There Might Be Giants

Are there really giants in the world?

Actually, giants are frequently referred to in the Torah. Me’am Loez, an 18th century book of commentary on the Bible, notes seven different names with which the Torah refers to giants: Nephilim (Genesis 6:4, Numbers 13:33), Gibborim (Genesis 6:4), Refa’im (Genesis 14:5, 15:20; Deuteronomy. 2:10-11, 3:11,13), Anakim (Numbers 13:22, Deuteronomy 2:11), Ay’mim (Deuteronomy 2:10-11), Zam’zumim (Deuteronomy 2:20) and Ah’vim (Deuteronomy 2:23).

The first reference to giants is found in Genesis 6:4: ‘The Nephilim were in the earth in those days…the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.” According to the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Bereishit 44), the “Nephilim” were the offspring of angels (“sons of God”) and women.

Being the descendants of angels, the giants had supernatural attributes. Not only were they incredibly tall and strong, they also lived for extraordinary lengths of time. The giant Og, who was noted in the Midrash (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 23) as being young at the time of the flood, was killed by Moses (Berachot 54b).

While certain specific giants (such as Og and Goliath) enter the Biblical narrative, giants as a nation are mentioned in particular in Numbers 13:33: “And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight.” The Israelite spies thus described the inhabitants of the Land of Israel and discouraged the Israelites from conquering it.

In time, the giant nations died out. Goliath, famous for his defeat at the hands of a young David (before he became king), is the last one mentioned in the Bible.