דף אחד

The Prologue to the Zohar starts by quoting Songs of Songs 2:2  “As a rose among thorns” כְּשׁוֹשַׁנָּה בֵּין הַחוֹחִים

Prologue: Verse 1
רִבִּי חִזְקִיָּה פָּתַח, כְּתִיב כְּשׁוֹשַׁנָּה בֵּין הַחוֹחִים. מָאן שׁוֹשַׁנָּה, דָּא כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל. בְּגִין דְּאִית שׁוֹשַׁנָּה וְאִית שׁוֹשַׁנָּה, מַה שׁוֹשַׁנָּה דְּאִיהִי בֵּין הַחוֹחִים אִית בַּהּ סוּמָק וְחִוָּור, אוּף כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אִית בַּהּ דִּין וְרַחֲמֵי. מַה שׁוֹשַׁנָּה אִית בַּהּ תְּלֵיסַר עָלִין, אוּף כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אִית בַּהּ תְּלֵיסַר מְכִילִין דְּרַחֲמֵי דְּסַחֲרִין לַהּ מִכָּל סִטְרָהָא. אוּף אֱלֹהִים דְּהָכָא מִשַׁעְתָּא דְּאִדְכַּר אַפִּיק תְּלֵיסַר תֵּיבִין לְסַחֲרָא לִכְנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וּלְנַטְרָא לַהּ.
Rabbi Chizkiyah opened the discussion with the verse, “As the Rose among the thorns” (Shir Hashirim 2:2) What is the Rose? AND HE REPLIES: It is the Congregation of Yisrael. Because there is a Rose; and there is a Rose. Just as the Rose among the thorns is tinged with red and white, so is the Congregation of Yisrael affected by the qualities of Judgment and Mercy. Just as the Rose has thirteen petals, so the Congregation of Yisrael is surrounded by the thirteen attributes of Mercy. Thus, between the first mention of the name Elohim. These words surround and guard the Congregation of Yisrael.

Now of course Songs of Songs or Shir Hashirim is both a love poem between lovers and also an expression of God’s love of Israel.

But also consider this in Matthew 13:24-30

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

²⁴ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

Here is also Matthew 13:1-9

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

דף שתיים

Now we go to Prologue chapter 6:23 on the Hebrew letter Tav ת

Here is the Zohar

Prologue: Verse 23
כַּד בְּעָא לְמִבְרֵי עָלְמָא, אֲתוֹ כָּל אַתְוָון קַמֵּיהּ מִסּוֹפָא אֲרֵישַׁיְיהוּ. שָׁרֵיאַת אָת ת לְמֵיעַל בְּרֵישָׁא, אָמְרָה, רִבּוֹן עָלְמִין: נִיחָא קַמָּךְ לְמִבְרֵי בִּי עָלְמָא, דַּאֲנָא חוֹתְמָא דְגוּשְׁפַּנְקָא דִילָךְ, אֱמֶת, וְאַתְּ אִתְקְרִיאַת אֱמֶת, יָאוֹת לְמַלְכָּא לְמִשְׁרֵי בְּאוֹת אֱמֶת, וּלְמִבְרֵי בִּי עָלְמָא. אֲמַר לָהּ קָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יָאוֹת אַנְתְּ וְזַכָּאָה אַנְתְּ, אֶלָּא לֵית אַנְתְּ כְּדַאי לְמִבְרֵי בָּךְ עָלְמָא. הוֹאִיל וְאַנְתְּ זַמִּינָא לְמֶהֱוֵי רָשִׁים עַל מִצְחִין דְּגוּבְרִין מְהֵימְנִין, דְּקַיָּימוּ אוֹרַיְיתָא מֵא’ וְעַד ת’, וּבִרְשִׁימוּ דִילָךְ יְמוּתוּן. וְעוֹד, דְּאַנְתְּ חוֹתָמָא דְמָוֶת, הוֹאִיל וְאַנְתְּ כָּךְ, לֵית אַנְתְּ כְּדַאי לְמִבְרֵי בָּךְ עָלְמָא. מִיָּד נָפְקַת.
When He desired to create the world, all the letters came before Him in sequence from last to first. The letter Tav saw itself fit to come forth first. It said, Master of the World, may it please You to create the world with me because I am the seal of Your ring, which is emet (truth), MEANING THAT I AM THE LAST LETTER IN THE WORD EMET. And as You are called BY THIS NAME OF truth, so it would be most appropriate for the King to begin with the letter Tav, and create the world by me. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to it, You are worthy and deserving, but you are not suitable for the world to be created by you. You are destined to serve as a mark on the foreheads of the faithful, who have kept the Law of the Torah from Aleph to Tav. When you appear, they shall die. Not only that, but you are the seal of the word Death, MEANING THAT TAV IS THE LAST LETTER IN THE WORD MAVET (DEATH). And because of this, you are not suitable for Me to create the world with you. The letter Tav then immediately left.

Remember the Zohar is not scripture or anything with authority but it is interesting what is said about about the letter Tav because the letter Tav traditionally had a meaning a mark or a sign or a cross before the Middle Eastern Alpha-Bet went from pictographic to phonetic and see these examples from more ancient forms of the letter Tav ת

Paleo Hebrew

Phoenician

Proto-Sinaitic (the Alpha-Bet that the oldest threads of the Bible were written)

So you can see in older and more primitive forms it meant a sign or a mark and may have originated from the  Egyptian hieroglyph meaning a tally mark.And so besides the importance of a sign and the hint of the crucifix to come it is also the last letter of the Hebrew Alef-Beit and so the “Alef and the Tav is analogous to the Alpha and the Omega in Revelation.I personally am not a big fan of the “Otiot” אותיות or that is the signs or letters and deriving mystical or spititual meanings to the pictographic meanings of Hebrew letters.Its either nonsense or magick if you use it to consult it over actual scripture.However it would be equally naive to deny that there is not some meaning from the letters and the above information on Tav bears that out.

דף שלוש

Here at Prologue chapter 10 verse 50 we have something interesting and of course I’m not putting to much into the motives of Rabbi Chiya and why he fasted to meet Rabbi Shimon but what is more interesting the Messianic overtones.

Prologue: Verse 50
קָם רַבִּי חִיָּיא וַהֲוָה בָּכֵי. אֲזַל, וְרַבִּי יוֹסֵי עִמֵּיהּ. מֵהַהוּא יוֹמָא אִתְעַנֵּי אַרְבְּעִין יוֹמִין לְמֶחֱמֵי לְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן. אֲמָרוּ לֵיהּ לֵית אַנְתְּ רַשַּׁאי לְמֶחֱמֵי לֵיהּ. בְּכָה וְאִתְעַנֵּי אַרְבְּעִין יוֹמִין אַחֲרִינִין, אַחֲזִיאוּ לֵיהּ בְּחֶזְוָוא לְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרֵיהּ, דַּהֲווֹ לָעָאן בְּמִלָּה דָא דַּאֲמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי, וַהֲווֹ כַּמָּה אַלְפִין צַיְיתִין לְמִלּוּלֵיהּ.
Rabbi Chiya stood up and walked along weeping, accompanied by Rabbi Yosi. He fasted from that day on for forty days so that he might meet with Rabbi Shimon. They told him, you are not fit to see him. He then wept and fasted for another forty days. They showed him Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar his son, in a vision. They were discussing the interpretation of that word, which Rabbi Yosi mentioned . And many thousands were listening to his words.

Matthew 4

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry”

What is interesting is the significance of fasting 40 days and although from Noah to Moses 40 has been an important number but never mentioned before in fasting in particular as far as I know and especially that the Zohar is big on Messianic implications.Next here we go to verse 54 still in Prologue chapter 10 and it says:

Prologue: Verse 54
מָאן מִנְכוֹן, דִּי חֲשׁוֹכָא מְהַפְּכָן לִנְהוֹרָא, וְטָעֲמִין מְרִירָא לְמִתְקָא, עַד לָא יֵיתוֹן הָכָא. מָאן מִנְּכוֹן, דִּמְחַכָּאן בְּכָל יוֹמָא לִנְהוֹרָא דְנָהֵיר בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְמַלְכָּא פָּקֵיד לְאַיַּלְתָּא, וְאִתְיַיקַר, וְאִתְקְרֵי מַלְכָּא מִכָּל מַלְכִין דְּעָלְמָא. מָאן דְּלָא מְצַפֶּה דָא בְּכָל יוֹמָא בְּהַהוּא עָלְמָא, לֵית לֵיהּ חוּלָקָא הָכָא.
Who among you has, transformed darkness into light and the taste of bitter into sweet before he came here? Who among you has awaited eagerly every day the light that shines when the King calls upon the Gazelle? For then – the glory , and He is called the King of all the other kings of the world. Because he who does not await eagerly for this every day, in that world – has no part here.

So for one let us point out the taste of bitter into sweet could also be like the turning of water to wine.

Here is John 1:5

 ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (and from John 14:6 we know Jesus is the light)

John 8:12

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Here is First Timothy 6:15

¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

So here is the Zohar talking about a King of Kings a Lord of Lords who turns the darkness to light and the bitter to sweet (who must this be talking about)

דף ארבע

Now still in the Prologue but to chapter 14 verse 129

Prologue: Verse 129
כְּבוֹד אֵל, דָּא כְּבוֹד כַּלָּה דְּאִקְרֵי אֵל, דִּכְתִיב אֵל זוֹעֵם בְּכָל יוֹם. בְּכָל יוֹמֵי שַׁתָּא אִקְרֵי אֵל, וְהַשְׁתָּא, דְּהָא עָאלַת לַחוּפָּה, אִקְרֵי כָּבוֹד, וְאִקְרֵי אֵל, יְקָר עַל יְקָר. נְהִירוּ עַל נְהִירוּ, וְשָׁלְטָנוּ עַל שָׁלְטָנוּ.
“The glory of El” is the Bride, NAMELY, MALCHUT, which is called El. As it is written, “and El who has indignation every day” (Tehilim 7:12). During all the days of the year, She is called El, but now, after entering under the bridal canopy, She is called ‘El’, (which means ) glory upon glory, splendor upon splendor, and dominion upon dominion.

I would draw reference to the Bride of Christ here, and what says is the glory of El (God) is the bride and the bride is malkhut (kingdom) and of course we know that the residents of the kingdom of God are Christ’s Bride.

Revelation 19:7-9

7 Let us rejoice and be glad
    and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
    and his bride has made herself ready.
⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean,
    was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

⁹ Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Revelation 21:1-2

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 

And now from chapter 18 verse 174, and look at how Christian it sounds.And that is not to ever imply Jews do not care for the poor but this language is very Christiological (Almost Catholic)

Prologue: Verse 174
פָּתַח רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן וַאֲמַר, כָּל מָאן דְּחָדֵי בְּאִינוּן מוֹעֲדַיָּא, וְלָא יָהֵיב חוּלָקֵיהּ לְקֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, הַהוּא רַע עַיִן שָׂטָן שׂוֹנֵא אוֹתוֹ וְקָא מְקַטְרֵג לֵיהּ, וְסָלֵיק לֵיהּ מֵעָלְמָא, וְכַמָּה עָקוּ עַל עָקוּ מְסַבֵּב לֵיהּ.
Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion by saying that he who rejoices on festivals, but does not give his portion to the Holy One, blessed be He, then that Evil Eye – Satan – shall hate and persecute him, and shall take him out of this world. And he will bring many miseries upon miseries.

דף חמש

Although this does not pertain to Mashiach but is interesting as we now enter section 2 of the Zohar B’reishit (which is the book of Genesis).So let us look at Breishit part A chapter 2 verse 13.

Bereshit A: Verse 13
מִכָּאן וּלְהָלְאָה בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא שִׁי”ת, מִקְצֵה הַשָּׁמַיִם וְעַד קְצֵה הַשָּׁמַיִם שִׁית סִטְרִין דְּמִתְפַּשְׁטָן מֵרָזָא עִלָאָה בְּאִתְפַּשְׁטוּתָא דְּבָרָא, מִגּוֹ נְקוּדָה קַדְמָאָה בָּרָא אִתְפַּשְׁטוּתָא דְּחַד נְקוּדָה דִלְעֵילָא וְהָכָא אִגְלִיף רָזָא שְׁמָא דְּאַרְבְּעִין וּתְרֵין אַתְוָון.
Beresheet IS FORMED OF THE SEGMENTS BaraSheet (he created six), because from one end of the heaven to the other, there are six branches that extend from the secret of the sublime with the expansion of Bara (created). Bara expanded from within the first point, (WHICH IS ARICH ANPIN). And here, , the secret of the name with the 42 letters was engraved.

so the word Breishit (Beresheet as the Zohar translators spelled it (same difference) it means (in beginning) rooted in the word “reish” meaning head or top and “be” means in or with.And this word is Hebrew for the Greek word Genesis and is also the first word in the Hebrew Bible.What is going on here is a word play ,so you have the proper word B’reishit ok ,now use the beit and reish to make the word “bara”ברא which is Hebrew from to create and put that with the ending of “sheet” which can mean six in the feminine phrasing. So hence you have “barasheet” created in six ,because God created the universe in six days! Just a fun word play and if you are curious what is the “Arikh Anpin” ,that is Aramaic for “long face” אריך אנפין and the word Arikh is the root of the word used in the Bible when it says “honor your parents so your days on the land will be long” and so its not an alien word.The long face or countenance or Arikh Anpin is a reference to Gods patient side and his long suffering toward us as we remember 1 Corinthians 13:4

⁴ “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”

Now of course the Arikh Anpin has other meanings in Kabalah but this book is not about Kabalah or at least not in the traditional sense but I thought of the importance of patience in both love and God himself.

דף שש

Now on to something darker ,the demonic force of spiritual blindness klipah קליפה

Now we look at Breishit part A chapter 9 verse 98

Bereshit A: Verse 98
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים יְהִי מְאֹרֹת וגו’, מְאֹרֹת חָסֵר, דְּאִתְבְּרֵי אַסְכְּרָה לְרַבְיֵי. דְּבָתַר דְּאִתְגְּנֵיז נְהִירוּ אוֹר קַדְמָאָה, אִתְבְּרֵי קְלִיפָּה לְמוֹחָא, וְהַהִיא קְלִיפָּה אִתְפַּשַּׁט וְאַפֵּיק קְלִיפָּה אָחֳרָא. כֵּיוָן דְּנַפְקַת, סַלְקָא וְנַחֲתָא, מָטַת לְגַבֵּי אַנְפֵּי זוּטְרֵי, בָּעאַת לְאִתְדַּבְּקָא בְּהוֹ, וּלְאִצְטַיְירָא בְּגַוַויְיהוּ, וְלָא בָּעאַת לְאַפְרְשָׁא מִנַּיְיהוּ, אַפְרַשׁ לָהּ קָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתַּמָּן, וְנָחֵית לָהּ לְתַתָּא, כַּד בְּרָא אָדָם, בְּגִין לְאַתְקָנָא הַאי, בְּהַאי עָלְמָא.
“And Elohim said, ‘Let there be Light(s) ? (Heb. me’orot)’” (Beresheet 1:14). Me’orot with defective spelling, that the children’s disease, croup (diphtheria), was created. (MISHLEI 3:33). For, after the illumination of the primordial light was concealed, the skull (Heb. Klipah) of the brain was created. This Klipah expanded and brought forth another Klipah. As soon as THE KLIPAH went forth, it ascended and descended until it reached the small face. It wanted to cleave to it and become part of its form – it refused to be separated from it. When the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam, he separated it from there and the Klipah descended below , in order to fix it in this world.

So what are klipah or klipot in the plural ,well the word means shell or husk and they are shells that cover a persons soul and spiritual eyes and prevent someone from seeing God’s truth.How often have you heard a pastor talk about spiritual blindness for instance.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

³ “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

So this is klipot ,spiritual blindness as a demonic entity and of course the Kabalist would say all those who do not know the truth of the God of Israel have klipot and surely the God of Israel is true.But also is true those who can’t see the true identity of Mashiach (Messiah) also have klipot on their spiritual eyes.I know that this verse alone in the Zohar does not fully explain klipah or klipot but it is an introduction to the concept of what they mean.For instance a Calvinist often will feel that the non elect are blind to see the Gospel of Jesus and God won’t open their eyes to it.This is klipah or klipot in the plural, the shells on their spiritual eyes that stop them from seeing the truth.

• Shells created by an individual’s negative actions that create a metaphysical barrier between one’s self and the Light.
• This means that either by engaing in sin continually or past unrepented sin puts sort of a soot that covers the soul ,or when we put idols before our Lord this also acts as a filter that waters down the light of the Holy Spirit reaching our soul.So as we had shells which is what klipot literally or can mean spiritual soot or dirt that stops us from a better relationship with God.

DEFINITION

Klipot (klipa, singular), which translates from Hebrew as “husks” or “shells,” are metaphysical barriers between ourselves and the Light of the Creator that we, ourselves, have created through our own selfish actions. They are what keep us from receiving all the blessings that are meant for us, or from feeling happy, certain, or fulfilled all of the time.

We who accept the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) know also that Yeshua (Jesus) is the light but you get the idea.And whether you look at them as above as us separating ourselves from seeing God by our actions or you see klipah as demonic beings they are shells or husks that can blind a soul.

here is verse 99

Bereshit A: Verse 99
כֵּיוָן דְּחָמַת לְחַוָּה דְּקָא מִתְדַּבְּקָא בְּסִטְרוֹי דְּאָדָם, דְּשַׁפִּירוּ דִּלְעֵילָא, וְחָמַאת דְּיוֹקְנָא שְׁלִים, פָּרְחָא מִתַּמָּן, וּבָעאַת כְּמִלְקַדְמִין לְאִתְדַּבְּקָא בְּאַנְפּוֹי זוּטְרֵי, אִינוּן נָטְרֵי תַּרְעִין דִּלְעֵיל, לָא שַׁבְקוּ לָהּ, נָזַף קָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בָּהּ, וְאַטֵּיל לָהּ בְּשִׁפּוּלֵי יַמָּא.
When THE KLIPAH saw Eve clinging to the side of Adam, who represented the beauty of above, and saw in them the complete form, it flew up from its place AT THE LEVEL OF MALCHUT and wanted to cling to the small faces OF ADAM AND EVE as before. However, the guards at the gates did not allow THE KLIPAH TO CLING TO THEM. The Holy One, blessed be He, scolded it and cast it into the depths of the sea.

דף שבע

A quick diversion here in Breishit part A chapter 37 verse 349

Bereshit A: Verse 349
וּבְשַׁעֲתָא דְּחָמָא קָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא דִּיקוּמוּן תְּלָתָא דָרִין חַיָּיבִין, וְאִינוּן: דָּרָא דֶּאֱנוֹשׁ, וְדָרָא דְּטוֹפָנָא, וְדָרָא דְּפַלָּגָה, גָּנִיז לֵיהּ, בְּגִין דְּלָא יִשְׁתַּמְּשׁוּן בֵּיהּ, וִיהַב יָתֵיהּ קָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה, וְאִשְׁתַּמַּשׁ בֵּיהּ תְּלַת יְרָחִין, דְּאִשְׁתָּאֲרוּן לֵיהּ, מִיּוֹמֵי עִבּוּרָא דִילֵיהּ, כְּמָא דְּאַתְּ אָמֵר וַתִּצְפְּנֵהוּ שְׁלשָׁה יְרָחִים.
When the Holy One, blessed be He, had foreseen three sinful generations – namely, the generation of Enosh, the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Tower of Babylon – he hid THIS LIGHT to prevent them from using it. The Holy One, blessed be He, gave it to Moses, who used it during the three months left to complete his period of pregnancy. This is why it is written: “She hid him three months” (Shemot 2:2).

We come to Enosh אֱנוֹשׁ ,now this name has nuanced meanings but the first is wounded and fatal or mortal but in accordance with our sinful nature or the yeitzer hara יצר הרע (inclination toward evil).Enosh also means man or person and it is very compelling the Biblical word for man means both mortal and wounded which says much about our condition.The most common words in Hebrew for a single man or woman is ish and ishah respectively to which both are rooted in Enosh.

Now to Breishit part A chapter 50 465

Bereshit A: Verse 465
ר’ חִיָּיא אֲמַר, בְּנוֹי דְקַיִן, הֲווֹ בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים, דְּהָא כַּד אֲתָא סמא”ל עַל חַוָּה, אַטִיל בָּהּ זוּהֲמָא וְאִתְעַבְּרַת, וְאוֹלִידַת לְקַיִן, וְחֵיזוּ דִילֵיהּ, לָא הֲוַת דָּמֵי לִשְׁאָר בְּנֵי נְשָׁא, וְכָל אִינוּן דְּאַתְיָין מִסִּטְרָא דִילֵיהּ, לָא הֲווֹ אִקְרוּן אֶלָּא בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים.
Rabbi Chiya said that the descendants of Cain were the sons of Elohim, because when Samael injected his filth into Eve, she conceived and gave birth to Cain. Consequently, his appearance was not similar to that of the rest of humanity . All those who descended from Cain were called the sons of Elohim.’

This is where we see the Zohar is making things up for mystical value ,there is no supported evidence that Chavah (Eve) ever slept with a demon.Remember the idea of this book is not to show that the Zohar is a guide book or scripture but that the truth of Messiah is found in secret.C.S Lewis said something similar about pre Christian pagan cults in that if the truth of man heart is Jesus then it would make sense that some pagan myths seemed Christological.My point more being is that if Jesus was rejected as Mashiach then his reflection would be in the mystical traditions created to replace him.

But is Samael real ,I would guess yes and that Samael סמא”ל (meaning poison of God) was the demon who possessed the snake in Eden although this is more midrash then proven truth.Also do not confuse Samael with Samuel ,Samuel is spelled like this שמואל and is properly pronounced Sh’muel or Shemuel ,so no relation there.

Things like the Talmud or the Zohar are Rabbinical Literature not altogether different from extra Biblical Christian literature like CS Lewis or Milton or even Joel Osteen self help books ,sometimes they are spot on other times full of non sense and Rabbinical literature is no different.Only the Bible is infallible and it takes time to build up your non sense filter to tell the difference.And mainly we do that through scripture for we know that the Zohar shows that Jesus is the Messiah by knowing him through the New Testament.So back to Samael who’s name means poison of God ,matter of fact the word sam means narcotics or recreational drugs in modern Hebrew.

דף שמונה

Now of course this next section does not say Yeshua by name but says Mashiach (that is Messiah or Christ meaning anounted).Here is Breishit part B chapter 5 verses 18-19.

Bereshit B: Verse 18
שָׁארֵי תִּנְיָינוּת וּבָכֵי, עַד דְּקָלָא נָפֵיק, וּמִתְאַחֵד בְּהַהוּא קָלָא, וְסָלֵיק לְעֵילָא, וְאִשְׁתָּהֵי תַּמָּן עַד רֵישׁ יַרְחָא. וְכַד נָחֵית נָחֲתֲין עִמֵּיהּ כַּמָּה נְהוֹרִין וְזִיוִין, מְנַהֲרִין לְכָל אִינוּן הֵיכָלִין, וְאַסְוָותָא וּנְהוֹרָא לְכָל אִינוּן קָטוֹלִין, וּבְנֵי מַרְעִין וּמַכְאוֹבִין דִּסְבִילוּ עִמֵּיהּ דְּמָשִׁיחַ.
(Messiah) starts crying again till a supernal voice emerges and mixes with the Voice rises up. And it is delayed there until the beginning of the month, when it descends (from Binah). Then it brings down many lights and emanations that shine upon all the chambers. It also brings remedy and light to those killed and those ailing and with pains who suffer with Messiah.

Bereshit B: Verse 19
וּכְדֵין פּוּרְפִּירָא לָבֵישׁ, וְתַמָּן חֲקִיקִין וּרְשִׁימִין כָּל אִינוּן קָטוֹלֵי דִּשְׁאָר עַמִין עכו”ם בְּהַהוּא פּוּרְפִּירָא, וְסָלֵיק הַהוּא פּוּרְפִּירָא לְעֵילָא, וְאִתְחַקַּק תַּמָּן גּוֹ פּוּרְפִּירָא עִלָּאָה דְמַלְכָּא, וְקֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא זַמִּין לְאַלְבָּשָׁא הַהוּא פּוּרְפִּירָא וּלְמֵידַן עַמִּין, דִּכְתִיב יָדִין בַּגּוֹיִם מָלֵא גְוִיּוֹת. עַד דִּי אֲתָא וְנָחֵים לוֹן, וְנָחֲתִין עִמֵּיהּ נְהוֹרִין וְעִדּוּנִין, לְאִתְעַדְּנָא, וְכַמָּה מַלְאָכִין וּרְתִיכִין עִמֵּיהּ, כָּל חַד וְחַד בְּמַלְבּוּשָׁא, לְאִתְלַבְּשָׁא בְּהוֹ כָּל אִינוּן נִשְׁמָתִין דְּקָטוֹלִין, וְתַמָּן מִתְעַדְּנִין כָּל הַהוּא זִמְנָא דְאִיהוּ סָלֵיק וְנָחֵית.
Then MESSIAH puts on the ROYAL purple garment (called Purfira), on which the names of all those killed by the idolatrous nations of the world are inscribed and listed. This purple garment OF MESSIAH ascends TO BINAH and is engraved upon the supernal royal garment of the King. The Holy One, blessed be He, will one day clothe Himself with this royal garment OF MESSIAH and judge the nations of the world, as it is written: “He shall judge the heathen and He shall fill the places with dead bodies” (Tehilim 110:6). Until MESSIAH descends and returns , bringing lights and bliss down with him for the pleasure and consolation of the souls. And many angels and Chariots , each carrying a garment for the souls of those killed by nations. There these souls experience divine bliss while Messiah ascends and descends.

Here is the Aramaic word purfira meaning purple פּוּרְפִּירָא and this phrase here says The Holy One Blessed is he (a name for the Lord) is ready for his purple garment, וְקֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא זַמִּין לְאַלְבָּשָׁא הַהוּא פּוּרְפִּירָא.

This indicates that not only will the Messiah wear purple but that the Messiah is God!

Now lets look at the book of Mark 15

¹⁶ “The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him”

So if you are wondering being that both early and late dating of the Zohar have in written well after Jesus then could this passage have copied the Gospels? For one thing the writer or writers of the Zohar likely would not have known this passage.I do not doubt that they had some knowledge of Christianity and the New Testament but likely the better known things and this is not an overly known or quoted type passage.Also the writer or writers of the Zohar are not pro Jesus and having something like this would have been against there interest.So I feel this is a spontaneous writing and not a copy.

דף תשעה

Now it is time to talk about the Zeir Anpin (small face or countenance)זְעֵיר אַנפִּין.

Ze`ir Anpin (Aramaic: זְעֵיר אַנפִּין meaning “Lesser Countenance/Small Face”, is a revealed aspect of God in Kabbalah, comprising the emotional sephirot attributes: Chesed (kindness, Gevurah(stregnth or courage), Tiphereth(splendor,beauty), Netzach(eternity,endurance,victory)(, Hod(splendor,glory) and Yesod(foundation).These are all part of the Ten Sefirot or the qualities of God and we will get to more on this later but this is an introduction now if you see it in English commentary.There is some question if this represents Messiah but we will get to that later on.Here Breishit B chapter 56 verse 300

Bereshit B: Verse 300
פְּתַח וַאֲמַר, כִּי צַדִּיק ה’ צְדָקוֹת אָהֵב יָשָׁר יֶחֱזוּ פָנֵימוֹ. הַאי קְרָא אֲמָרוּ בֵּיהּ חַבְרַיָיא מַאי דְּקָאֲמָרוּ. אֲבָל כִּי צַדִּיק ה’, צַדִּיק הוּא, וּשְׁמֵיהּ צַדִּיק וּבְגִינֵי כָּךְ, צְדָקוֹת אָהֵב.
He said, “For Hashem is righteous and loves righteousness, and the upright behold His face” (Tehilim 11:7). And the friends have commented on this verse that Hashem, is righteous, and His name, is righteous. For that reason He loves righteousness, .

Here the Aramaic says The Lord “YHVH” loves righteousness and the upright have vision of “his face” but the Aramaic never actually writes Zeir Anpin.

Now to in the same section chapter 61 verse 353 and 354

Bereshit B: Verse 353
אֲמַר ר’ חִיָּיא, מַאי דִכְתִיב, וַאֲחוֹת תּוּבַל קַיִן נַעֲמָה. מַאי אִירְיָא הָכָא, דְּקָאֲמַר קְרָא דִּשְׁמָהּ נַעֲמָה. אֶלָא, בְּגִין דְּטָעֲיָין בְּנֵי נָשָׁא אֲבַתְרָהּ, וַאֲפִילּוּ רוּחִין וְשֵׁדִין. רַבִּי יִצְחָק אֲמַר, אִינוּן בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים עַזָּא וַעֲזָאֵל, טָעוּ בַּתְרָהּ.
Rabbi Chiya quotes, “And the sister of Tuval Cain was Na’amah” (Beresheet 4:22). Why do the scriptures mention her name, Na’amah (Eng. ‘pleasant’)? It is because people were seduced by her and even spirits and demons. Rabbi Yitzchak said that the sons of Elohim, Aza, and Azael were seduced by her.

Bereshit B: Verse 354
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אֲמַר, אִמָּן שֶׁל שֵׁדִים הֲוַת, דְּמִסִּטְרָא דְקַיִן נָפְקַת, וְהִיא אִתְמַנַּת עִם לִילִית בְּאַסְכְּרָה דְּרַבְיֵי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי אַבָּא, וְהָא אֲמַר מַר, דְּהִיא אִתְמַנַּת לְחַיְיכָא בִּבְנֵי נָשָׁא. אָמָר לוֹ, הָכֵי הוּא וַדַּאי, דְּהָא אִיהִי אַתְיַית וְחַיְיכַאת בְּהוֹ בִּבְנֵי נָשָׁא. וּלְזִמְנִין דְּאוֹלֵידַת רוּחִין בְּעָלְמָא מִנַּיְיהוּ. וְעַד כָּאן אִיהִי קָיְימַת לְחַיְיכָא בְּהוֹ בִּבְנֵי נָשָׁא.
Rabbi Shimon said that she was the mother of demons, being of the side of Cain, and that along with Lilit, she is responsible for the epileptic death of babies. Rabbi Aba said to him: But Sir, RABBI SHIMON, NA’AMAH was charged with seducing men and this is precisely correct, because she seduced men and bore spirits in the world. She still persists in her seductive work in the world. .

It is speculated that Naamah may have been the first human woman to have sex with the angels from Genesis 6 but this is midrash or legend not scripture.Although the English commentary does not explicitly say that it is some what implied.It has also been speculated that Naamah was the wife of Noah although the Book of Jubilees indicates Emzara was the wife of Noah.Or simply another Naamah was Noah’s wife being it was a common name,remember the Bible had two Enochs and two Lamekhs and Naamah meaning pleasant would have been a popular girls name.

דף עשר

Now here we are onto something interesting here with Enosh from the “Book of the Generations of Adam” in Breishit part B chapter 63 verse 380.

Bereshit B: Verse 380
כַּד אָתָא אֱנוֹשׁ, חָמָא לוֹן, וְחָמָא חָכְמַתְהוֹן מְשַׁנְיָין עִלָּאִין, וְאִשְׁתַּדְּלוּ בְּהוֹן, וְעָבְדִין עֲבִידְתִּין, וְחַרְשִׁין וְקוֹסְמִין, וְאוֹלִיפוּ מִנְהוֹן, עַד דְּאִתְפַּשְׁטַת הַהִיא חָכְמְתָא, בְּדָרָא דְּמַבּוּל. וְכָלְהוֹ הֲווֹ עַבְדֵי עֲבִידְתַּיְיהוּ לְאַבְאָשָׁא.
But when Enosh came, he saw those that their wisdom contradicts the holy beings. Then, people once again practiced magic and sorcery, and they shared their knowledge . This wisdom spread widely in the generation of the flood, when magic and sorcery were practiced for evil purposes.

Genesis 4:26 NIV

²⁶ Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.

At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.

So what is the big deal or controversy seems pretty simply right?

Some feel this should truly read that “in that time they profaned the name of the Lord”

Ok ,so why then ? Let us unpack the original text then

וּלְשֵׁ֤ת גַּם־הוּא֙ יֻלַּד־בֵּ֔ן וַיִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ אֱנ֑וֹשׁ אָ֣ז הוּחַ֔ל לִקְרֹ֖א בְּשֵׁ֥ם יְהֹוָֽה

“And to Sheit (Seth) also to he a son was born and he called his name Enosh (Enosh not EEnash as his often said) and so they began to call in the name of the Lord”

הוּחַ֔ל This here is the main word in question “huchal” and this word לְהָחֵל “lihacheil” means to begin in a more modern dialect so you see that this word is consistent with to begin and can also mean hope.

But what is the true root of huchal is it יחל yicheil which means to hope or start or to begin.Like many ancient Hebrew words it has agricultural origins here in Genesis 9.20

וַיָּ֥חֶל נֹ֖חַ אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וַיִּטַּ֖ע כָּֽרֶם

In a verbal form of וַיָּ֥חֶל Vayachel it is used to mean “And he began”

“And Noach Began as a man of the soil (a farmer) and he planted a vinyard”

So if huchal is from yicheil then “begin or began” is the proper translation then

So what is the case for “profane” as definition” ,this is from a dictionary.

חלל chileil or chalal as a root

 ” space; emptiness, cavity, void, hollow, shaft, voidness, socket, well, inane, lacuna, lumen

  dead, fatal casualty, fallen

חולל

verbbe desecrated; violated; redeemed

verbto kill

verbbe played (flute)

לחלל

verbto desecrate; violate; redeem

verbto play the flute

לחלל (>>חילל)

דף אחת עשר

verbto desecrate; violate; redeem”

So chileil or also chalal חלל as the root has many meaning mostly to to profane or polute but can also mean killed or slain and even to play the flute.I believe the flute part comes from a meaning of to strike or to pierce or to bore through which relates to the slain part.And the bore through meaning might pertain to the flute.And also maybe it connects the other word meaning to begin ,meaning sort of like to light a match or strike a match ,to strike can mean to begin.So a proto ancient meaning of strike may connect to begin or began with slain or profaned.

There is a verb in Hebrew called a hofal and in hofal or hophal form and the huchal could mean to profane.The great Rabbi Rashi also suggested this also and the word will vowels chalal tends to imply void or empty and chileil more profane

So you see from an ancient semitic root that we may have one one word meaning that lends itself to ,to bore or pierce which leads to strike which leads to begin and hope.Which also leads to profanity which could have meant to strike or dig at God hence to profane and it all likely came from a farming term term meaning to bore or dig into soil which led to it meaning to begin or hope and then the negative conotations like to profane or polute.

So it looks here like both words roots have the same original word root anyway.For more context this verse deals with Enosh whose name means person and it is the root of the words ish and ishah that mean man and woman respectively.It also means sick,mortal,wounded and fatal also.It is interesting that so many say the Torah does not proclaim man has a sinful nature but the very Hebrew words for people mean frail,fatal or wounded! More proof we really are fallen in nature and truly need Jesus our Messiah to save us!

Did man in his wounded state call out to God for help or did many in his wounded state in anger curse God.Or another mixed view is that man called out to God but in a profane type of worship ,a mix of both.The answer could be both because Biblical interpretation has four levels: The pashat or the simple ,the remez or the hinted meaning,the drash or the seeking and the sod the secret the esoteric.Sometimes the Bible has several meanings in one scripture.

I cannot render a sure verdict on this one but the fact that it does get translated as “began” says that the Rabbi’s may have had reason for this.On the other hand the direction humanity went after Seth and before the flood leans “profane” ,it could go either way really.

Some of you may ask then how reliable is the Bible if there is question on original textual meaning? The answer is very reliable despite there being some discrepancy.Common today today on the internet is that alma/betulah debate from Isaiah everyone is talking about a lot.

Isaiah 7:14

 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

So many say this is illegitimate as a reference to the virgin birth because the text should read “young woman not literally virgin” and this is true ,the word used in Hebrew does mean young woman.That being said ,does the term maiden or young woman or alma in Hebrew exclude virginity? No, very simply so the word alma does not diminish anything.In the Book of Genesis Rebekah is called both betulah and alma.later on in the Zohar it will show that the Hebrew language will use the word Alma as virgin but that will be later and we will go in greater depth on this.

The English Standard Version or ESV of the Bible uses Dead Sea scroll material in Deuteronomy when talking about how the nations were numbered (See Deuteronomy 32.8-9) Most Bibles using the masoretic text say according to the number of the children of Israel but the ESV says children of God( that is angels).There are small textual differences in the Bible but for the most part they are small.

This has little serious theological meaning as far as the truths of God are concerned.The Bible was inspired by God and guided by the Holy Spirit but written by people who at times used different language styles and scribes made some copying errors along the way too.The Holy Spirit was there along the way to keep the big stuff in order as it was later translated.

So people ask ,if God is omniscient than why even the slighest variance ever then? By using human language and the styles of the prophets and scribes it made scripture relatable to people.If a Bible droped from heaven in the language of heaven ,who would understand it or feel it speaks to them.The Bible was written so not only in the original Hebrew,Aramaic and Greek but in every language it would be translated into ,people could feel it speaks to them! So the Bible was written in human language so we could relate to it.One of my own theories is that scribal error was part of the plan of the Holy Spirit when working with scribes and prophets.

Now to Breishit B: chapter 63 Verse 382

Bereshit B: Verse 382
ר’ יִצְחָק אָמַר, כָּל אִינוּן זַכָּאִין דַּהֲווֹ בְּהוּ לְבָתַר, בְּהַהוּא דָרָא, כָּלְהוֹ הֲווֹ מִשְׁתַּדְּלֵי לְמָחָאָה בְּהוֹ, כְּמוֹ יֶרֶד מְתוּשֶׁלַח וַחֲנוֹךְ, וְלָא יָכִילוּ, עַד דְּאִתְפַּשְׁטוּ חַיָּיבִין, מָרְדֵי בְּמָארֵיהוֹן, וְאָמְרֵי מַה שַּׁדַּי כִּי נַעַבְדֶנּוּ.
Rabbi Yitzchak said that all those righteous people who lived after that generation OF ENOSH, such as Jared, Methuselah, and Enoch, tried hard to rebuke them, but were unsuccessful. The world became full of sinners who rebelled against their Master saying, “What is Shadai, that we should serve Him?” (Iyov 21:15).

דף שתיים עשר

It is often argued that man has a neutral nature and can make his own way back to paradise and does not need need a savior who saves by grace not ones own deeds.Let us look at Breishit part B chapter 65 verses 393-394

Bereshit B: Verse 393
וַיַּרְא ה’ כִּי רַבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ וְכָל יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבוֹת לִבּוֹ, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה פְּתַח, כִּי לֹא אֵל חָפֵץ רֶשַׁע אָתָּה לֹא יְגוּרְךָ רָע. הַאי קְרָא אִתְּמָר וְאוֹקְמוּהָ. אֲבָל תָּא חֲזֵי, מַאן דְּאִתְדַּבַּק בְּיֵצֶר הָרָע וְאִתְמָשִׁיךְ אֲבַתְרֵיהּ, וְיִסְתָּאַב הוּא, וִיסָאֲבוּן לֵיהּ, כְּמָה דְּאִתְּמָר.
“And Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and the impulse of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Beresheet 6:5). Of the verse, “For You are not El who has pleasure in wickedness; nor shall evil dwell with you” (Tehilim 5:5), Rabbi Yehuda said: This verse has been discussed and explained, yet come and behold: he who cleaves to and is led by the Evil Inclination is defiled and will be led further into defilement, as we have learned.

Bereshit B: Verse 394
כִּי רַבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם. כָּל בִּישִׁין הֲווֹ עָבְדֵי, וְלָא אִשְׁתְּלִים חוֹבַיְיהוּ, עַד דַּהֲווֹ אוֹשְׁדִין דָּמִין לְמַגָּנָא עַל אַרְעָא. וּמָאן אִינוּן. דַּהֲווֹ מְחַבְּלִין אָרְחַיְיהוּ עַל אַרְעָא. הה”ד רַק רַע כָּל הַיּוֹם. כְּתִיב הָכָא רַק רַע, וּכְתִיב הָתָם וַיְהִי עֵר בְּכוֹר יְהוּדָה רַע בְּעֵינֵי ה’.
“The wickedness of man was great,” because men committed all sorts of sins and their guilt was complete when they spilled blood in vain upon the ground. This refers to those who pollute their ways upon the earth. Thus, it is written: “Only evil (Heb. ra) all day.” In another place it is written: “And Er, the son of Judah, was evil (Heb. ra) in the eyes of Hashem” (Beresheet 38:7).

In verse 393 we have the term yeitzer hara בְּיֵצֶר הָרָע used meaning evil inclination or sinful nature or even total depravity.

Now for some mystical embellishment on the Book of Genesis and on to verse 423 and 424 from the same parashah (section) and chapter.

Bereshit B: Verse 423
הַנְּפִילִים הָיוּ בָּאָרֶץ. תָּנֵי רַבִּי יוֹסֵי, אִלֵּין עַזָּא וַעֲזָאֵל. כְּמָה דְּאִתְּמָר, דְּאַפֵּיק לוֹן קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא מִקְדוּשָׁתָא דִּלְעֵילָא. וְאִי תֵימָא וְהֵיךְ יָכְלוּ לְאִתְקַיְימָא בְּהַאי עָלְמָא. אֲמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא, אִלֵּין הֲווֹ מֵאִינוּן דִּכְתִיב וְעוֹף יְעוֹפֵף עַל הָאָרֶץ. וְהָא אִתְּמָר, דְּאִלֵּין אִתְחֲזוּ לִבְנֵי נָשָׁא, כְּחֵזוּ דִּלְהוֹן. וְאִי תֵימָא, הֵיךְ יָכְלִין לְאִתְהַפָּכָא. הָא אִתְּמָר דְּאִתְהַפְּכָן לְכַמָּה גְוָונִין. וּבְשַׁעֲתָא דְּנָחְתֵי אִגְלִימוּ בַּאֲוִירָא דְעָלְמָא, וְאִתְחַזּוּן כִּבְנֵי נָשָׁא.
“The Nefilim were on the earth…” (Beresheet 6:4). Rabbi Yosi taught that those were Aza and Azael and as we have learned, they were so called because the Holy One, blessed be He, dropped (Heb. hepil) them from the upper sanctity. How, you may well ask, can they subsist in this world? Rabbi Chiya said that they are among those referred to as “Birds which fly upon the earth” (Beresheet 1:20). And these, as we have discussed, appear to men in the form . And how, you may ask, do they transform themselves. As we have learned, they can transform themselves into all kinds OF SHAPES, and when they come down , they clothe themselves with the garments of earth’s atmosphere and take on human form.

Bereshit B: Verse 424
וְהָנֵי, עַזָּא וַעֲזָאֵל, דְּמָרְדוּ לְעֵילָא, וְאַפִּיל לוֹן קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, וְאַגְלִימוּ בְּאַרְעָא, וְאִתְקָיְימוּ בֵּיהּ, וְלָא יָכִילוּ לְאִתְפַּשְׁטָא מִנֵּיהּ. וּלְבָתַר טָעוּ בָּתַר נְשֵׁי עָלְמָא. וְעַד כְּעָן יוֹמָא דָא, אִינוּן קָיְימֵי וְאוֹלְפֵי חָרְשִׁין לִבְנֵי נָשָׁא. וְאוֹלִידוּ בְּנִין, וְקָרוֹ לְהוֹ עֲנָקִים, גַּבְרִין. וְאִינוּן נְפִילִים, אִקְרוּן בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים. וְהָא אִתְּמָר.
Aza and Azael, who rebelled above, and whom the Holy One, blessed be He, caused to fall from heaven, were forced to put on and to live with the garments of the earth. They could not divest themselves of these garments . Subsequently, they were seduced by earthly women. They exist to this day, teaching sorcery to people. They begot sons, whom they called ‘mighty’ and ‘giants.’ The Nefilim are referred to as “sons of Elohim,” as has already been explained.

דף שלוש עשר

So if you do not mind a diversion I wanted to add some of my thoughts on Breishit 6:4 (Genesis)

Genesis 6 talks of a procreation between mortal women and men who were high and the high men are a topic of debate.Were they angels who rebelled in heaven or some call then nobles ,from the generations of Seth the high of the world.If we remember Cain’s line was cursed of coarse so the wealthy of the world were of the Sethian line.Or some have said the men of high were sons of Lamech but this makes no sense because Lamech was not worthy of the expression benei Elohim (sons of God),Lamech is as far as we know a descendant of Cain/Kayin.

We are for now going to deal with the original text because precise meaning of words is critical.

וַֽיְהִי֙ כִּֽי־הֵחֵ֣ל הָֽאָדָ֔ם לָרֹ֖ב עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וּבָנ֖וֹת יֻלְּד֥וּ לָהֶֽם: Gen 6:1 א

בוַיִּרְא֤וּ בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֥י טֹבֹ֖ת הֵ֑נָּה וַיִּקְח֤וּ לָהֶם֙ נָשִׁ֔ים מִכֹּ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּחָֽרוּ: Gen 6:2 ב

גוַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֗ה לֹֽא־יָד֨וֹן רוּחִ֤י בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם בְּשַׁגָּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה: Gen 6:3 ג

דהַנְּפִלִ֞ים הָי֣וּ בָאָ֘רֶץ֘ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵם֒ וְגַ֣ם אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָבֹ֜אוּ בְּנֵ֤י הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם וְיָֽלְד֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם הֵ֧מָּה הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר מֵֽעוֹלָ֖ם  אַנְשֵׁ֥י הַשֵּֽׁם Gen 6:4 ד starting above R-L

My vote on the identity of the benei Elohim בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ being angelic beings behaving badly or maybe even already fully in rebellion against God for a couple reasons.

1.The text states Gen 6:2 “The sons of God saw the daughters of humankind and that they were good(that is to see sexually) and took for themselves wives from all to which they chose”

First the use of the phrase “daughters of mankind or humankind” ,well then if the benei Elohim were high men of nobility and wealth and not angelic creatures than they would also be of mankind ,so then why make an issue out of the fact that they chose wives of humankind if they are humankind,albeit high bread aristocracy and nobles but human none the less.The language sons of God Vs daughter of mankind implies a difference don’t you think!There is other language in Biblical era Hebrew to express nobility and social prominence than calling them “sons of God”.For instance the word Sar which is Hebrew for ruler/Prince ,it’s where the name Sarah comes from meaning Princess and the name Israel comes from ( yi- sar-el) hence Yisrael meaning “ruled over God) because Jacob fought an angel and won.Then why not then say “The Sar’s of humankind saw that the peasant women were good to look at and slept with all they chose” instead of using benei Elohim meaning sons of God.Can we toss out the theory that the “benei Elohim” were human nobles or rulers?I think yes.

2.Gen 6:4 “And there were n’filim on the earth in those days and also afterwards”

The word n’filim is almost certain a plural of the Hebrew word “nafal” meaning fallen

נפל nafal

נָפַל   verbקל

to fall, to stumble ; to drop, to decline ; to collapse, to be defeated, to surrender, to be conquered ; to be killed ; to fall by the wayside (a proposal, plan) ; (colloquial) to fall on (a day, date) ; to descend ; to be inferior to

The use of n’filim implies fallen ones, like angelic creatures who fell spiritually either before or because they mated with human females.There are other Hebrew words for giant like anak or anakim(plural) or great men ,which brings us to the next part of Gen 6:4

“And the sons of God came to the daughters of humankind and they would bear for them men of courage and strength ,men of great reputation(renown)”

It uses the word “giburim” meaning courageous or strong men and does not use n’filim in that part of Gen 6:4.So there is a difference in nature between the “n’filim” and the “men of courage and great reputation” ,so the n’filim are not the mighty men of renown but more likely spawned the mighty men.I think the n’filim are the fallen sons of God(the benei Elohim)

This is also confirmed in the books of Enoch and Jubilees (which are technically only considered scripture in the Ethiopian Church but still interesting reading)

The sons of God are called “The Watchers” in Enoch and the watchers are mentioned in Daniel also but not in this context but a watcher is clearly a type of angel.

Lets agree what happened in Genesis/B’reishit 6 is that angels either fell from grace and mated with human women or they fell because they mated with human women.

 דף ארבע עשר

Lets talk about who the mighty men of good reputation may have been.

הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר מֵֽעוֹלָ֖ם אַנְשֵׁ֥י הַשֵּֽׁם:

This says literally and basically “men of courage(strength) who’s reputation on the earth was great” most translations say “mighty men of old ,men of renown”

But who were they??

A lot of people think they were real life people of great power and intelligence who were after their death in the flood became gods in pagan cultures like Achilles,Zeus,Odin,Thor,Osiris etc…… So the mythology of the great men who were part human and part angel there legend developed over time and became pagan gods centuries later.This is not unusual actually ,although Seth of the Bible was not of the n’filim but he was a respected person in ancient times because unlike Cain he was not cursed.Seth or in Hebrew Sheit and likely in Egyptian Set was a Egyptian god in early Egypt.Seth was popular in early Egypt and also too in the later era when Osiris was popular but in really early Egypt Seth was a god in Egypt.Also is interesting that the super human King of ancient Sumer, Gilgamesh is mentioned in the “book of the Giants” a Jewish text found in Qumran as part of the Dead Sea scrolls.

Set (/sɛt/; Egyptological: Sutekh – swtẖ ~ stẖ^[a] or Greek: Seth /sɛθ/) is a god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion.^[5]: 269 In Ancient Greek, the god’s name is given as Sēth (Σήθ). Set had a positive role where he accompanies Ra on his barque to repel Apep, the serpent of Chaos.^[5]: 269 Set had a vital role as a reconciled combatant.^[5]: 269 He was lord of the Red Land (desert), where he was the balance to Horus‘ role as lord of the Black Land (fertile land).^[5]: 269

In the Osiris myth, the most important Egyptian myth, Set is portrayed as the usurper who murdered and mutilated his own brother, Osiris. Osiris’s sister-wife, Isis, reassembled his corpse and resurrected her dead brother-husband with the help of the goddess Nephthys. The resurrection lasted long enough to conceive his son and heir, Horus. Horus sought revenge upon Set and many of the ancient Egyptian myths describe their conflicts.(wikipedia)

It was not unusual for men of reputation to evolve into gods in later times so one of the mighty men of reputation could have been a Achilles or a Odin ,many Norse scholars believe Odin may have been a historic person before being mythologized.

Neandertal/Cro-Magnon theory?

This one has potential and I know Neandertal’s and Cro-Magnon’s are not known for being smart or tall they were very very strong,tough and in that sense mighty.They are known well by science for being human ancestors and they are known well by intelligent people.So they have the great reputation of those described in Gen 6:4 they are men of renown.I know they are looked down upon by modern humans but they were strong strong humanoid species and may have been quite large for there time when humans may have been smaller.I think it’s quite possible that ancient humanoid species of fossil record could very well have been some of those destroyed in the flood.And it’s also possible that the giants destroyed in the flood could been both the pagan gods of old and also humanoid species known by fossils ie .. Neandertals or Cro-Magnon,so it could be both.Who knows the gravity of what and who was destroyed in the Noachian flood.

There is also the question of post flood giants as mentioned in the book of Numbers or was Goliath a hold over from pre flood times.Did semi-angelic/demonic-humanoid creatures survive the flood and live on in later Biblical times and even today.There was talk of anakim(giants) in the land of Canaan and other Bibilcal mentions.However I will not address that because the mentions are few and vague and we know giants existed post flood but it will never been known if they were related to the Genesis 6, sons of God and n’filim.

However the theory of the descendents of Seth marrying the daughters of Cain/Kayin’s offspring is still popular and many adhere to it.Was the issue that the line of Seth was not cursed as was the ancestors of Cain and God did not want their DNA mixed as not to taint the stock of Seth as was the stock of Cain afflicted with curses.If that was the case why not say that then! Why not say “The sons of Sheit saw the daughters of Kayin were good (for sexual and romantic love) and took as many wives as they chose” .Why not say that or like I said before use the words ” The Sars (nobles/rulers) of men saw the daughters of common men were attractive and married as many as they chose”.Why then explicitly say “benei Elohim(sons of God)” if they did not mean divine or angelic or demonic beings??

Also we know the offspring of Seth were wealthier and better off in general than the stock of Cain but the Sethite’s were still human beings and how could mortal human semen procreate giants and super men.However supernatural beings could be capable of making offspring of super men.Also if the DNA of the Sethite men could make giants then why not make giants with Sethite women and not defy God and get destroyed in the flood.Also if the men of Sethian stock can make giants by sleeping with women why didn’t they already make giants with the women they already slept with.Or if the formula for evil giants was in the ovaries of the women of Cain then why didn’t they already make giants with their men.

One last thing is that it says “The sons of God saw the daughters of mankind/humankind ,in the Hebrew “benot ha-Adam” meaning daughters of mankind or humankind.If the Seth/Cain theory were true wouldn’t it make more sense for it say “benot ha-Kayin” the daughters of Cain.

Were dinosaurs killed off in the Noachian flood??

Although the Torah itself or anywhere else in the Bible it is not that cited anamalistic sin or that animals behaved wickedly in pre flood times.

In an extra-Biblical Rabbinical text called the Zohar in parashat Noach 25:193 it says animals intermixed between species and all flesh became tainted.

Noach: Verse 193
תָּא חֲזֵי, אִינוּן חַיָּיבֵי עָלְמָא, גָּרְמוּ הָכֵי לְכָל בִּרְיָין, וּבָעוֹן לְאַכְּחָשָׁא עוֹבָדָא דִבְרֵאשִׁית, וְאִינוּן גָּרְמוֹ לְכָל בִּרְיָין, לְחַבְּלָא אוֹרְחַיְיהוּ, כְּמָה דְאִינוּן מְחַבְּלָן. אֲמַר קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, אַתּוּן בְּעִיתוּ לְאַכְּחָשָׁא עוֹבָדֵי יְדַי אֲנָא אַשְׁלִים רְעוּתָא דִּלְכוֹן, וּמָחִיתִי אֶת כָּל הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה. אַהֲדַר עָלְמָא לְמַיִין, כְּמָה דַּהֲוָה בְּקַדְמֵיתָא, מַיִין בְּמַיִין, וְהָא אִתְּמָר. מִכָּאן וּלְהָלְאָה, אַעֲבֵיד בִּרְיָין אָחֳרָנִין בְּעָלְמָא, כִּדְקָא יָאוֹת.
“Come and behold: The wicked of the world caused all the creatures TO MATE WITH SPECIES NOT THEIR OWN. They thereby sought to destroy the work of Creation BY MIXING AND ALTERING SPECIES. They caused all the creatures to pervert their ways on earth, as they themselves had done. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, ‘As you seek to destroy My work of Creation, I shall fully grant your wish. “And every living substance that I have made, will I destroy from off the face of the earth” (Beresheet 7:4). I shall bring the world back to water, as in the beginning, cover it with water, and then make other creatures who are fit to exist in the world.’”

Could weird creatures have roamed the earth and that the destruction of certain perverse anaimal species was part of the purpose of the flood and this could be why Noah was given specific instructions on which animals would be saved on the ark.This could also expain the need for Kashrut or Kosher laws later in that some species may have carried a pre flood infection and were not fit to eat and fitness is what Kasheir or Kosher means.If only animals that didn’t inter mix species were saved in the ark then there would not have been enough animals so some unfit animals had to be saved but people should not eat them.And over sized lizards that eat mamals were irredeemable and the dinosaurs were destroyed.God only kept a bare minimum of unfit animals just to repopulate the earth.Yes I think the flood could have killed off some the giant lizards.

Was the Noachian flood world wide or local??Every culture seems to have a flood story from Gilgamesh in ancient Sumer to native Americans!

We also must remember that the local Vs worldwide notion is naive because in older times the continents were situated differently and water levels were different.If the world then were a mirror of a world today then that is one thing but the world thousands of years ago was not like today.I think it’s naive to think in terms of local Vs worldwide or global.

Here is an article in the Smithsonian magazine written by James Trefil saying that a one world language change happened after a large flood precisely what the Bible says.

“Unfortunately, the evidence for this diaspora is a good deal less solid than the evidence for the flood itself. Linguists have long known how to reconstruct ancient languages by looking at words that have survived in the descendants of those languages today. The date of an event like the split-up of the Indo-European languages can then be estimated by comparing those words with artifacts found in excavations — a language probably won’t have a word for “wheel,” for example, unless it actually uses wheeled vehicles. “It is unlikely that the Indo-European languages split up before 3500 B.C. (that is, 2,000 years after the Black Sea flood),” says University of Chicago linguist Bill Darden, basing his conclusion on this sort of argument. If he and his colleagues are right, then the diaspora part of the flood story will be just another beautiful theory shot down by ugly facts”

Here is the same article saying what is now the Black Sea was once a fresh water river delta.

“We know such things because sediments reveal history. Ryan and Pitman began taking cores of the present-day Black Sea. The cores seemed to be telling a strange story indeed, particularly in the northern areas. At the very bottom of the cores, dozens of feet below the present seafloor, they found layered mud typical of river deltas.

Carbon-dating of shells in this mud indicates that it was laid down between 18,000 and 8,600 years ago. This data showed that an area of the Black Sea about the size of Florida might have been much like the lower Mississippi Delta today — rich farmland with an abundant supply of fresh water.”

Here is this about the Black Sea again.

“The fact that Prof. W. Ryan and W. Pitman found in 1998 an old shoreline and fully preserved dunes at depth 155 meters indicated that there was a flood or floods. The fully preserved dunes were a proof that the flood must have happened fast.”

There is also the Pangea theory that all continents were fully connected and rest of the globe was water.In this case the notion that a flood started in the middle east and central Asia happened and once the flood water reached the closest ocen source the fresh water mixed with the salt water.Around the Black Sea was a large river with many many tributaries which created as the rain fell a giant fresh water lake and then became saliant once the ocean mixed in.That is why it’s naive to say was there was a localized or global flood but in reality a bit a both.It was a gigantic catastrophic of devastating effect ,that is for sure.It may not have as Gen-7 says covered the whole earth or every mountain ,I think what Gen 7 meant was it covered all relevant parts of the earth.What the writers meant was all of the world that they knew and probably a heck of a lot more.It was a devastating catastrophe to say the least and outside of Noah and family likely few survivors ,a mountain goat or two and a couple clans of super rustic mountain people not tainted by the n’filim.If the Bible accounted every minute detail it would be to long and to hard to understand.The Bible was written in simple language so everyone could understand it.

דף חמש עשר

Fossils of sea creatures found far from the ocean or any saliant sea.Sea creature fossils have been found in the Grand Canyon as well and tropical vegitation has been found in the stomachs of Wooly Mamouths in cold weather climates but here is a citation on the Himalayas.

“The mighty Himalayas, also known as ‘The Roof of the World’, rise up to an incredible height, disappearing into the clouds on some days. Some of the world’s highest peaks are in the Himalayas, including Mount Everest, which at 29,029 feet is the highest mountain in the world. At these altitudes, the air is thin, and the temperatures are extreme. The land is arid and brown, and it looks like it’s been this way since the beginning of time. These mighty mountains are hundreds of miles away from the closest sea. So how is it possible that marine fossils have been found in multiple locations in the Himalayas?

Fish fossils in the Himalayas

The Spiti Valley is rife with evidence dating back to 540 million years ago and attracts palaeontologists from around the world. The villages of Komic, Mud, Hikkim (where you’ll find the world’s highest post office), Langza and Lalung lie along a belt of fossil-rich sediment in Spiti. In Nepal, ammonites (marine cephalopods with shells) are found along the bed of the Kali Gandaki River. Climbers who have been to the top of Mount Everest brought back rocks in which the fossils of sea lilies were discovered.

It’s hard to imagine that this vast expanse of weather-bleached land was once a thriving ocean bed, with fish and marine creatures populating the water. To understand this, we need to know how the Himalayas came to be formed”

Of course they have an explanation but what if the sea life fossils came from a flood?

Here is something from usgs.gov on the Grand Canyon

“These layers are sedimentary, and primarily sandstone. This set makes up most of the typical reddish layers that you often see in images, and which come to mind when thinking of the Grand Canyon. Following the Great Unconformity, this set is much younger than the other rock layers, and fossils are prevalent. The most common fossils are small sea creatures, such as brachiopods, bryozoans, coral, and crinoids. Combined with the sandstone, this tells us that the region was a warm, shallow sea when these sediments were deposited.”

Or there was a flood that left the deposits.

“Four hundred feet below the surface, they unearthed an ancient shoreline, proof to Ballard that a catastrophic event did happen in the Black Sea. By carbon dating shells found along the shoreline, Ballard said he believes they have established a timeline for that catastrophic event, which he estimates happened around 5,000 BC. Some experts believe this was around the time when Noah’s flood could have occurred” (quote from archaeologist Robert Ballard on the flood and the Black Sea)

דף שש עשר

It sounds like rain started to fall very hard and the fresh water river basin on the Pontic region (around the Black Sea) began to quickly flood and accumulate water and as more and more rivers and lakes flooded the catastrophe compounded and once the water reached the ocean the flood covered most of the earth.Around this era we likely had a single land mass one continent world and one ocean.

It’s known in geology that Africa once was connected to North America and that is why there is a great inlet in land in the US coastline from Maine to Florida because that is where the round northeastern African coast fit into North America.

Theoretical map of Pangea:

Genesis speaks of a single continent in early times in Gen 1:9

9And God said, “Let the water that is beneath the heavens gather into one place, and let the dry land appear,” and it was so.”

So if all water below the sky was in one place then land also was in one place ,hence a one continent world.

Do you see why global versus local flood argument makes no sense,they are basically the same.I would agree if the world of then was the world of today then 40 days of rain would not flood us totally but for the world then yes a full world catastrophe was very possibly.I do also believe there could have been tiny pockets of survival of animals and maybe small clans of people that the Bible does not mention for reasons of relevance.Although that is just speculation and may not be true Gen 7 does say all of flesh and humankind was extirpated.

People have argued that plant life deposits could not have formed in a flood shorter than a year because they would have been dissolved by the water before they could fossilize.That might be true in most common floods today where a small area floods or even large floods.In a flood so massive as the Noachian flood ,where so so much plant life was destroyed ,where 10 countries worth of plant life was flooded.Some plant fossils could be left behind even if much of it did dissolve into water.If that much botanical material pollutes the water some will stick around even if much does mix in.Like when you wash your hands,brush your teeth or shave ,the water rinses most away and goes down the drain.Some soapie material is left behind and washing your sink to get rid of soap scum once in a while is good or putting liquid plumber down your drain once a year to dissolve soap scum for faster running drains.With that amount of botanical destruction something surely would have stayed around so I do think plant fossil deposits could have been from the flood.

I have come across a possible date for the flood as אִייָר‎ 17 of Iyar 1656 which would ,so about early may 2105 BCE

I also wanted to include just to show the flood effected all people a Native American creation and flood tale.

“The first people were made of mud but they fell apart to easy(similar to Adam and Eve coming from Clay and fell from Eden)

the next people were made of wood but had no brains and were destroyed in a flood(flood reference)

Finally they formed humans from maize dough and they were the first people”

Not the same a Genesis but very similar and shows all people had flood knowledge!

דף שבע עשר

One more of my theories and we will get back to the Zohar.

So who were the Anunnaki? The name itself means seed of princes or offspring of An (the sky god)

The Anunnaki (Sumerian: 𒀭𒀀𒉣𒈾, also transcribed as Anunaki, Annunaki, Anunna, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians. In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which come from the Post-Akkadian period, the Anunnaki are deities in the pantheon, descendants of An (the god of the heavens) and Ki (the goddess of earth), and their primary function was to decree the fates of humanity.

The oldest of the Anunnaki was Enlil, the god of air and chief god of the Sumerian pantheon. The Sumerians believed that, until Enlil was born, heaven and earth were inseparable. Then, Enlil split heaven and earth in two and carried away the earth while his father An carried away the sky.

The oldest known writings about these deities goes back to about 2100 bce ,so about the time of Noah.The well known Assyrian goddess Ishtar came from Inanna which was from the Anunnaki.Also Nanna was from the Anunnaki also know by the name Suen which was the Mesopotamian moon god that Islam rose from and why the crescent moon is an Islamic symbol.I address this in another article I did on Islam and it’s true roots.

Virtually every major deity in the Sumerian pantheon was regarded as the patron of a specific city and was expected to protect that city’s interests. The deity was believed to permanently reside within that city’s temple One text mentions as many as fifty Anunnaki associated with the city of Eridu. In Inanna’s Descent into the Netherworld, there are only seven Anunnaki, who reside within the Underworld and serve as judges. Inanna stands trial before them for her attempt to take over the Underworld;^[ they deem her guilty of hubris and condemn her to death.^[33]

Major deities in Sumerian mythology were associated with specific celestial bodies. Inanna was believed to be the planet Venus. Utu was believed to be the sun.Nanna was the moon. An was identified with all the stars of the equatorial sky, Enlil with those of the northern sky, and Enki with those of the southern sky.The path of Enlil’s celestial orbit was a continuous, symmetrical circle around the north celestial pole, but those of An and Enki were believed to intersect at various points.

Later on in Akkadian tradition the Anunnaki were ascribed to the underworld.

However, other texts seem to place the Anunnaki as gods of the underworld. This is the case in the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which the Anunnaki are described as judges of the dead. The idea is echoed by the Sumerian myth Descent of Inanna to the Underworld, in which the goddess Inanna crosses into the realm of the dead, seeking to overthrow her sister, the queen of the dead. The Anunnaki step forward to judge her for her audacity.

To date, archaeologists have not uncovered any indication that the Anunnaki were worshiped collectively. Rather, each of the gods had an individual cult, and different cities had temples dedicated to individual deities as a city patron.

Who do I think the Anunnaki were?

Here is Genesis 6.2

ב וַיִּרְא֤וּ בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֥י טֹבֹ֖ת הֵ֑נָּה וַיִּקְח֤וּ לָהֶם֙ נָשִׁ֔ים מִכֹּ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּחָֽרו

And the children of God saw the daughters of humankind and that they were good to look upon ,and they took for them wives from all to which they chose.

 דף שמונה עשר

And a bit later in Genesis we know that from these perverse marriages came giants ,super men!

Here is Genesis 6.4

הַנְּפִלִ֞ים הָי֣וּ בָאָ֘רֶץ֘ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵם֒ וְגַ֣ם אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָבֹ֜אוּ בְּנֵ֤י הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם וְיָֽלְד֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם הֵ֧מָּה הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר מֵֽעוֹלָ֖ם אַנְשֵׁ֥י הַשֵּֽׁם:

Fallen ones were on the earth in those days and also after that:When the children of God came to the daughters of human men and born to them ,men of great might the ancient men ,the ones of renown.

The giant who were part man and angel were killed in the flood but here are two things.The seed or DNA of the nefilim (giants or fallen ones) survived the flood likely through Noah’s wife or one of Noah’s childrens wives.We know giants were encountered in Canaan during the conquest after the Exodus.And even the account of David killing the giant with the sling shot.Let us get back to Anunnaki.It is a common belief the the pagan pantheon came from the great men ,the men of great reputation or giants.

Were the Anunnaki the first manifestation of the worship of the giants of pre flood times.An ,the father of the Anunnaki was the first version of the father sky god which other pagan cultures adapted.Such as the proto Iranian “Dzeush pater” (father sky god) which the Greeks called Zeus and the Romans Jupiter and the Akkadians Marduk.From these came lesser created gods from the uncreated higher pantheon. All pagan cultures seemed to have chief gods and lesser gods in the way that the Annunaki were the offspring of An.

In the the story of Gilgamesh ,Gilgamesh said that the Annunaki were the judges of the underworld.Interestingly there was a deuterocanonical book discovered in the Dead Sea scrolls called the Book of Giants where Gilgamesh was identified as one of the pre flood giants.

Were the Anunnaki the memory of the giants killed in the flood that pagans worshipped?

Were the Anunnaki the angels themselves who mated with human women creating the giants?

It does seem that the pagan pantheon came from the Genesis 6 rebellion but were they the angels or the giants or both?

Based on etymology I would say the Anunnaki were the angels if you understand that Anunnaki were the sons of An in the same way that Genesis talked of the benei Elohim ,the sons or children of God.

I would say a combination of both ,after the Noachian flood and man again rebelled at Babel and worshiped idol gods.And that a pantheon developed with a father type god that created other lesser gods to be worshiped.The An and Anunnaki pantheon was the first set of gods that Sumer or also Kengir which was the first post deluvian culture worshiped.

Another perspective is the Deuteronomy 32.8-9 idea that The highest God disinherited the Nations and put them under demons and the Lords portion was his people the Jews.The next question would be were the Anunnaki worshiped before Babel but after the flood ,so were the Anunnaki the demonic gods that God later divided among the 70 nations to rule over them.Or were the Anunnaki the demonic gods the most High gave to the Sumerians?

In closing I can not say for sure the mystery of the Anunnaki but I do strongly suspect that the Anunnaki being the children of An had something to do with the children of God in Genesis 6.One more thing to add ,with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls there was discovered a scroll called the “Book of Giants” and in this scroll Gilgamesh the hero of the Sumerian flood story is said to have actually been one of the giants born of the mixing of angels and human women killed in the flood.