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In the Bible, the Rephaim are a mysterious group linked both to ancient giants and to the realm of the dead. In some passages, they are described as long-dead warrior-kings, reflecting traditions like the Ugaritic rpum, which refers to deified royal ancestors. In some biblical traditions the term refers more broadly to the dead and they are pictured as ghostly figures in the underworld, trembling beneath the waters, or lying in graves from which they cannot rise.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to Tag6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
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.)
7th-5th Centuries B.C.E.
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.
6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E.
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
6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E.
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.
200-50 B.C.E.
1 Enoch 7:2
Pseudepigrapha
1 And all the others 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. And when humans could no longer support them, 4 the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.
175-180 C.E.
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.