Wrestling with the “Genocide Commands” of the Old Testament: Giants, Rhetoric, and Spiritual Battle
For readers troubled by the Old Testament’s stories of conquest and destruction, there are few issues more challenging than the so-called “genocide commands.” Did God really endorse wholesale slaughter? Recent theological and biblical scholarship – especially through the work of Michael Heiser, Frs. Stephen De Young and Andrew Stephen Damick at the Lord of Spirits podcast, and Dr. Paul Copan, offer a richer, more faithful explanation, anchored in ancient worldviews, spiritual realities, and textual nuances.
Ancient War Rhetoric: When “Total” Didn’t Mean Total
Ancient Near Eastern records are full of “total victory” claims that historians and archaeologists recognize as rhetorical rather than literal. Egyptian pharaohs boasted of leaving “no survivors” and “utterly destroying” enemies, even though conquered nations continued to exist. The stele of Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah (late 13th century BC) claims “Israel is laid waste, his seed is not,” yet Israelites are clearly present and thriving in the biblical narrative long after this statement. Similarly, Mesha, king of Moab, celebrated in the famous Moabite Stone (9th century BC) how he “devoted to destruction” the town of Nebo, killing everyone in it as a tribute to his god Chemosh. Yet later texts and archaeology show Nebo was still inhabited, and Moab continued as a nation.
The Hebrew Bible adopts this familiar war rhetoric. Joshua’s language of complete annihilation echoes such conventions, but careful reading shows “utterly destroyed” cities were often fortifications, not civilian-manned urban centers. Furthermore, later biblical books keep mentioning Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, and Amalekite peoples long after their supposed destruction (see Judges 1, 3; 1 Samuel 27–30). Thus, the war language was as much a literary device to glorify God’s decisive victory as a literal record of mass extermination.
The Great Spiritual War: God’s Seed vs. the Serpent’s Seed
One of the Bible’s deepest spiritual threads is the struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). From the moment of the Fall, God promises a redeemer who will crush the serpent’s head- a prophecy ultimately fulfilled by Christ through His life, death, and resurrection.
But Scripture also portrays a literal aspect to this war. The demon-sired Nephilim emerged as the physical “seed of the serpent,” opposed by God’s elect, Abraham’s descendants, and the people of Israel. When the Israelites went to war with the giant clans, the battles were both a cosmic clash between good and evil and a real conflict against the physical agents of spiritual corruption. The conquest narratives and David’s defeat of Goliath are not just folklore; they are the outworking of this struggle at both earthly and supernatural levels.
Thus, in the biblical worldview defended by Frs. Stephen De Young and Andrew Stephen Damick and Prof. Michael Heiser, and in the Orthodox Tradition, Christ’s victory is both spiritual (defeating Satan and the demons) and literal (ending the threat of the demon-born giants in salvation history). This duality enriches the connections between the Old and New Testaments, giving depth to the cosmic narrative of redemption.
Genesis 6: Nephilim, Angels, and Interpretive Traditions
Genesis 6:1–4 remains enigmatic, but the earliest Jewish and Christian sources, including many Church Fathers and Eastern Orthodox commentators, take the story at face value: fallen angels crossed spiritual boundaries, mating with human women and producing the Nephilim giants. The Orthodox Study Bible notes this was almost universally accepted prior to Augustine, who popularized the “Sethite” model in the West.
The Sethite view interprets these “sons of God” as the descendants of Seth, viewing the story as a cautionary tale against mixing faith and unbelief.
A third view, the “dynastic” theory, which sees the “sons of God” as ancient rulers, never commanded much traction in patristic circles.
In the Orthodox tradition, the angelic view is favored as most faithful to the original text, supported by 1 Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, and numerous patristic commentaries. This reading is also upheld by Heiser and the Lord of Spirits podcast, who see the Nephilim as products of a unique supernatural rebellion, not just unusual humans.
Giants in the Hill Country and Survivors in the Land
The Bible is careful to associate the most fearsome giant clans, the Anakim, Rephaim, Emim, and Zamzummim, with the highlands of Canaan (Hebron, Debir, Bashan, and Anab). Joshua’s campaigns famously “utterly destroyed” these populations, driving the few survivors to the cities of the Philistines (Gath, Gaza, Ashdod). For instance, after Joshua’s “total destruction” of the Anakim (Joshua 11:21–22), we soon meet Goliath of Gath facing off against Saul’s army (1 Samuel 17). Later, we meet Goliath’s brothers, and other giants with the Philistine army in battle against David’s army (2 Samuel 21:15–22). This is concrete evidence: giant clans are eventually wiped out, unlike the non-giant tribes of Canaan. Their forces are annihilated when they fight Israel, but the preference is that they just leave the land (Exodus 23:27–30; Exodus 33:2; Exodus 34:11; Leviticus 18:24–25; Deuteronomy 7:1–2; Deuteronomy 9:3–5; Deuteronomy 11:23; Joshua 24:18).
When it comes to “herem” and non-giant groups, the biblical narrative is equally clear. The Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Amalekites are all “destroyed” in Joshua or Samuel, yet they reappear later in Judges, Kings, and even post-exile texts (Judges 3:5; 2 Samuel 5:6; 1 Kings 9:20; Esther 3:1). The persistence of Amalekite raiders in David’s time (1 Samuel 27; 30), despite Saul’s order to annihilate them, further confirms the rhetorical, non-literal nature of much conquest language. It is instructive that, although Saul spared King Agag and the best of the Amalekite cattle, and was judged for not literally annihilating the Amalekites he had fought, when David faces Amalekites later, he does not wipe them out either and is not judged. This may indicate that Saul was supposed to annihilate the leadership and military power of the Amalekites he was campaigning against, while David was not under a command to do so.
How Did the Nephilim Survive After the Flood?
The fact that the Nephilim reappear after the Flood presents a genuine interpretive puzzle in the biblical narrative, one that has challenged both ancient and modern readers. On its face, Genesis 7 and the flood account emphasize the total destruction of all flesh outside Noah’s ark. Yet, decades or centuries later, we encounter references to the Nephilim and their descendants (e.g. the Anakim, Rephaim, and Zamzummim) living in the land of Canaan (see Numbers 13:33; Deuteronomy 2–3). This begs the question: If the angelic sin of Genesis 6 triggered the Flood, the “last straw” in corruption and sin, then how did these figures survive such a cataclysmic event intended to wipe them out?
Genesis 6:4 itself hints at this difficulty, saying, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward…” Ancient Israelites, later Jews, and modern scholars have wrestled with whether this phrase means some giants survived the Flood, or whether new Nephilim appeared. The puzzle is acute because, if only Noah and his family survived, how could the line of Nephilim persist or be reborn post-flood? Two main hypotheses are dominant.
Local Flood Hypothesis:
Several Orthodox authors and commentators have accepted the possibility of a local flood- catastrophic and world-ending but geographically limited to the region around the “world of Noah.” This view is supported by early patristic speculation and some Orthodox writers today, who point out that “all the earth” can mean “all the known land” in ancient Hebrew cosmology. The Orthodox Study Bible, while not dogmatic, references this solution alongside the supernatural reading, affirming that the purpose was to judge the corrupted descendants in a particular region, not to annihilate the entire globe.
Repeated Angelic Sin Hypothesis:
A second possible explanation, advanced by Heiser and discussed in ancient Jewish writings, is that the events of Genesis 6:1–4 were not isolated. The phrase “and also afterward” (Genesis 6:4) may indicate recurring angelic transgressions after the flood, resulting in new giant clans later in history. This view fits with the persistent problem of spiritual rebellion described in Enoch and other traditions, and explains why “giants” continue to appear among Israel’s enemies.
Why Nephilim Don’t Appear Today:
According to Orthodox and biblical teaching, God decisively intervened after the flood and conquest, locking the rebellious angels “in chains” (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) and forbidding further transgression. The boundaries between spiritual and physical were reset—thus, while unclean spirits (the departed Nephilim) continue to tempt and trouble humanity, no new giants are produced. The age of Nephilim and Watchers was a unique period in sacred history.
The Fate of the Angels and Unclean Spirits
Following patristic tradition and the New Testament, the rebellious angels of Genesis 6 were cast into Tartarus “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). Their children, the Nephilim, slain by the flood or in Israel’s wars, became “unclean spirits” (demons) who wander the earth, as described in both the Gospels and early Church commentary. These spirits lack the status of pure angels or humans, making them eternally restless and hostile until judgment.
How Tall Were the Giants?
Biblical giants are fearsome, but not fantastical. The Masoretic text gives Goliath’s height as “six cubits and a span” (about 9’9”), but the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scroll versions list “four cubits and a span” (about 6’9”). Both readings are within the bounds of human possibility; anthropologists and biologists warn that, due to the square-cube law (explained by Galileo), bone and muscle cannot scale up indefinitely; a human pyramid past 8 feet suffers catastrophic physical problems. So while giants were tall warriors, sometimes seven feet or more, they were not legends come to life.
Conclusion: Hope Through the Cosmic Battle
Taking this narrative and spiritual background seriously transforms the way we read Scripture. The conquest stories, difficult as they are, make far more sense when seen as part of a drama of cosmic liberation- a gigantomachy where God vindicates creation, defeats demon-spawned foes, and prepares the world for reconciliation in Christ. Understanding herem as both literal in the case of unique supernatural evil and rhetorical elsewhere relieves ethical tension and lets us appreciate the spiritual stakes of the story.
When we immerse ourselves in the worldview behind these texts, we discover fresh depth: battles are not just about tribal real estate, but the healing of creation from spiritual rebellion. Christ’s ultimate victory brings peace, forgiveness, and a new humanity fulfilling both prophecy and the hope longed for in the heart of Scripture. The Old Testament then becomes not an embarrassment, but a foundational chapter in the world’s redemption.
Recommended for further study:
• Stephen De Young, The Religion of the Apostles
• Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm
• The Lord of Spirits Podcast (Ancient Faith Ministries)
• Paul Copan, Did God Really Command Genocide?
