Sihon, Alien Canaanite King
Torah & Aliens: Ki Tavo
I led you through the wilderness forty years; the clothes on your back did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet; you had no bread to eat and no wine or other intoxicant to drink—that you might know that I am your G-d. When you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to engage us in battle, but we defeated them.
Deuteronomy 29:4-6
The battles of Sihon and Og permeate throughout the Torah. We know about Og, but who was Sihon?
According to the Talmud, Sihon was Og’s brother. Their father was Ahija, and grandfather was Shamhazai.1 Shamhazai, in the Book of Enoch, is one of the leaders of the “Watchers”, or the Nephillim, the “fallen angels” who lusted after women and created the race of alien giants that lasted after The Great Flood.2
It’s no wonder that these tales were told so many times. The army of Sihon was a formidable opponent that no natural human army could defeat. It was only through the supernatural forces, through G-d, that the Israelites could even come close to winning, out of necessity, on their way through to Canaan / Israel.
The defeat reverberated for many years through to the Canaanite / Anakite tribes of giants that lived in the Land of Israel that Joshua had to conquer. Similarly, these armies were much more powerful physically. Yet knowing that giants had been defeated multiple times, they were fearful of what the Israelite army was capable of doing.
She [Rahab] said to the men, “I know that G-d has given the country to you, because dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before you. For we have heard how G-d dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you left Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, whom you doomed. When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no one had any more spirit left because of you; for the Eternal your G-d is the only G-d in heaven above and on earth below.3
Shabbat Shalom!
Talmud, Niddah 61a
Genesis 6:4
Joshua 2:9-11