; Baruch 3:26; Jubilees 7:21-23), and Wisdom of Solomon 14:6 specifically connects them with the Genesis flood. The fullest statement about the antediluvian giants is to be found in 1 Enoch 7:1-6, which describes their rapaciousness and greed. For the author of 3 Maccabees the giants serve as representatives of their whole generation, and their deeds bear enough semblance to those of Philopator that they function as examples of arrogant and haughty beings who received divine punishment. ...
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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