(1) the issues of whether the flood was universal and whether the Nephilim (or
any other of the ehnic groups we have mentioned) are portrayed as having
survived the flood, are separate (at least in my mind). Hence Dick's quote from
Young has no bearing on the points I have addressed.
(2) Dick's quote from the Expositor's Bible Commentary is also not pertinent: he
quoted from the commentary on Genesis; but the one on Numbers (in the same
volume, by a different author) is more in keeping with my reading. Again, I
point to the article of W.H. Green from last century.
(3) A number of literary and rhetorical issues have come up, and I'm not sure
that Dick and I are operating from within the same framework. I am coming from
a discourse analysis point-of-view, with an awareness also of some of the better
"literary approaches" to Biblical narrative. Good resources include V. P. Long,
_The art of Biblical history_ (Zondervan, 1994, with lots of good bibliography),
and Kevin Vanhoozer, "The semantics of Biblical literature: Truth and
Scripture's diverse literary forms", pp. 49-104 in D.A. Carson & J.D.
Woodbridge, _Hermeneutics, authority & canon_ (Intervarsity, 1986). These ideas
have not really worked their way into the standard commentaries just yet.
(4) I'm sorry but I'll be unable to reply to this topic any further for a few
weeks, since I am celebrating the end of the semester and not reading my e-mail
for a while. So you can feel free to have at me and be confident I'll "turn the
other cheek".
Jack Collins
Covenant Theological Seminary