| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
They dwelt in the south of Palestine, in the neighbourhood of
Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). In the days of Abraham (Gen.14:5, 6) they inhabited the region afterwards known as Edom and Moab, east of the Jordan. They were probably a remnant of the original inhabitants of Palestine before the Canaanites, a
Cushite tribe from Babel, and of the same race as the Phoenicians and the Egyptian shepherd kings . Their formidablewarlike appearance, as described by the spies sent to search the land, filled the Israelites with terror. They seem to have identified them with the Nephilim, the "giants" (Gen. 6:4; Num. 13:33) of the antediluvian age. There were various tribes of Anakim (Josh. 15:14). Joshua finally expelled them from the land, except a remnant that found a refuge in the cities of
Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod (Josh. 11:22). The Philistine giants whom David encountered (2 Sam. 21:15-22) were descendants of theAnakim. (See Giants .)
See also Nephilim (Bible)For other meanings of Nephilim, see: Nephilim (disambiguation). Nephilim (in Hebrew #x05d4;נּפ means The Fallen [ones are mentioned in the the Hebrew Bible. The word is loosely translated as giants or titans in some Bibles and left untranslate.
This entry incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897, with some modernisation.
Torah people