>2Sam. 21:19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the
>Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite,
>slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear
>was like a weaver's beam.
In my KJV, the word "brother" in the above verse is italicized. Italics in the KJV indicate instances where the translators needed to add English words to make a passage understandable, or in this case, to try to spackle over a contradiction.
Since we're on the subject of giants, what is Mr. Hutchinson's position on the pseudepigraphical work 1 Enoch? This work expands on the account of interbreeding between humans and the "sons of God" (wait a minute, I thought he only had one) given in Genesis 6:1-4.
1 Enoch also makes many interesting scientific comments, e.g.,
And I saw other lightnings and the stars of heaven, and I saw how He called them all by their names and they hearkened unto Him. And I saw how they are weighted in a righteous balance according to their proportions of light: I saw the width of their spaces and the day of their appearing, and how their revolution produces lightning: and I saw their revolution according to the number of the angels, and how they keep faith with each other. And I asked the angel who went with me who showed me what was hidden: ‘What are these?’ And he said to me: ‘The Lord of Spirits hath showed thee their parable: these are the names of the holy who dwell on the earth and believe in the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.’
Also another phenomenon I saw in regard to the lightnings: how some of the stars arise and become lightnings and cannot part with their new form. 1 Enoch 43-44
Mr. Hutchinson will probably object to any reference to 1 Enoch; after all, it was eliminated from most Christian canons sixteen+ centuries ago, although I think the Copts in Egypt and Ethiopian Christians still use it. So why is it quoted in Jude? Jude 14-15, after all, is simply quoting 1 Enoch:
Jude 14-15:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
1 Enoch 1:9:
And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgment upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly:
And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
1 Enoch also says that hell's walls are "exceedingly smooth", so most of us on this list can rest a little easier knowing that hell does, after all, have a non-stick surface.
Tom McCammon