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Some scholars attribute certain ancient monuments, such as the Great Pyramid near Cairo, to these ancient giants. Other scholars have even attempted to link the Great Pyramid to the peculiar "face"”*! on the planet Mars,”” Why was the presence of the Nephilim so great a threat that God would resort to such an extreme measure as a worldwide flood? "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." The word for "generations" is well understood since it is frequently used to refer to genealogies. But what does "perfect in his generations" mean? The word translated "perfect" is tamiym, which means "without blemish, sound, healthful, without spot, unimpaired." This term is used of physical blemishes,”*? suggesting that Noah's genealogy was not tarnished by this intrusion of the fallen angels. It seems that this adulteration of the human gene pool was a major problem on the planet Earth, and apparently Noah was among the few left who were not thus contaminated. The "angel" view of this classic Genesis text is well documented in both ancient Jewish rabbinical literature and Early Church writings. In addition to the Septuagint translation, the venerated (although non-canonical) Book of Enoch, the Syriac Version of the Old Testament, as well as the Testimony of the 12 Patriarchs*** and the Little Genesis,” confirm the lexicological usage and the extant beliefs of ancient Jewish scholars. Clearly the learned Philo Judaeus understood the passage as relating to angels. Josephus Flavius also represents this view: "They made God their enemy; for many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own 121 THE GENE POOL PROBLEM In Genesis 6:9, we encounter another strange reference: THE ANCIENT AUTHORITIES