Giants And The Bible
Bodie Hodge M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, June 17, 2025 (Donate)
It’s common to find giants in fictitious stories like Jack and
Beanstalk or the more modern Ella Enchanted. There are even football and baseball
teams named “Giants”. But were giants real?
The Bible says they were. But in our secularized culture,
the Bible often comes under attack—Genesis 3 and the Fall, the global Flood, Tower of Babel,
the biblical age of the earth, unicorns, dragons, and so on. The Bible is like an
anvil that has worn out many hammers. Let’s go back and see what God says in
His Word—because there is no greater authority on the subject of giants, than
God.
Giants In Scripture
So, were giants real? For those who follow the Bible, the
answer is an immediate “yes”! Our minds usually flash to Goliath—arguably the
most famous giant who ever lived and how he met his demise in battle against
David—the future king of Israel.
Besides Goliath, the existence of giants is revealed in
several places throughout the Bible. These references are not just metaphorical
or exaggerated accounts but describe real people in history.
The biblical term often used is “giants,” but other words
like “Rephaim,” and “Anakim” also appear, each with nuances but consistently
referring to men of unusual size and strength. Nevertheless, let’s start with Goliath
and his family.
Goliath And His Kin
As mentioned, the most famous biblical giant is Goliath of
Gath, the Philistine champion defeated by David with a slingshot and then David
used Goliath’s sword to finish him off—literally (1 Samuel 17:51). About
Goliath, the Bible says (verses NKJV unless otherwise noted):
"He had a bronze helmet on his
head... the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam... and his iron
spearhead weighed six hundred shekels" (1 Samuel 17:4–7).
Goliath’s height is given as “six cubits and a span,”
approximately 9 feet 9 inches based on the small cubit of 18 inches and a
span which is 9 inches). Thus, he could have been taller if the longer
cubit was meant (e.g., a 20.4-inch cubit—that would make him slightly under 11
feet tall!).
Regardless, he was a man of immense size and strength,
inspiring terror as an enemy of God’s people. Goliath was not the only giant
among the Philistines. Other accounts mention his relatives:
- Ishbi-benob
(2 Samuel 21:16)
- Saph
(2 Samuel 21:18)
- An
unnamed giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (2
Samuel 21:20)
- Lahmi,
Goliath’s brother (1 Chronicles 20:5)
All were referred to as "descendants of the giant"
(possibly Rapha, linking them to the Rephaim). Goliath lived about 1000
BC in days of King Saul. Goliath came out of the lineage of Ham down through
the Philistines (Genesis 10:6-14).
More Giants
Noah had three sons—Japheth, Shem, and Ham. Several groups under
Ham’s lineage are named. Did some of Shem’s and Japheth’s lineage have giants?
We are not told. But the genetic capability was there in Ham’s line because the
Bible informs us that some of his descendants were giant in stature.
The Anakim
In Numbers 13:28–33, when certain Israelites spied out the
land of Canaan, they encountered giants:
"We saw the descendants of
Anak there... The land... devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we
saw in it are men of great stature... and we were like grasshoppers in our own
sight."
The Anakim were a large people descended from a figure named
Anak. The Israelites feared them, describing them as being of such stature that
they used a simile to describe the relationship as to being grasshoppers by
comparison.
During the Israelite conquest, giants posed a significant
obstacle. In Deuteronomy 9:2, it says of the Anakim: “a people great and
tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it
said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’”
Furthermore, in Joshua 11:21–22 it says that Joshua cut off
the Anakim from the hill country, “only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did some
remain.”
These surviving pockets became later threats, especially
among the Philistines (Goliath’s origin).
The Rephaim
In Deuteronomy 2:10–11, the Rephaim are mentioned as former
inhabitants of the land:
"The Emim had dwelt there in
times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. They were
also regarded as giants [Rephaim], like the Anakim..."
Rephaim were considered closely related to or synonymous
with giants. They lived in regions later claimed by Israel and were associated
with dread and strength. According to Deuteronomy 2, the Rephaim were driven
out by the Lord previously possibly using the Moabites and Ammonites (descendants of Abraham’s nephew
Lot) and Edomites (descendants of Esau).
The Zamzummim and Emim
Also mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:20–21, the Zamzummim were a
people "great, numerous, and tall, like the Anakim." These groups
were dispossessed by the descendants of Lot.
Og the Giant
Og's bed is described in Deuteronomy 3:11. Here's what the
Bible says:
“For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the
giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the
people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width,
according to the standard cubit.” — Deuteronomy 3:11 (NKJV)
How big is that? Og’s bed was approximately 13.5 feet long
and 6 feet wide (using the small cubit). It was made of iron in that day likely
due to his unusual size and strength as one of the last of the Rephaim (a group
associated with giants in the Old Testament).
Poetic and Prophetic
Literature
The Bible also uses possible references to giants in poetic passages,
“The dead [repha] tremble, those under the waters and those inhabiting
them” (Job 26:5).
Some take this to mean the “Rephaim”, a possible spiritual
link to dead giants. Consider, “Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the
dead [rapha] arise and praise You?” (Psalm 88:10). Again, the Hebrew root
behind this may refer to the “Rephaim.”
There may be a spiritual aspect to giants’ judgment, perhaps
regarded in Israelite thought as restless or cursed beings in Sheol/grave. Of course,
their eternal judgment for unrepentant sin against God is an eternity in Hell
(Daniel 12:2).
While giants are not emphasized heavily in any prophetic
books, there may be hints. For example, Amos 2:9 recalls God’s power over the
Amorites:
"Yet it was I who destroyed
the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he
was as strong as the oaks..."
This likely refers to giant-like strength and stature,
symbolizing a formidable but ultimately defeated foe.
Were There Pre-Flood Giants: The Nephilim?
So far, there is no doubt giants existed in the past. Let’s
turn our attention to a controversial instance of alleged “giants”. Genesis
6:1–4 (NASB) says:
The Nephilim were on the earth in
those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters
of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were
of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great
on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
The LORD was sorry that He had made
man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, "I will
blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals
to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made
them."
This passage describes a group of men called the nephilim
(from the Hebrew word “to fall”) before the Flood. The godly term "sons of
God" had children who had fallen into terrible wickedness and sin—hence, why
God was about to judge their sin with a Flood. God described the world being
full of violence, wickedness, and sin.
So where are the giants? To be blunt, they are not there. Some later translations presume nephilim means giants, but that is not warranted by the context. this idea was first suggested more than a half a millennia later.
So why would some translations, beginning 700 years later, put
giants? Because in Numbers 13, they were giants and the context reveals
that.
So, there is an assumption that maybe the pre-Flood nephilim
were giants as well. But is this warranted? No. The context says nothing of
gigantic size. Just because both groups are described and called the fallen (nephilim
means the fallen), doesn’t mean their bodies were built the same.
Consider it this way—if the nephilim, who were also titled
and called “mighty men”, were giants, would it be justifiable to say David’s “mighty
men” were giants too (2 Samuel 23:8-9)? See the fallacy.
Nephilim In Genesis 6 Vs. Numbers 13 – Are They The Same?
The word "Nephilim" (נְפִילִים) appears only twice
in the entire Hebrew Bible:
“The Nephilim were on the earth in
those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters
of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were
of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4, NASB)
"There also we saw the
Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like
grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." (Numbers
13:33, NASB)
In both cases, the Hebrew spelling is essentially the same
but with a slight variation but both being a plural form from the root npl
(נפל), meaning "to fall."
The Septuagint (LXX)—the Greek translation of the Hebrew
Scriptures (done quickly by Jews in Alexandria) around the 3rd century BC—translates nephilim in Genesis
6:4 as "gigantes" (γίγαντες), meaning “giants.” This term is
also used in Numbers 13:33.
However, gigantes in Greek mythology didn’t
necessarily mean beings of great stature alone—they were often rebellious and
semi-divine figures. So, the LXX likely introduced a mix of size, strength, and
mythological association into the text that wasn't explicitly present in the
Hebrew context.
As we learn extensively from biblical history in the Old Testament, the Israelites
commonly compromised God’s Word with the local religious flavors of their
conquerors (e.g., serving false gods like Baal, Molech, etc.) —so when they incorporated
Greek beliefs of demi-gods (e.g., when appealing to angel-human mixtures giving
rise to giants), it shouldn’t surprise us. Nevertheless, these Jewish myths
need to be rejected.
Context Is King: Genesis 6 Vs. Numbers 13
Genesis 6:4 – Pre-Flood Nephilim
The context does not emphasize great height or size. Instead,
it says:
“...when the sons of God came in
to the daughters of men... They were the mighty men (gibborim) who were
of old, men of renown.”
So while these beings are described as “mighty men” and “men of renown,” there's no direct mention of great size in Genesis 6. The nephilim are a group of men who instead describe violent, fallen, or tyrannical men—perhaps linked to spiritual rebellion—but not necessarily tall.
Numbers 13:33 – Nephilim As Giants
Here, the text of Scripture clearly emphasizes physical
stature:
“We were like grasshoppers in our
own sight...”
Also mentioned was the Anakim, who were “of great stature”
(Numbers 13:28), and they were associated as the nephilim—who had fallen
into so much sin that God has already decreed they would be judged by the His hand
through the Israelites for their sin.
The Genesis 6:4 "nephilim" are called mighty
men and renowned, not giants. There was no explicit reference
to any enormous size. The “giant” association comes largely from the Greek LXX
rendering (gigantes), not the Hebrew text itself. Thus, it is was an
idea of the translators disconnected from the events by about 700 years who
were influenced by Greek thought.
The Numbers 13:33 “nephilim” are clearly described as
giants, linked to the Anakim—would we giants. Therefore, it is unwarranted to
say that the two (pre-Flood and post-Flood) fallen groups of men should be
equated in they physiques. Although a number of people point to Genesis 6 as
evidence of giants in Scripture, other passages are better to use due to the
context.
Were Giants Real—The Conclusion
Giants existed in the past because God revealed they did in
His perfect Word in many places.
