Giants In Canaan: Anakim, Rephaim And Nephilim
In the biblical tradition, the enigmatic Nephilim, or Fallen Ones, are mentioned in two very different contexts. The first mention appears in Genesis 6 and refers to the period before and after the deluge, with the Nephilim apparently residing in Mesopotamia (even though this is not explicitly stated). They are described as the offspring of the ‘Sons of God’ and the daughters of men, as ‘mighty men of renown’. Although it is not directly said, the word ‘Nephilim’ is often translated in this passage with ‘Giants’.
The second mention of the Nephilim is in Numbers 13, where they are mentioned as inhabitants of Canaan from the time before Israel inhabited the land. Israelite spies, sent out to survey the land, described them as follows: “[T]he people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Giants [Nephilim] (the descendants of Anak came from the Giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Elsewhere, in Deuteronomy 2, these “Children of Anak” or Anakim as well as other peoples are said to have been Rephaim, yet another enigmatic group mentioned in biblical, Canaanite and Phoenician tradition.
