(The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and
as tall as the Anakites. Like the
Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them
Emites. Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of
Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in
their place, just as Israel did in the land the Lord gave them as their
possession.) Deuteronomy 2:10-12
(That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live
there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. They were a
people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed them from before
the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place. The Lord had done the same for the
descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from
before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day. And as for the Avvites who
lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed
them and settled in their place.) Deuteronomy 2:20-23
Many
sets of “giants” are mentioned in the Bible.
·
Emites (aka Rephaites
or Zamzummites)
·
Anakites (Goliath was
a descendant)
·
Horites
·
Avvites
To the Jews this
nation of people looked to be giants.
They were strong, numerous and tall.
It doesn’t mean they were twenty foot giants, but in mass, a group of
six foot tall people can look intimidating.
The average height
of a Jew back then could have been in the five feet plus range so it wouldn’t
take much more height to scare them. These
“giants” were intimidating enough for the Jews to believe even God couldn’t
stop them.