1. Historical and Spiritual Significance: The Bible is regarded as a religious and historical text, and the presence of giants within its pages adds an intriguing dimension to the narratives. Giants are often seen as symbolic figures representing challenges, obstacles, or forces of evil that must be overcome with faith and courage.
2. Biblical References: The list contains references to various passages in the Bible that describe specific giants.
Giants have existed since the beginning of time; the Bible first mentions them in the book of Genesis (6:1-4)1. Giants seem to have been seen favorably at first, frequently being hero-worshipped, especially by non-Hebrew people. Giants were still mentioned in the Bible after the Great Flood, but the Hebrews no longer held a favorable opinion of them and they were frequently viewed as the adversary, frequently engaging in military conflict. Together, as several distinct races, giants coexisted both before and after the Flood.
The Bible describes many individuals as giants, and it also mentions several giant people groups. Interpreters have speculated about the size of these people with guesses ranging anywhere from 6 feet to more than 30 feet in height. Also, a great deal of misinformation about giants in the Bible has been proliferated on the Internet along with some fake pictures of supposed giants. So did these giants really exist? If so, how big were they?
List Of Giants In The Bible
- AphraimHebrew: Nephilim, which might mean “causing to fall” or “violent” (Genesis 6:4)These were the brutal despots of the past, the ones who fell on other people. Another possible origin for the word is a root that means “wonder,” leading to the terms “monsters” or “prodigies.” This name is applied to a powerful race, the Canaanitish tribe known as “the sons of Anak,” in Numbers 13:33. In these sections, the Revised King James Version merely transliterates the original, reading “Nephilim.”
- RephaimHebrew: rephaim, a race of giants (Deuteronomy 3:11) who lived on the east of Jordan, from whom Og was descendedThey were probably the original inhabitants of the land before the immigration of the Canaanites. They were conquered by Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14:5), and their territories were promised as a possession to Abraham (15:20). The Anakim, Zuzim, and Emim were branches of this stock.In Job 26:5 (Revised King James Version, “they that are deceased;” marginal note, “the shades,” the “Rephaim”) and Isaiah 14:9 this Hebrew word is rendered (King James Version) “dead.” It means here “the shades,” the departed spirits in Sheol. In 2 Samuel 21:16, 18, 20, “the giant” is (King James Version) the rendering of the singular form ha raphah, which may possibly be the name of the father of the four giants referred to here, or of the founder of the Rephaim. The Vulgate here reads “Arapha,” whence Milton (in Samson Agonistes) has borrowed the name “Harapha.”(See also 1 Chron. 20:5, 6, 8; Deuteronomy 2:11, 20; 3:13; Joshua 15:8, etc., where the word is similarly rendered “giant.”)It is rendered “dead” in (King James Version) Psalm 88:10; Proverbs 2:18; 9:18; 21:16: in all these places the Revised King James Version marginal note has “the shades.” (See also Isaiah 26:14.)
- AnakimHebrew: ‘Anakim (Deuteronomy 2:10-11, 21; Joshua 11:21-22; 14:12, 15; called “sons of Anak,” Numbers 13:33; “children of Anak,” 13:22; Joshua 15:14), a nomad race of giants descended from Arba (Joshua 14:15), the father of Anak, that dwelt in the south of Israel near Hebron (Genesis 23:2; Joshua 15:13).They were a Cushite tribe of the same race as the Philistines and the Egyptian shepherd kings. David on several occasions encountered them (2 Samuel 21:15-22). From this race sprung Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4).
- EminHebrew: ’emin, a warlike tribe of the ancient CanaanitesThey were “great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims” (Genesis 14:5; Deuteronomy 2:10-11).
- ZamzummimHebrew: Zamzummim, Deuteronomy 2:20—so called by the Amorites.
- Gibbor (Job 16:14), a mighty one, i.e., a champion or heroIn its plural form (gibborim), it is rendered “mighty men” (2 Samuel 23:8–39; 1 Kings 1:8; 1 Chronicles 11:9–47; 29:24). The band of six hundred whom David gathered around him when he was a fugitive was so designated. They were divided into three divisions of two hundred each and thirty divisions of twenty each. The captains of the thirty divisions were called “the thirty,” the captains of the two hundred “the three,” and the captain over the whole was called “chief among the captains” (2 Samuel 23:8).The sons born of the marriages mentioned in Genesis 6:4 are also called by this Hebrew name.
The Top 5 Giants In The Bible
It’s not often recognized that Goliath wasn’t the largest giant in the Bible or that he wasn’t the only giant! The Bible contains numerous giants, for those who are familiar with it! The Nephilim, or race of giants, are first mentioned in Genesis 6:4. As we might infer that man was far stronger and taller back then than he is now, given that he lived an average of over nine hundred (900) years after emerging from the Creator’s hand.
For giants to be giants in those early days they had to be really, really tall. But while we see whole armies of giants in the Bible called Nephilim, Rephaims, Emims (Zanzummims or Zuzims), Anakim or children of Anak, the purpose of this article is to point out only those for which we have some details, those who are by and large singled out by name. The following is not necessarily in order of height since the Bible does not give all the details concerning height.
(1) Og, the King of Bashan
Deut. 3:11 says of Og:
“For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.”
While we are not given his height, the length of his bed was longer than Goliath’s height by three cubits.
(2) Goliath of Gath
Goliath is the most famous giant in recorded history partly because of the engaging, inspiring story of him boasting and blaspheming against God for days and a young boy, David, who believes God can do all things, steps up and kills him with a stone and sling while King Saul and his army are trembling in their boots due to Goliath. How tall was Goliath?
1 Sam. 17:4 says “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”
Let us consult John Gill’s Commentary concerning this. Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, referred to John Gill as the most able expert on Hebrew and Jewish customs in his day. John Gill’s Commentary says that Goliath was about eleven feet four inches taking a cubit to be twenty-one inches and a span to be approximately half of a cubit. Some say he was closer to twelve feet. Some try to say that he was only about nine feet but when you look at the weight of his armor you have to agree with Gill’s Commentary.
Verse 5 says of his armor:
“And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and theweight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.”
Gill’s Commentary states that the weight given here is over one hundred and fifty-six (156) pounds! That is not giant. That is a monster!
Four Children Of Goliath – Ishbenob, Saph, Lahmi and an unnamed giant.
Goliath left behind him a legacy. Four giants are recorded in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles and they all are sons of Goliath. (See 2 Sam. 21:22)
(3) Ishbibenob, a son of Goliath (2 Sam. 21:16,17)
This giant almost got revenge for his father’s death by almost killing David in battle when the latter felt faint, but fortunately for David, his valiant nephew Abishai, killed him. We do not have any record of his height. We do know that his spear was half the weight of Goliath’s spear which would have been very heavy.
(4) Saph (also called Sippai) (2 Sam. 21:18; 1 Chron. 20:6)
Saph was also a son of Goliath of Gath. His very name “Saph” means “tall” while “Sippai” means “threshold” coming from a Hebrew word that means “door” since he was tall (or taller) than a door in those days.
(5) Lahmi (2 Sam. 21:20; 1 Chron. 20:6)
2 Sam. 21:20 does not give his name but 1 Chron. 20:6 does. Let me preface my statement on him by first saying that in the King James Version whenever there is a word or words in italics those words are not in the original Hebrew or Greek but were supplied by translators to make the sentence run more smoothly. 2 Sam. 21:20 tells us that he was “the brother of Goliath the Gittite.” The words “the brother” are not in the original text. It should read that he was “of Goliath the Gittite” meaning that he was Goliath’s son as 2 Sam. 21:22 says:
“These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of hisservants.”
