Page 317 - Foundations

seems especially appropriate when embarking upon a discussion of giants in the Bible. Giants are
often regarded as the fodder of myths, superstitions, and fables. They are lumped into the same
categories as childhood monsters, dragons, unicorns, fairies, and leprechauns. It is difficult for
someone who wishes to be held in high regard by those esteemed to be wise in this world to throw
his/her support behind the Biblical accounts of a race of giants living concurrently with mankind. Yet,
this is the reality the Scriptures present. I am unashamed to say I believe the Biblical narrative. The
Bible, in fact, has quite a lot to say about a race of giants dwelling among men.

I intentionally use the expression “race of giants,” rather than treating giants as individual aberrations,
for the Bible refers to them in this manner. There are a number of names given to the race of giants
in the Bible. The variety of names are primarily the result of people of diverse languages having
different words by which they referred to the giants. Some of the names are descriptive of
characteristics of the giants, and others are related to ancestry. The Bible uses the names Nephilim,
Anakim, Rephaim, Zamzummin, and Emim to refer to the race of giants. The term “Amorite” may
also be a reference to giants. There were Amorites mentioned in the Bible who were not giants, but
in certain Scriptures the word “Amorite” is clearly linked to giants. The name “Horites” may also be
a reference to giants.

Deuteronomy 2:10-12
(The Emim lived there formerly, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. Like the
Anakim, they are also regarded as Rephaim (Giants), but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites
formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them
and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which Yahweh gave to
them.)

The passage above from the book of Deuteronomy does not tell us specifically whether the Horites
were giants. The inclusion of their mention along with the Emim, Anakim, and Rephaim, all of whom
were giants, does present the possibility, however. Interestingly, the name Horite means “cave-dweller
or troglodyte.”

Horite
Choriy (kho-ree'); from OT:2356; cave-dweller or troglodyte
[Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible]

Perhaps there is some historic basis behind the mythology of giants living in caves, or giant trolls
living in caves. A cave-troll, after all, is a tall, massive, and powerful human like being that is violent
and wicked. Returning to the matter of there being a “race” of giants, this is borne out by the
following Scriptures.

Deuteronomy 2:20-21
(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call
them Zamzummims; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but Yahweh destroyed
them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead...)

This verse indicates that the entire land in reference was populated by a race of giants. It was not a