Towering Rebels: The Giants of Genesis

More on Nimrod, the Nephilim, and the Fall.

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“Giants” (Inferno 31), by Gustave Doré

This article is part of the Go Deeper study series, which explores themes of a previous post in greater detail. It’s one of the benefits for paid subscribers who seek deeper literary and theological analysis. Subscribing to your favorite Substack newsletters is a great way to support authors while keeping the platform an ad-free haven for great writing.

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In my last post, I wrote about the Book of Genesis as a key source of inspiration for Dante’s Divine Comedy, shaping his cosmology as well as his conception of humanity’s fall from grace and its ongoing struggle with sin. Today, I want to zoom in on two Genesis stories that are especially emblematic of Dante’s themes: the Tree of Knowledge and the Tower of Babel (including its curious connection to GIANTS!)

Having a more nuanced understanding of these familiar stories will make your reading of the Divine Comedy a richer experience. Further self-study resources are included at the end.

Table of Contents

• The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad

• Nimrod and the Giants in Genesis and Dante

• Self-Study Resources

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The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad

Let’s return now to the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve’s fateful choice to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (or “Good and Bad”, in the preferred phrasing of some biblical commentators).¹ This story has long been a stumbling block for many readers who question why God would:

1. Plant a tree in the middle of the garden but forbid eating from it.

2. Warn Adam and Eve that eating the fruit will cause death, though this did not immediately happen.

3. Expel Adam and Eve from Paradise for a seemingly minor infraction.

As mentioned in my previous post, Dante viewed their transgression as a form of intellectual incontinence—an excessive hunger for knowledge–meaning their sin resulted from their disordered desire to be like God. Permit me to unpack that further, drawing on theological insights to illuminate this interpretation.

The Expulsion from Eden as Divine Mercy

Far from being merely punitive, the exile from Eden was an act of divine mercy. Orthodox priests Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen DeYoung, hosts of the popular Lord of Spirits podcast, have frequently advanced the following points on their show:

1. Expulsion as Protection: After the fall, humanity—now marred by sin—could not withstand God’s all-consuming holiness. Expulsion from the Garden was a protective act that ensured the survival of the human race rather than its immediate destruction.

2. Death as a Process: God’s warning about death in Gen 2:17—"you shall surely die"—is better understood as a spiritual death leading to physical demise. A more accurate rendering is: "dying, you shall die." Death was a process rather than an instantaneous event. This highlights the fact that time itself is a consequence of man’s expulsion from Paradise. Mortality, more than just moral corruption, is the primary repercussion of the fall.

3. Premature Partaking of the Fruit: Eating the “forbidden” fruit exposed Adam and Eve to heavenly knowledge before they had the wisdom and capacity to assimilate it. They were created in innocence but not in a perfected state. By grasping at knowledge prematurely, they forfeited the opportunity to receive it as a gift.

Wisdom and Proper Alignment to the Good

Early Church Fathers such as St. Irenaeus of Lyons and St. Ephrem the Syrian claimed that God would have eventually granted Adam and Eve access to the fruit. As Jonathan Pageau has argued, the knowledge of good and evil requires proper alignment to a higher good—a higher reality. Wisdom is needed to discern God’s purpose and providence in human affairs, especially when it concerns the problem of suffering.

Dante’s journey is built on this very premise. At the beginning of the Inferno, he is virtually drowning in his distress, unable to see the higher purpose behind it. Overcome by dread and anxiety, he lacks the moral and spiritual wisdom to align his suffering with God’s divine plan. This is why he must undertake the journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. A crucial part of his transformation is developing humility, learning to see and accept reality according to God’s judgment rather than his own.

Nimrod and the Giants in Genesis and Dante