The Whole World Knows There Were Giants

Ever wondered if the Bible could be right about a nine foot [3 m] tall warrior? Do we have any evidence outside God’s testimony to such tall people?

Let’s look at some of the things we can check out to compare!

Most of the information we have about giants come from stories passed down as legends around the world.  I’m not going to post a bunch of links because you have to be careful what you read.  As we all know from David and Goliath, giants weren’t exactly God-fearing. In fact, most of the stories people told about them are like Jack of the Beanstalk or Odysseus’ experience.

I found a page with dozens and dozens of accounts of giants or their remains around the world.  Wikipedia has a list of at least 100 names people have given to giants around the world.

The Bible itself lists 7 different groups of Post-Flood giants.  There were the Philistines (with Goliath & co: II Samuel 21:15-22), Amorites (Amos 2:9–10; Numbers 13:29,32), Emim (Deuteronomy 2:10–11), Zamzummim (Deuteronomy 2:20–21),Rephaim [giants] (Deuteronomy 3:11), Anakim [sons of Anak] (Numbers 13:33), and an Egyptian near-giant in 1 Chronicles 11:23.

All of these groups of people mentioned in the Bible were especially wicked.  As you can see from the accounts of the Emim and Zamzummim, it wasn’t just the Israelites who wanted them dead.  Giants never made comfortable neighbors, although they seemed to make good champions or kings until God caught up with them!

Answers in Genesis has a long article talking about all this. It also has some interesting information on Egyptian records of giants.

There is one more group that the Bible mentions: the Nephilim.  Numbers 13:32–33 says, “And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.  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.”  The Hebrew word translated “giants” is the word Nephilim.

This is important to early Genesis study because of an odd account in Genesis 6.  We are told almost nothing about how people lived before the Flood, but the Nephilim are one of the things God wanted us to know about.  Here’s the story:

There were giants [Nephilim] in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. Gensis 6:4-6

Many people, including me, have wondered what these “sons of God” who had giant, evil children were.  There is a theory that they are actually demons who married human women and bore children.  Jude verse 6 is used to back this idea up.  Cool (and horrible) as this sounds, there are some major problems with this view that make it impossible.

• Dr. Lisle pointed out recently that Jesus said it is impossible for spirit beings to have phisical relations and therefore children.  Matthew 22:30 suggests this.  It is at least true for good angels
• If this theory were true, there would have never been any more giants after the Flood destroyed them all and the demons who had done it were chained in darkness.
• “Sons of God” does not have to refer to spirit beings (although it does in the Old Testament, like in Job 1:6).  Six times the New Testament refers to Christians as Sons of God.

That there were giants again after the Flood by itself makes the demon theory impossible.  This leaves us with some kind of human line being the “sons of God.”  I’ve heard ideas that this is talking about the children of Seth, who were still following God, marrying women from the line of Cain, who had  rejected God’s authority.  I don’t know, but it seems likely that something like that is meant.

God is greater than the largest enemy we will ever face.  The Bible’s stories of Caleb, David, and his mighty men defeating giants is recorded to encourage us to trust God and not follow in the despair of the 10 spies of evil report!

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4

I got a lot of my info by starting from this article: Answers in Genesis, Giants in the Old Testament 

You might also enjoy these articles I found:

The Aldworth Giants Rated G

THE QUEST FOR TOM HICKATHRIFT about trying to find the truth behind a giant legend. Rated G

THE CAVE OF THE RED HAIRED GIANTS Rated PG

Human Giants by Gary Nelson. Rated PG (opens with immodest Indian warrior facing away from us)