Anak and the Giants

Q: Hello, since there was the flood in the days of Noah in Genesis; why were descendants of Anak found in the land flowing with milk and honey in the book of Numbers? Weren't the descendants of Anak giants like Goliath? I thought that all the giants were wiped out by the flood because the imaginations of their heart was only evil continually. Well, thank you for taking the time to read my question.

A: Thank you for your question. Yes, the global flood during the time of Noah did wipe out everything on the earth. God made it clear when He said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them (Genesis 6:7)." Therefore, there could not have been any Nephilim, the "giants" you speak of mentioned in Genesis 6:4 alive after the Flood. The passage you speak of in regards to the descendants of Anak is found in Numbers 13:33. There it reads, "We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." However, we must remember that Anak came after the Flood. Furthermore, the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6:4 are not associated with any particular tribe, clan or people group. And even if they were, that line would have been severed due to the Flood.

When Moses sent the men to explore the land of Canaan the men who reported seeing the Amalekites described them as the "descendants of Anak" and "giants" because they were frightened and intimidated by what they saw. Notice how they say that the people of the land "are stronger than we are (Numbers 13:31)" and then went about spreading a bad report of the land to others saying the "land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size (Numbers 13:32)." It is quite reasonable to surmise that because of their fear of the people they saw that they would compare them to the legends and stories of intimidating people of the past like the Nephilim. Perhaps even the Amalekites used terms like Nephilim to describe themselves because of the imagery it produced. For example, how many sports teams of today have names like Spartans or Gladiators? We know better than to believe that these teams are descendants of the actual Spartans of ancient Greece or the Gladiators of ancient Rome. But, it is an intimidating name meant to strike fear in their opponents. The name and exploits of the Nephilim had survived after the Flood, but it doesn't mean the people they saw were actual descendants of them.

Even if the Amalekites were giants, it doesn't mean that they were descendants of the Nephilim simply because the name was used. Goliath was a giant of a man since he stood over nine feet tall (1 Samuel 17:4). However, the Bible doesn't say that all those that would be described as giants were wiped out in the flood. It only says that Nephilim were wiped out. Keep in mind also that the term Nephilim doesn't necessarily mean giants. Genesis 6:4 describes the Nephilim by saying "They were the heroes of old, men of renown." The word Nephilim could just as easily be a word describing their exploits and stature among men as it is their physical size. Some even submit that the term means "fallen men." That is something that would make sense also since God talks about not contending with "mortal" man any longer in Genesis 6:3. And Genesis 6:5 talks of man's "wickedness" and the evil "inclination" of his heart. Those are definitely words that describe fallen man.

One last point to consider again comes from Genesis 6:4. It says that the Nephilim were on the earth in those days "and also afterward" which could indicate that the Nephilim is a word used to describe a category of people or a type of people. The men in Numbers may have simply been using a word they were familiar with from the writings of Moses or from spoken tradition to describe the people they saw on their exploration. A good example is how the Native Americans were mistakenly called "Indians" despite the fact that they are clearly not from India. This similar reasoning could have been used by the spies when they encountered the Amalekite people. And remember that the story in Numbers is more about describing the fear and lack of trust in God the spies were showing not the accuracy of their descriptions of the people they encountered. To call those people they encountered "Nephilim" and "descendants of Anak" is to give the people a point of reference they all could clearly understand. I hope this help answer your question.