April 7, 2014
Glowing Snake Skin
Recently someone asked me about two details in the new Russell Crow movie, Noah. They wanted to know what was up with the strange glowing skin, and were “the Watchers” from the bible or somewhere else. Here is the results of my quick research, drawing on an interview with one of the script writers, some Jewish bible commentary pages, and of course Wikipedia.
The glowing snake skin is from an interpretation of Genesis 3:21. After Adam and Eve make clothes out of leaves, God gives them some clothes made of skin. Some Jewish commentators Thought this might be snake skin, cast off from the Serpent. The Serpent was an original creation of God, which he said was “good” in the first chapter (6th Day). So the movie makers decided to make it glow with God’s good light. In the movie the people pass it on down from generation to generation as a reminder of their creator and original goodness.
The term Watchers as a reference to certain angels comes from som of the Jewish books that Christians and later Jews did not include in the canon. The idea is that the Nephilim in Genesis are a class of angel that fell from heaven for standing against God on behalf of humanity. In the movie their stone skin comes from a possible root of the name ‘nephilim’. When they sacrifice themselves in defense of Noah, then they are forgiven and return to God as glowing light.
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