Numbers 13:33

And there we saw the giants,.... Not throughout the land, and yet it is so expressed, and in such connection with what goes before, that it might be so understood, and as they might choose it should;

And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. Giants, the sons of Anak.

i.e. Small and contemptible.

(33) And there we saw the giants.—The same word, nephilim. is here used which is found in Genesis 6:4. See Note in loc.

Verse 33. There we saw the giants] נפלים nephilim. It is evident that they had seen a robust, sturdy, warlike race of men, and of great stature; for the asserted fact is not denied by Joshua or Caleb. Tales of gigantic men are frequent in all countries, but they are generally of such as have lived in times very remote from those in which such tales are told. That there have been giants at different times, in various parts of the earth, there can be no doubt; but that there ever was a nation of men twelve and fourteen feet high, we cannot, should not believe. Goliath appears to have been at least nine feet high: this was very extraordinary. I knew three young men in my own neighbourhood, two of them brothers, each of whom was upwards of seven feet, the third was eight feet six inches, and these men were very well proportioned. Others I have seen of extraordinary stature, but they were generally disproportioned, especially in their limbs. These instances serve to prove the possibility of cases of this nature. The Anakim might appear to the Israelites as a very tall, robust nation; and in comparison of the latter it is very probable that they were so, as it is very likely that the growth of the Israelites had been greatly cramped with their long and severe servitude in Egypt. And this may in some measure account for their alarm. On this subject the reader is desired to turn back to the note on See Clarke on Genesis 6:4. CANAAN was a type of the kingdom of God; the wilderness through which the Israelites passed, of the difficulties and trials to be met with in the present world. The promise of the kingdom of God is given to every believer; but how many are discouraged by the difficulties in the way! A slothful heart sees dangers, lions, and giants, every where; and therefore refuses to proceed in the heavenly path. Many of the spies contribute to this by the bad reports they bring of the heavenly country. Certain preachers allow "that the land is good, that it flows with milk and honey," and go so far as to show some of its fruits; but they discourage the people by stating the impossibility of overcoming their enemies. "Sin," say they, "cannot be destroyed in this life - it will always dwell in you - the Anakim cannot be conquered - we are but as grasshoppers against the Anakim," c., &c.

33. the Nephilim] Mentioned in Genesis 6:4 in connexion with the ‘sons of Elohim,’ but not elsewhere in the O.T. The derivation and meaning of the name are obscure. Aq. [Note: q. The Greek translation by Aquila.] ἐπιπίπτοντες (‘falling upon’) connects it with nβphal (πτμ) ‘to fall,’ as though the name described the violence with which the Nephilim fell upon their enemies. But LXX. γίγαντες (‘giants’) and Sym. βιαῖοι (‘violent’) are only paraphrases. The name appears to be a relic of primitive mythology, but little more can be said of it. If the Nephilim were thought of as superhuman or semi-divine beings, the spies may have used the name to heighten the effect of their description of the ‘sons of Anak’ (Numbers 13:28). the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim] the sons of Anak are of the Nephilim. A separate sentence, which is absent from the LXX. , and was probably added to the Heb. text by a late scribe. He may have meant that the sons of Anak were either descended from, or of the number of, the Nephilim. as grasshoppers] Very small and helpless. Oriental speech abounds in similes from nature. Insignificance and weakness are also expressed by ‘flocks of kids’ (1 Kings 20:27), ‘a dead dog’ and ‘a flea’ (1 Samuel 24:14), ‘a partridge’ (1 Samuel 26:20).

33. The giants — Hebrew and R.V. Nephilim, like the antediluvian tyrants who corrupted the earth. Genesis 6:4, note.