Giants: Nephilim, Watchers, The Book of Enoch

Joseph Lumpkin; Sheldon S., Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Among the first seven scrolls discovered in the Qumran Caves at the Dead Sea is a scroll given the name “The Book of Giants.”

It is thought to have been based on The Book of Enoch, a pseudo-epigraphical Jewish work from the 3rd century BCE.

The Book of Giants (based on pre-Jewish Manichaean texts from Turfan), like The Book of Enoch, concerns itself with the Nephilim, which are the offspring of fallen "angels" (Buddhist asuras, devas, brahmas) who are called the Watchers.

The Dead Sea as seen from a cave in Qumran

Two main versions of the text exist. The Dead Sea version is written in Aramaic (the language of Jesus/Issa). Another version has been found written in Middle Persian, adapted from the Aramaic to fit into the Manichean religion.

Both versions are examined. Following theories speculating that The Book of Giants was once part of the Book of Enoch, author Joseph Lumpkin attempts to place the two texts back together to render the complete story of the Watchers and the Nephilim.

He uncovers the history and contributions of these ancient scrolls and looks carefully at their content and meaning.

Qumran cave where 90% of scrolls were found

Throughout the combined texts of The Book of Giants and The Book of Enoch he examines all the biblical and apocryphal references and parallels within the text.

The result is an in-depth and panoramic view of the angels, the Watchers, and the Nephilim, and how one of the giants of the Nephilim race may have survived The Flood (Genesis) intended to cleanse the Earth of their horror. More