GIANTS IN THE BIBLE. - Gen. 6:4 recalls the
nēphilim, antediluvians, perhaps distinct from the "heroes" born
of Sethites and Cainites. In Bar. 3:26-28; Sir. 16:7;
Wis. 14:6 (γίγαντες) their proud
violence and their iniquitous earthly prudence are described. This is what
the Hebrew nēphilim expresses, from nāphal, in the sense of
"to fall upon someone," to attack with impetuosity (cf.
Aquila ἐπιπέτοντες, Symmachus βιαῖοι).
The Greek version (Septuagint) has γίγαντες, which
means precisely "strong, vigorous, violent" (Aeschylus,
Agam., 692). The ancient cosmogonies placed at the
beginnings of humanity a race of giants, of extraordinary stature and strength,
builders of cities, inventors of weapons, born of celestial beings united with mortals. Their memory remained
in the popular imagination. Thus the explorers, in their exaggerated and defeatist report, will speak of the
nēphilim seen in Canaan (Num. 13:33), in comparison with whom
they were locusts (cf. the irony of Deut. 9:2 on that
report).
Jewish tradition considers as a race of "giants": 1) the
Anakim (Num. 13:13, 28; Deut. 1:28; 2:10 f., 21;
9:25), who inhabited the mountains of Judah, Hebron,
Dabir, Anab, defeated and destroyed by Joshua and reduced
thereafter to Gaza, Gath, Ashdod (Josh. 11:21 f.). Perhaps Goliath
was one of their descendants (1 Sam. 17:4; cf. 2 Sam. 21:
15-22). The term ἀπάξ = "man of long neck"
(Moore) became the name of their stock (Fernandez).
2) The Rephaim, inhabitants chiefly of Trans-jordan; the Emim of Moab, the Zuzim and Zomzommim
of Ammon (Deut. 2:10 f., 20 f.). They were warlike
and fierce men, of stature taller than that of the Hebrews.
In Deut. 3:11 the grandeur of the basalt sarcophagus
(ca. 4.50 x 2 m.) of Og, king of Bashan, not of his "bed
of iron" (Vulg.), says nothing of Og's actual stature.
Modern scholars agree in attributing in large part to
popular imagination these biblical references concerning
the "giants" who inhabited Canaan. Certainly the megalithic
monuments: dolmens, cromlechs... testify to the existence of a
race endowed with extraordinary strength; they are the tribes of the
Neolithic age encountered in Canaan by the Semitic
invasions, whose remnants the Hebrews defeated and destroyed.
Bibliography7 works
Francesco Spadafora