Parshat Noach4 min read

Why the Watchers Fell and the Giants Drowned in the Flood

The Watchers descended from heaven, fathered giants, and watched the Flood answer a world whose boundaries had been broken beyond repair.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Sons of God Come Down
  2. The Angels Leave Their Station
  3. The Names the Aramaic Tradition Supplies
  4. The Giants and the Flood

The Sons of God Come Down

Genesis 6:4 gives the Nephilim one sentence and no explanation. The sons of God came to the daughters of men and fathered mighty men of old, men of renown. No names. No motive. No accounting for what happened to them. The crack in the text is just wide enough to see through, not wide enough to see clearly.

The Book of Jubilees, a Jewish rewriting of Genesis composed in the second century BCE, opened that crack into a full narrative. Angels had been sent to earth to instruct humanity. The tragedy begins because the line between teacher and trespasser collapses. Knowledge meant to guide human life becomes entangled with appetite, bodies, and children too large for the world that receives them.

The Angels Leave Their Station

Jubilees calls them the Watchers, the ones who were set to watch over the children of men. They were, in the tradition's framing, a deliberate assignment. Heaven recognized that humanity needed guidance in the practical arts of survival, agriculture, metalwork, the navigation of seasons. Watchers were sent to provide it.

What happens next is not a dramatic fall but a slow collapse of role. The Watchers look at the daughters of men and find them beautiful. They do not consult heaven about this. They act on it. The decision to come down fully, to take wives, to begin families in flesh, is a decision made without authorization, the same overconfidence in personal judgment that the tradition identifies in other catastrophes. The angels know more than the humans they were sent to teach. That knowing does not save them from acting as badly as the humans they judged.

The Names the Aramaic Tradition Supplies

The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis, the Aramaic paraphrase of the Torah composed roughly in the seventh or eighth century CE, inserts names directly into Genesis 6:4: Shemhazai and Azzael. These two figures became the central Watchers in the Aramaic and Aramaic-influenced tradition. Shemhazai leads the descent. Azzael teaches humanity the manufacture of weapons and the arts of seduction and corruption.

Later traditions, preserved in Louis Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews (1909-1938 CE) from earlier aggadic sources, fill in what the Book of Jubilees and the Targum leave open. Shemhazai eventually repents, hanging himself between heaven and earth, suspended between the world he abandoned and the divine realm he can no longer reach. Azzael does not repent. He is bound and buried in darkness. The two fates represent the tradition's two assessments of what the fallen angels became: one that could recognize its own wrong and one that could not.

The Giants and the Flood

The children of the Watchers are giants, creatures whose size matches the scale of the violation that produced them. They consume everything. The earth cannot produce enough to feed them. They turn to the animals. They turn to each other. The boundary-breaking that began with angels crossing into human bodies produces children for whom no boundary holds at all.

The Flood, in the tradition's accounting, is the answer to this. It is not simply punishment for human wickedness, though human wickedness is real in the narrative. It is the correction of a world that has been structurally violated. When the beings set to guard the structure of creation become the first to break it, the result is a cascade that only total reset can address. The giants die in the water. Their spirits, the tradition says, persist as the demons that haunt the post-diluvian world, bound to the earth without bodies, still hungry, still boundary-less.

WatchersNephilimGiantsFloodAzazelShemhazaiOg
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From the tradition

Sources

5 sources

The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Jubilees 4:15, 5:1-3, 5:5-7Book of Jubilees

It involves Watchers, forbidden knowledge, and a whole lot of trouble.

This isn't just a story of two rogue angels, Shemhazai and Azazel. According to some accounts, like the one we find in the Book of Enoch, Shemhazai was actually the leader of a whole crew, a posse if you will, of two hundred angels known as the Watchers. These weren’t just any angels,. They were a high order, beings who never even needed to sleep! Imagine the kind of heavenly secrets they held.

The story goes that these Watchers descended to the summit of Mount Hermon. There, they made a solemn oath, binding themselves together in their mission, whatever that was about to become. But something went wrong. Terribly wrong. As the angels fell from their holy state, they were diminished, lessened in both stature and strength. Their very essence changed; their fiery, ethereal forms became flesh, making them susceptible to earthly temptations.

At first, it seems, they had good intentions. The Watchers initially aimed to instruct humanity in the ways of righteousness. But then, they saw the daughters of men. And, well, things took a turn. Lust took hold, and they chose wives from among these women. The result of these unions? Giants. Literal giants roamed the earth, born of angel and human.

But the transgressions didn't stop there. Each of these angels, not just Shemhazai and Azazel, began to reveal secrets of heaven. They taught humanity charms and enchantments, incantations, and the knowledge of how to cut roots for magical purposes. They divulged the secrets of astrology and how to read signs. As we find in the Book of Jubilees (5:1-13) and 1 Enoch (6-14), the world was changing, and not for the better.

They even taught men the art of working metal to make weapons, and, perhaps even more destructively, they taught women how to make themselves desirable to men. It was a complete and utter breakdown of the natural order. And these angels, they sinned with anyone they desired – men, women, beasts, it didn't matter. As a result, everything on earth became corrupted.

Think of it as a kind of ancient, celestial version of the story of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods. This legend of the Watchers is, in many ways, the primary Promethean myth in Judaism. The angels weren't just divulging dark secrets of heaven; they were revealing secrets of the natural universe, things that God, for whatever reason, had never intended for humans to know!

The situation became so dire that God had to intervene. He ordered these Watchers to be rooted out and bound in chains in the depths of the earth. According to the story, the archangels Uriel and Raphael went to God and reported the sins of the fallen ones. Then, God gave his orders: Raphael was instructed to bind Azazel hand and foot and cast him into a canyon in the desert of Dudael, covering him with darkness until the Day of Judgment, when he would be cast into the fire. And Michael was told to bind Shemhazai and his associates, holding them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth until the Day of Judgment, when they would be led to the fiery abyss and tormented forever.

Now, there are different versions of this tale. Some say that Shemhazai and Azazel alone assumed human form when they descended, with the other Watchers taking the form of he-goats as their mounts. But regardless, the end result is the same: they were all cast into an abyss, where they remain imprisoned until the end of time.

What about the women who went astray with these Watchers? 1 Enoch (19:2) offers a chilling detail: they were transformed into sirens. It's a rare reference in a Jewish text to the sirens of ancient storytelling, those alluring, dangerous creatures of the sea.

This whole episode, according to 1 Enoch (6:6), is said to have taken place in the days of Jared, the father of Enoch. So, this myth of the Watchers is set in the generation just before Enoch, making it an integral part of his own story.

This story, with its themes of forbidden knowledge, lust, and divine punishment, continues to resonate. It makes you wonder about the nature of free will, the dangers of unchecked curiosity, and the price we pay for seeking knowledge that might be beyond our capacity to handle. What do you think? Are there some things humanity is better off not knowing?

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Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 6:4Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis

The enigmatic "Nephilim" of (Genesis 6:4) get names in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. "Schamchazai and Uzziel, who fell from heaven, were on the earth in those days."

These are the Watchers, the angels who descended to earth in the ancient Jewish tradition preserved in 1 Enoch (3rd-2nd centuries BCE) and the Book of Jubilees. Shamchazai (sometimes Shemhazai) and Uzziel (or Azazel) led a band of angels who left heaven, took human wives, and fathered giants. The Targumist condenses this entire mythic tradition into a single verse.

What "fell from heaven" means in Jewish thought

It is crucial to understand this in Jewish terms, not in any other. These Watchers did not rebel against God the way late antique traditions imagine. They descended, left their post, crossed a boundary they should not have crossed, but they were not at war with the Creator. They were angels who lost their discipline. The Nephilim are their children, the fallen giants.

"After the sons of the Great had gone in with the daughters of men, they bare to them: and these are they who are called men who are of the world, men of names."

"Men of names", anshei ha-shem, the legendary heroes of the ancient world. The Targumist preserves the ambiguity. These were celebrated figures. Great men, mighty men. But their greatness came from a union that should never have happened. Their fame is real; their origin is corrupt. The Flood will wash them away.

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Chronicles of Jerahmeel XXVChronicles of Jerahmeel (Gaster, 1899)

Two angels told God not to create humanity. When the generation of the flood proved them right, Shemhazai and Azael stood before God and reminded Him: "Did we not say, 'Do not create man'?" God answered with a challenge. "If you lived on earth, the evil inclination would sway you just as it sways humans. And you would be even more stubborn." The angels insisted. "Let us descend, and You will see how we sanctify Your name." According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, God let them go.

They failed immediately. The moment Shemhazai and Azael beheld the daughters of men, they could not restrain themselves. But one woman outsmarted them. A girl named Estirah refused Shemhazai unless he taught her the Ineffable Name of God. He did. She spoke the Name and ascended straight to heaven. God said, "Since she has departed from sin, set her among the stars." She became the brightest star in the Pleiades.

After that humiliation, both angels took wives and fathered children. Shemhazai's sons, Heyya and Aheyya, were giants, each consumed a thousand camels, a thousand horses, and a thousand oxen daily. Azael became chief over all cosmetics and ornaments used to entice men to sin. When God sent Metatron to warn Shemhazai that a flood was coming, Shemhazai wept for his children.

His sons dreamed prophetic dreams. One saw a great stone tablet covered in writing, and an angel descended to erase everything except one line with four words. The other saw a garden of trees, and an angel chopped them all down except one tree with three branches. Shemhazai interpreted both: the world would be destroyed, leaving only one man and his three sons. He comforted his children with a strange promise, their names would live forever, because whenever people lift heavy burdens, they groan "Heyya! Aheyya!" Shemhazai himself repented and hung suspended between heaven and earth, head downward, too ashamed to face God. Azael never repented. He became the Azazel of the Day of Atonement, the one onto whom Israel's sins were cast.

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Legends of the Jews 4:10Legends of the Jews

The familiar telling remembers angels as these purely good, ethereal beings. But what happens when angels, shall we say, misbehave?

The story of Azazel and Shemhazai is one of those tales. It all starts with a bit of divine disappointment. See, the generation of the Flood, the folks living before Noah and his ark, they weren’t exactly shining examples of righteous living. According to Legends of the Jews, they’d fallen headfirst into idolatry. This, understandably, caused God some serious grief.

They basically said, “We told you so!” They reminded God of their initial reservations about creating humans in the first place. Remember that verse in Psalms (8:5), "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?" They were echoing that sentiment.

God's response is pretty insightful. He basically asks, "Okay, hotshots, what happens to the world without humans then?" And the angels, brimming with confidence (perhaps a little too much), volunteered themselves. "We'll take care of it!" they declared.

Now, God, being all-knowing and wise, wasn't entirely convinced. He knew the potential for things to go south. He warned them, "I know that if you go down there, the yetzer hara – the evil inclination – will get the better of you. You’ll end up even worse than the humans!"

But Shemhazai and Azazel were insistent. They pleaded with God, "Just give us a chance! Let us live among humans, and you'll see how we sanctify Your Name!"

And here's where things get interesting. God, perhaps seeing a sliver of potential or perhaps knowing that sometimes you have to let things play out to their natural conclusion, relented. "Alright," He said. "Descend and sojourn among men!"

What happens next? Well, let's just say it doesn't exactly go according to plan. This sets the stage for a whole host of further legends about the Watchers, their interactions with humanity, and the consequences that followed.

It makes you think, doesn't it? About the nature of good and evil, about free will, and about the inherent risks of even the most well-intentioned interventions. Sometimes, even angels can't resist temptation. And that, perhaps, is a lesson for us all.

Full source
Legends of the Jews, IV. Noah, The Punishment Of The Fallen AngelsLegends of the Jews

The familiar telling remembers the wickedness of humankind, but some fascinating stories lurk beneath the surface, involving Watchers, giants, and divine justice.

In Legends of the Jews, as Noah grew into a righteous man following the path of his grandfather Methuselah, the rest of humanity spiraled into depravity. But here's the twist: the primary culprits were the Watchers and their monstrous offspring, the giants. The earth itself cried out because of the blood spilled by these giants, and the four archangels brought accusations before God.

What followed were divine judgments, each carefully tailored. Uriel was dispatched to warn Noah about the impending flood and to instruct him on building the ark. Raphael received the grim task of binding Azazel, one of the Watchers, and casting him into a desolate pit in the desert of Dudael, a place of sharp stones and darkness. There Azazel would remain until the final judgment, when he would be cast into the fiery pit of hell. The purpose? To heal the earth from the corruption he had brought upon it.

Then there was Gabriel, tasked with dealing with the offspring of these unholy unions, the bastards and reprobates. His mission? To incite deadly conflicts among them, a grim solution to a monstrous problem.

And what of Shemhazai and his brood? Michael was charged with their punishment. First, he forced Shemhazai to witness the bloody demise of his own children as they battled each other. Then, he bound Shemhazai himself and pinned him under the earth for seventy generations, after which he too would face the fiery pit.

But why this harsh punishment? The story takes us back to the beginning of this downfall. When idolatry took hold, Shemhazai and Azazel challenged God, echoing a sentiment from creation: "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?" God, knowing their own potential for corruption, initially refused their request to dwell among humans. But the angels persisted, promising to sanctify God's name. God relented, saying, "Descend and sojourn among men!"

As we find in Midrash Rabbah, upon arriving on Earth, the angels were captivated by the beauty of human women. Shemhazai fell for a maiden named Istehar. She agreed to be with him only if he revealed the Shem HaMeforash (the Ineffable Name), the secret by which he ascended to heaven. He foolishly agreed. But Istehar, true to her word but not to him, used the Name to ascend to heaven herself, refusing to fulfill her promise. As a reward for her virtue, God placed her among the stars as the constellation Pleiades.

Undeterred, Shemhazai and Azazel continued their relationships with human women. Azazel, in particular, began teaching women the arts of seduction – finery and ornaments designed to allure men. It was then that God sent Metatron to Shemhazai to announce the impending destruction of the world.

The Watcher wept, grieving for the fate of the world and his two sons, Hiwwa and Hiyya, who consumed vast quantities of food daily. These sons had prophetic dreams foretelling the flood, which Shemhazai interpreted, revealing that only Noah and his sons would survive. Though the sons despaired, Shemhazai consoled them with a prophecy of their own future fame.

As for Shemhazai himself, he repented, suspending himself between heaven and earth in a perpetual state of penance. But Azazel remained defiant, continuing to lead humanity astray. As a result, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), two goats were sacrificed: one to God, for the sins of Israel, and the other to Azazel, to symbolically bear those sins away.

And then there's Naamah, the sister of Tubal-cain, who, unlike Istehar, used her beauty to corrupt the angels. Her union with Shamdon produced the demon Asmodeus. This reflects the broader depravity of the Cainite lineage, who, according to legend, walked naked and engaged in all manner of lewdness.

The angels, upon descending to earth and rebelling against God, lost their celestial qualities and took on physical bodies, making unions with human women possible. The offspring of these unions were the giants, known by many names: the Emim, the Rephaim, the Gibborim, the Zamzummim, the Anakim, the Ivvim, and finally, the Nephilim. Each name reflects a different aspect of their terrifying nature – their strength, their size, their skill in war, and their ultimate downfall, as the name Nephilim implies, bringing the world to its fall, and falling themselves.

So, what does this all mean? This story, drawn from Legends of the Jews and other Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) sources, offers a complex explanation for the wickedness that led to the Flood. It's not just about human sin; it's about the corruption of the divine, the seductive power of earthly desires, and the consequences of defying God's will. It paints a vivid picture of a world in chaos, where the lines between heaven and earth are blurred, and the consequences are catastrophic. It makes you think, doesn't it, about the forces, both internal and external, that shape our choices and ultimately, our fate?

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