Giants in the Bible

• The Nephilim were on the earth in those daysGen 6:4
  The verses

  Gen 6:4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.
• The spies: we seemed like grasshoppers to the descendants of AnakNum 13:32–33
  The verses

  Num 13:32–33So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature. We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
• The Anakim: a people strong and tallDeut 1:28, Deut 9:2
  The verses

  Deut 1:28Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

  Deut 9:2The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?”
• The Emites, as tall as the Anakites, lived in MoabDeut 2:10–11
  The verses

  Deut 2:10–11(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.
• The Ammonites called the Rephaim of their land ZamzummitesDeut 2:20–21
  The verses

  Deut 2:20–21(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,
• Chedorlaomer defeated the Rephaites, Zuzites, and EmitesGen 14:5
  The verses

  Gen 14:5In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

Og of Bashan

• Og, king of Bashan, was the last of the RephaimDeut 3:11, Josh 12:4
  The verses

  Deut 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

  Josh 12:4And Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.
• His iron bed was nine cubits long and four cubits wideDeut 3:11
  The verses

  Deut 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
• Israel defeated Og at Edrei and took his sixty citiesNum 21:33–35, Deut 3:1–4
  The verses

  Num 21:33–35Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet them in battle at Edrei. But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.

  Deut 3:1–4Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left. At that time we captured all sixty of his cities. There was not a single city we failed to take—the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
• His land went to Reuben, Gad, and half of ManassehNum 32:33, Deut 29:7–8
  The verses

  Num 32:33So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.

  Deut 29:7–8When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them. We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Hebron and the Anakim

• Hebron was once Kiriath-arba, named after Arba, the greatest AnakiteJosh 14:15, Josh 15:13
  The verses

  Josh 14:15(Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba, after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.) Then the land had rest from war.

  Josh 15:13According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)
• Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, TalmaiJosh 15:14, Judg 1:20
  The verses

  Josh 15:14And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

  Judg 1:20Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.
• Joshua removed the Anakim; some survived in Gaza, Gath, and AshdodJosh 11:21–22
  The verses

  Josh 11:21–22At that time Joshua proceeded to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction, along with their cities. No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.

Goliath and his kin

• Goliath of Gath stood six cubits and a span1 Sam 17:4
  The verses

  1 Sam 17:4Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
• His coat of mail weighed five thousand shekels1 Sam 17:5
  The verses

  1 Sam 17:5and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,
• His spear point weighed six hundred shekels1 Sam 17:7
  The verses

  1 Sam 17:7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.
• For forty days he came out every morning and evening1 Sam 17:16
  The verses

  1 Sam 17:16For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.
• David killed him with a sling and a stone1 Sam 17:49–50
  The verses

  1 Sam 17:49–50Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
• Goliath's sword was later kept wrapped behind the ephod1 Sam 21:9
  The verses

  1 Sam 21:9The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
• Ishbi-benob's bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels; Abishai killed him2 Sam 21:16–17
  The verses

  2 Sam 21:16–17Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”
• Elhanan killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath1 Chr 20:5
  The verses

  1 Chr 20:5Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
• A man at Gath had six fingers on each hand, six toes on each foot2 Sam 21:20–21, 1 Chr 20:6–7
  The verses

  2 Sam 21:20–21And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.

  1 Chr 20:6–7And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.