Devarim (Part 4) - Deut. 1:1-3:22

GIANTS!

The author of the introductory portion of Deuteronomy loved giants, and mentions them more than any other place in the Torah. Not only are there giants, but there are several different kinds of giants. These giants have nations, and a  social structure. And while the Book of Genesis mentions Rephaim, and they were not considered to be giants by the Canaanite texts, the Deuteronomist puts all that to bed, telling us, yes, they were giants too.

Giants, giants, everywhere!

The Hebrew word for giant is "anak", and the plural is "anakim".  

One could read this verse as the there were giants in the land, and the Rephaim were also accounted for, meaning, perhaps the Rephaim were not so gigantic.but verse 21 tells us that they were tall, like the anakim.

In any case, the Deuteronomist lived giants, many different kinds, creatures that were huge.

But how huge did the writers imagine that they were?

In Numbers 13:33, the text compared the men to the Nephillim (who also became giants) akin to comparing men to grasshoppers. Some calculate that to be 30 feet or more. And others, the more rational ones, consider that verse to be simply hyperbole, an expression by people panicking. Although, they are never corrected.

The Deuteronomist, in order to be more exacting gives us the dimensions of a bed, whose frame was made of iron, that their king had (3:11), which was 9 cubits by 4 cubits.

Several things that stand out here.

1. The frame is made of iron, which indicates something of great weight is needed to be supported.
2. The description is an anachronism given that furniture with iron frames in the bronze age did not exist. Yes, they could fashion a meteorite into a tool if it did not need much modification. But a bed frame? 
3. A cubit is considered to be about half a meter long. So the dimensions of this bed were about 4.5x2 meters, or about 6.5 feet wide, and about 14.5 feet long.

That's rather disappointing, but it is still beyond the range of anyone that we have ever seen.

So was Og, the King of Bashan who was one of the Rephaim, a true giant? They were with the giants, like the giants, and tall like the giants.

So let's call them giants.

Chapters 2-3 of Deuteronomy is obsessed with giants, the cities of giants, and their tall walls and doors that they had to get through.  It's a fun read of the text.

The Rationalists

Then you have those who read the Torah as actual history and have a problem with giants. They will either try to shrink down the size of a cubit, which causes a lot of problems with the Noah's Ark story, or will dismiss the size of Og's bed ad being relevant and reduce the Deuteronomy giants to half their size, say 7-8 feet tall.

The Irrationalists

And you have those who read the Torah as actual history. Period. And if you Google GIANT SKELETON, you will find a lot of photoshopped and falsified pictures that "prove" that ancient giants exists.

The Literaryists

And then, you have those, like myself, who read the story as it was likely intended: a bit of fun entertainment about and impossibly large number of men attacking and defeating many impossibly large beings with the help of their prophet and his Supernatural companion.