the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Titans
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or TITANS . In Greek mythology the Titans were divine or semi-divine beings who, endowed with supernatural powers, were overcome only with the greatest difficulty. In later times they were identified with primitive giants.
In the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] version of Samuel the ‘ Vale of Rephaim ’ ( 2 Samuel 5:16; 2 Samuel 5:22 ) is called the ‘Vale of the Titans.’ Here it is used in the sense of ‘giants,’ for the same version of Chronicles translates this name in 1 Chronicles 11:15; 1 Chronicles 14:9 ‘Vale of the Giants.’ Thus, in interpreting early Hebrew thought for Greek readers, the old shadowy Rephaim were identified with Titans and giants.
Similarly in the song of victory in Jdt 16:7 we read:
‘For the mighty one did not fall by the young men,
Neither did the sons of Titans smite him,
Nor did tall giants set upon him,
But Judith, the daughter of Merari …’
In this late work Greek mythology has been absorbed by Jewish thought.
George A. Barton.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Titans'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/t/titans.html. 1909.
