What I'd like to see here:

Facts and discussion about the possibility of the Nephilim being the first Vampires.

There are several different theological papers on them including a few that link / have opinion about the nephilim as being the sons and daughters of Caine.

To point this here's a reference from the bible: (Although it looks lengthy I should tell you this, it's a list of births, deaths and life spans nothing really more than a family tree):

Genisis 5

3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.

4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

5 Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father [b] of Enosh.

7 And after he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

8 Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.

9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.

10 And after he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.

11 Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.

12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.

13 And after he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.

15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.

16 And after he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters.

17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.

18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch.

19 And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.

22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years.

24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.

26 And after he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters.

27 Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.

29 He named him Noah [c] and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed."

30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters.

31 Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

What's so interesting to note about this family tree is that there is absolutely NO mention anywhere that Cain died. I find that very interesting in itself.

For those who don't know what or who the nephilim is here is a bit about them to get you started. (but there's lots)

Who were the Nemphilm?

There's a bit of conflicting information on them and there is a lot of information on them not only in the bible but in other works as well. It span several religions... but in a nutshell:

Offspring of the sons of God (also known as "The Watchers" or "The Fallen Ones") who thought that the daughters of men were so beautiful they took them as wives and had children. These children were the Nephilm.

Genesis 6:4

The Nefilim were upon the Earth in those days and thereafter too. Those sons of the gods who cohabited with the daughters of the Adam, and they bore children into them. They were the Mighty Ones of Eternity, the People of the Shem.

The Nephilm are mention both before and after the flood FYI and are mentioned as the reason God flooded the earth in the first place.

I'll get back to you once I read more of the epocrypha

*smiles* I look forward to it.

Interesting to note this as well then:

ENOCH'S JOURNEYS THROUGH SHEOL AND HEAVEN

"And the archangel Uriel said to me, 'Here shall stand the
angels who have been attached to women. Their spirits,
assuming many different forms, are defiling mankind and
will lead them astray into sacrificing to demons as gods.
Here they shall stand till the day of the winds of Heaven
which turn and bring the circumference of the sun and all
the stars to their setting..."

Taken from here:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ufo/nephilim.htm

Were they the offspring of Angels? Fallen Angels and the daughters of Caine?

the reason his death is not mentioned is because they didn't know when he died. after being cast out from his family i doubt they knew what became of him. i really don't think he had anything more to do with vampires than the rest of his family. i' have thought that the nephilim were the basis for the vampire myths, especially after reading christine feehan. the way she describes the carpathians seems to fit just right with them except for the fact nephilim have six fingers on each hand.

That's a great point running. When he was cast out no one would have had records of him after that and I don't remembering reading anything about him returning for a 'visit' at any point either.

I can't remember where I read it but there was a 'story' or article about the posibility of 'The Fallen Ones' being from either Caines bloodline or Seths (As Seth was considered a Holy Son by god) so I will go hunt for that and maybe we can look deeper into it and see if it has some merrit or if it's pure conjecture on their part.

I can't remember either where it says about the number of fingers but I know you are right. I have read that as well. Perhaps though seeing as man tends to go a bit overboard sometimes the 6 fingers was actually more of a way to describe something else about them more of a symbolic thing ect? A clawed nail perhaps?

The numbers of things have a great deal of significance in any of the ancient Hebraic, but I'd been told that it is really hard to explain the significance to anyone that does not speak Hebrew. But one thing that does come up is that six is a bad-mojo number, just as seven is a good-mojo number. Multiplying anything times three makes it really significant, and forty is a good generic way to say "a whole lot". So, the six finger thing could be a metaphor, a complicated way for ancient Hebrews to hint that these puppies were cooking up some evil, with a side order of more evil.
OTOH, six fingers is also one of the more common birth defects, especially in third-world countries where the doctors won't "fix" it without telling the parents. Hell, most of us have a little bump on the side of our hands, right next to the pinky finger, and I have heard that this bump is a leftover, like the appendix and the coccyx, that used to serve a purpose. To wit, an extra finger that we evolved away from.
So, it could very well be that these Nephiliem, ancient monsters, harkened back to a time before we lost those fingers. Or maybe they were of more recent vintage and just manifested the throwback. Whatever.
I am just throwing out uncited anecdotal evidence because I'm not sure I have time to look this stuff up. Shouldn't be hard to find with a search engine.

Khrymzynn,

That makes a great deal of sense as back in those days you're right... so much was written in a symbolic way or spoken of it a symbolic way. Interesting to note that it is 6 fingers. Also interesting to note that even today one of the first things parents want to do is count the number of fingers and toes ;) (True too that it is a common birth defect)

This is some interesting reading for you:

http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/s...s/nephilim.html

At the top of the page is some underlined text "the Sons of God" and it links to this page:

http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/s...s/watchers.html

I'm utterly fascinated with them. So much of what I've read so far works well with my own theories and experiences with things... so naturally I'm very fond of it now. Even if they are just 'stories'. The more I read on it... the more its connecting the dots for me (so to speak) in some areas.

isn't it fascinating how all theories/philosophies/religions seem to overlap in some areas? take into account the bias of the writers and the possiblity of stories being exaggerated or even fabricated, the pieces all kinda fit together.

That's exactly what has my attention right now. The names slightly change, the incidences don't really. Somehow they are fitting like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that has slightly tattered edges do to age.

These beings in particular have a very long history. Parts have been removed from one text but appear in others like someone did a bad edit job in a failed attempt to bury them.

The more I read the more I can see where things got confused. The original name of them in Hebrew means 'the fallen ones' translated in to Greek it means 'giants'. Hebrew is a difficult language to translate so I can see why there are problems in some text.

didn't some of the greek gods supposedly have giant sons with human women? or maybe i've just been watching too many old adventure movies...

Unsure on that one. Some have called the Nephilim the 'Titans' of the Greeks but I don't believe that is the case.

An example of the Greek Gods having sons with human woman is like in the case of Hercules whose mother was human (if I remember correctly her name was Alcmena or Alcmene)... but he (Hercules) wasn't a giant.

Another example is Helen of Troy, again daughter of Zeus and a human mother. (She wasn't a giant either.)

Translating from Hebrew to the Greek has caused problems here is but one example:

"The B'nai Elohim is a term that refers to angels. It occurs four times in the Old Testament and is rendered "Angels of God" in the ancient Septuagin translation. The intrusion of certain angels into the human family resulted in unnatural offspring termed Nephilim, which derives from the Hebrew naphal (to fall), or the Fallen Ones. (The Greek Septuagint renders this term gigantes, which actually means "earth-born." This is often misunderstood to mean "giants"--which they also happen to have been, incidentally.)"

From here:

http://www.feri.com/dawn/nephilim.html

ah, i was thinking of the cyclops. apparently they were sons of just gods, in greek mythology at least. not nephilim

Hmm, the text mentions the fathers of the Nephiliem specifically as "Watchers", and the only choir of angels that is referred to as Watchers is the Cherubim (Kherubim, whatever). The Cherubim were also noteworthy as being the angels trusted to guard the gates of the Garden of Eden. I think that is significant.
The Grigori of the text are sometimes referred to as the eighth choir, but other sources intimate that the Grigori are only angel-like, not a true choir. There are also references made to the Grigori teaching forbidden arts and sciences to humanity, which infringes onto the mythos of Lucifer's fall. So the Grigori could be anything from servants of Lucifer to angel-aligned spirits that were charged with guarding humanity.
I can't say much about the Asatru religion, I never studied the Norse much, but all of that looks cohesive. And as mentioned, there are remarkable points of similarity between the two myth structures. I believe I was reading "The Dragon And The Unicorn" by A. A. Attanasio when I was first clued in to the remarkable coincidences between the Hebrew and Northern European faiths. It mentioned the virtually identical morality of the druid and Christian faiths, with the emphasis of turning the other cheek and loving thy neighbor yadda yadda. It pointed out that druidism (originating among the Norse) had more in common with the teachings of the Nazarene than the Hebrew faith. It went on to point out that the Nazarene's father had been a wandering tinker, and that the son of Joseph may have been exposed to druidism as a child, influencing his teachings as an adult, when he became known as the Son of Man. It went on to theorize that the words "Jewish" and "druidic" may have a common root word.
Madame Blavatsky was a hack and a charlatan, who just happened to introduce spiritual fraud before the rest of the world was cynical enough to expose her cheap tricks. Anything you read from her or about her should be taken with a large grain of salt.
But, all told, some truly fascinating information. The connection between the nephiliem and the vampire is made far stronger if one reads certain parts of the text with a degree of literalism. Parts like "Although they hunger and thirst, they do not eat." And that stuff about lusting after the mortal blood. Normally when I read such translated from Hebrew, I assume that a lot of figurative speech is being used, but if you take it more as a reported fact, then the Nephiliem begin to very strongly resemble the undying blood-drinkers that walk the darkness of the earth, exiled from the sight of God until the day of judgement.

A very kind soul pointed me to this post and I wanted to link it here for everyone to see:

Enjoyed the read!

I'll be back too. :)

I don't think Caine has anything to do with the Nephilim. The Bible was clear that the Nephilim were the offspring of angels and human daughters. Caine was the son of Adam and Eve. Some biblical scholars have suggested that Caine fathered the Philistine.

As for the Nephilim, their fate is purely conjecture and speculation. No one knows. I do believe however that the ancient heroes of mythology (i.e., Herculese, Jason, Perseus, etc.) might have some connection to the Nephilim of the Bible.