Yup, Giants! 1 Sam 17
There is interesting background to the David and Goliath story that I’ve become aware of over the last year. It’s probably going to be strange if you haven’t heard this before, but in order to understand the Biblical writers this seems like an important piece to understand. It’s right in front of our eyes when we read the Scriptures, but we often read over it without paying much attention to it. … What I’m referring to are giants.
In Genesis chapter 6, just before the flood, we read about the Nephilim (6:4). Some Bible translations will translate that word to say “giants”.[1] They are said to be the product of spirit-beings called “sons of God” and human women.
Fast forward to when the Hebrews are rescued from slavery in Egypt and are led by Moses to the Promised Land. They send scouts ahead of them. The scouts come and report that they saw the descendants of Anak there, who are described as coming from the Nephilim (Numbers 13:28-29, 33). These giant tribes are described as living in the hill country of the Promised Land. The scouts reported back to the people saying that, by comparison, they seemed like grasshoppers (Num 13:33). It was fear of these giants that caused the Hebrews to not want to enter the land, which led to them wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.
One of the most difficult parts of the Bible for modern people to digest is the Hebrews entering the Promised Land and going to war with the people who live there.
As an aside, we should be careful to note that this was a very localized event- it is about a specific time and place. This event doesn’t give us blanket permission to go to war in God’s name. Paul tells us that we don’t battle against flesh and blood. We are called to battle in the realms of ideas and spirit (Eph 6:12).
Joshua took over from Moses to lead the people into the Promised Land, after their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Under Joshua they again encountered these giants, and are given some hard commands. It seems like the command allows for some peoples to be driven out of the land (or possibly to join them and become Israelites). Others were to be destroyed. This is seen as a form of God’s judgement on those communities. The giant tribes in the hill country were specifically targeted for a very thorough destruction.[2] There are a number of giant tribes in the land. These are the children of Anak, or the Anakim, who are said to be from the Nephalim (Num 13:22, 28, 33).
According to the Old Testament Scholar Stephen de Young,
“Like the English word ‘giant’ this is often a reference to physical size, but it is important to note that it can also be used to describe a tyrant, or what we in modern times would call a bully or a thug. It includes both size and demeanor”.[3]
De Young also describes giant tribes as being connected to rituals like child sacrifice, cannibalism, and temple prostitution.[4]
The authors of Scripture believed that their large size was connected to their supernatural origin. Essentially, they were thought to be demonized people- they weren’t really human. There were spiritual entities that were entangled with these peoples that made them who they were. So, you couldn’t do an exorcism on them because they were, kind of, a type of demon. … This is likely drawing from Sumerian traditions. They believed that some of their kings were 2/3rds apkallu (which was a kind of spiritual being that De Young would say biblical writers would come to consider demons). These people were believed to have a kind of mixed human and spirit-being origin.
This seems really strange to us, I know, but this is something that was believed in the Middle East at the time. This is a part of the way the biblical writers saw the world. And part of reading the bible well means trying to understand their way of thinking. According to Stephen de Young, these texts
The authors of Scripture believed that their large size was connected to their supernatural origin. Essentially, they were thought to be demonized people- they weren’t really human. There were spiritual entities that were entangled with these peoples that made them who they were. So, you couldn’t do an exorcism on them because they were, kind of, a type of demon. … This is likely drawing from Sumerian traditions. They believed that some of their kings were 2/3rds apkallu (which was a kind of spiritual being that De Young would say biblical writers would come to consider demons). These people were believed to have a kind of mixed human and spirit-being origin.
This seems really strange to us, I know, but this is something that was believed in the Middle East at the time. This is a part of the way the biblical writers saw the world. And part of reading the bible well means trying to understand their way of thinking. According to Stephen de Young, these texts
“do not describe a ‘holy war’, or a genocide directed at a particular ethnicity of human beings, but of a war waged by the worshippers of Yahweh, the God of Israel, against his spiritual enemies, demonic powers that had come to dominate the region of Canaan and the Transjordan. It is important to remember, as we read these texts as modern people, that ancient peoples did not have a concept of a secular space. People, places, and even objects were not spiritually neutral. People, places, and objects either existed within a sphere which had been consecrated to Yahweh, the God of Israel, or they existed outside of that space, under the control of dark spiritual powers”.[5]
When we read about Joshua leading battles against the peoples in the Promised Land, victory for Joshua means there is no more Anakim alive in the land (Josh 11:21-23). Victory means that the giant tribes have been dealt with. When we look at the book of Judges there are other people groups living in the land alongside the Hebrew tribes after the army of Joshua goes through, so it seems that the central mission was to defeat these giant tribes, who were spiritual powers in rebellion against God.
In the book of Joshua, we read that some members of the giant tribes escaped into Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod (Josh 11:22). These are Philistine cities. Goliath is said to be from Gath, though he isn’t the only giant David is going to encounter as he enters into leadership.[6]
Goliath’s measurements are the only time we get a measurement of the giants in the Bible. … A number of ancient texts have helped Bible scholars to give us our Bible. Sometimes there are differences in the texts, and that shouldn’t cause us alarm. God uses these texts to give us what we need for our spiritual development, and scholars do a good job of gathering these for us, selecting the most reliable reading, and putting any significant differences they see into the footnotes. A word of difference here and there doesn’t change the meaning. An example of this can be seen when we look at the height of Goliath. For example, there is a Hebrew Text called the Masoretic text (from around the 9th century AD) that places Goliath at around 9 ft, 9 inches (1 Sam 17:4). And when we look at the Dead Sea Scrolls text (3rd C BC), which are quite a bit older, it has Goliath at around 6’6”. The Greek version of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint (LXX- 3rd C BC), which dates to around the same time, also places Goliath’s height at around 6’6”. The Old Testament scholar Michael Heiser says,
“Archaeological work across the ancient near east confirms that six and one-half feet tall was, by the standards of the day, a giant. One scholar of Israelite culture notes that the average height of an ancient Israelite in the patriarchal period was around five feet”.[7]
This is the background to the David and Goliath story. Goliath, from Gath, a descendent of these giants who escaped Joshua’s army when they came into the land is now mocking the army of Israel. He stands 6’6” tall over an army of 5 foot tall individuals. Goliath represents these ancient demonized and cannibalistic giant tribes. And the army of Israel stands frightened at the sight of him and his challenge, just as their ancestors were terrified to enter the land and face the children of Anak, the Anakim. David, as the new Joshua, expresses his faith that God will help him defeat the giant. David, in facing Goliath, is continuing the work of Joshua, to defeat the giants and remove them from the land. This isn’t the only time David will face the descendants of the giants. This will be part of his calling. In addition to unifying the people of Israel under one kingdom, David is to lead his people to defeat the giants who escaped to Philistine lands. This face off with Goliath is the beginning of that mission.
It’s interesting to hear Jesus’ question from our Gospel reading against this background. The Hebrew people are too afraid to enter the land. The Israelite army is too afraid to fight Goliath. And when facing the storm, the disciples are afraid they are going to die. Jesus calms the storm and asks them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Maybe the question is about more than the disciples in the boat. Following God will lead us into situations where we will face trouble. Jesus promises as much. In John 16:33 Jesus says,
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
The promise is that peace is available to us as we face trouble. We aren’t promised a life free from trouble. We sometimes buy into the “prosperity gospel” that says if we are faithful enough, we won’t have to face trouble. That is not what Jesus teaches us. That is not what the lives of the disciples show us. In our reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians Paul describes the trouble he and his companions have endured in service to the gospel-
“through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” (2 Cor 6:4-5).Christ calls us to live in this world as his people, and that will make us enemies of other spiritual powers and ideas. We will face our own symbolic giants. We will face trouble. But we are promised that there is peace available to us. David knew he wasn’t alone facing Goliath. Jesus wanted the disciples to know that they were in the storm WITH Jesus. And we are encouraged to grab hold of the peace Jesus has promised is available to us as we face our own trouble.
[1] This is what the LXX does
[2] “A careful reading
of the text reveals that those places where total destruction is mandated are
the places in which the ‘Anakim’ dwell, while those where ‘Anakim’ have not
been cited are spared total annihilation. This is made especially clear by the
summary of Joshua’s conquest in Joshua 11, which culminates with the statement
that the mission has been accomplished because Joshua had cut off all the
‘Anakim’ from the land and had devoted their cities to destruction (v.
21). We are told in verse 22 that the only ‘Anakim’ who survived judgment
at the hands of Israel had done so by fleeing to three Philistine cities, Gaza,
Gath, and Ashdod. ” https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/wholecounsel/2018/10/09/here-there-be-giants/
[3] https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/wholecounsel/2018/10/09/here-there-be-giants/
[4] https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/lordofspirits/land_of_giants
[5] https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/wholecounsel/2018/10/09/here-there-be-giants/
[6] Though
2 Sam 21 describe the defeat of a number of other giants.
[7]
Michael Heiser, Unseen Realm p.212
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