Who are the Semim? שמימ

The unsung heroes of the Old Testament

According to most Hebrew scholars, שמימ (transliterated “semim”, and pronounced “shemim”) means “sky” or “heaven”. This is certainly the meaning in the MODERN Hebrew language. But is this what the ancient Hebrew writers intended to convey?

Recently, a handful of biblical scholars have begun to recognize that the Semim are in fact a group of intelligent entities. Even so, the etymology remains a stumbling block. Notably, Paul Wallis discusses the concept of what he calls “the Seba Hassamayim” in his book The Scars of Eden, interpreting this phrase as a referring to powerful “sky armies”. In our estimate Wallis has correctly interpreted the 'im' suffix, and is correct in his conclusion that the Semim are a group of intelligent beings.

For the past two years, we have been examining and analyzing all references to the Semim in the ancient Hebrew corpus. Moses, Job, and King David particularly have a lot to say about this group. We also examined a few extant slightly more modern sources including Zechariah Sitchin and Christian O’Brien.

In summary, we found that the Semim are a group of entities associated with but separate from the Alehim. Both groups; the Semim and the Alehim, were given territory, but the territory of the Semim was overseen by one of the Alehim, named Ihoh. Eventually, this territory was passed from the Semim and given to humans.

The ancient texts indicate that it is possible that the Semim were a proto-human species, but they are also described as providers to humanity and thus, must have also been our contemporaries. Semim have been witnessed and described as flying or riding up and down on a kebed or a roeh. Nevertheless, the Semim are most known simply for their fame or infamy; they are “the Legendary Ones” characterized as the primary characters of some ancient, presumably long lost legends. It is possible though that some of these legends may have never been truly lost or are yet bubbling back to our consciousness through archaeological discoveries.

Check out the full ten-page writeup here: https://bara.foundation/dictionary/doku.php?id=semim