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--color-end: var(--bgcolor-content-end);" ><div class="content"> <div class="label gradient-to-tr" style="--color-start: #96445a; --color-end: #6f637e;">Question</div> <div class="sponsor-sidebar"><div class="desktop-show" align="center"><div class="adManager-placeholder"></div></div></div> <h1><span itemprop="name headline" property="og:title">Who were the Anakim / Anakites?</span></h1> <div class="actions-wrap"><div class="actions"> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="INTL/Anakim.html" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'intl'});"><img src="img/translate-icon.svg" alt="translate"></a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://printer.gotquestions.net/GeneratePF?articleId=2903" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'print'});"><img src="img/print.svg" class="questionInteract" alt="Anakim, Anakites"></a> <span class="audio-icon"><img src="img/volume.svg" alt="audio" class="questionInteract"><audio controls preload="none" style="width:300px;height:25px"><source src="audio/Anakim.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></audio></span> </div></div> <div itemprop="articleBody"> <div class="label gradient-to-tr" style="--color-start: #29a699; --color-end: #749c5a;">Answer</div><br><br> The Anakim/Anakites were a formidable race of giant, warlike people (Deuteronomy 2:10, 21; 9:2) who occupied the lands of southern Israel near Hebron before the arrival of the Israelites (Joshua 15:13). The Anakim’s ancestry has been traced back to Anak, the son of Arba (Joshua 15:13; 21:11), who at that time was regarded as the “greatest man among the Anakim” (Joshua 14:15). <br><br> The name “Anakim” most likely means “long-necked,” i.e., “tall.” The Hebrews thought them to be descendants of the Nephilim, a powerful race who dominated the pre-Flood world (Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33). When the twelve Israelite spies returned from exploring the Promised Land, they gave a frightening report of “people great and tall” whom they identified as the sons of Anak (Deuteronomy 9:2). The Israelites, seized with fear and believing themselves to be mere “grasshoppers . . . in their sight” (Numbers 13:33), rebelled against God (Deuteronomy 1:26-28) and refused to enter the land God had promised them.<br><br> The Israelites were exhorted by Moses (Deuteronomy 1:19) not to fear the Anakim, but they refused to trust God’s promises (Deuteronomy 1:32-33). As a result, God became angry (Deuteronomy 1:34-39) and prohibited the “evil generation” from entering the Promised Land; Joshua and Caleb were the only exceptions (Deuteronomy 1:35-36). Because of their fear of the Anakim and their rebellion against God, the children of Israel were forced to wander for another 38 years in the wilderness.<br><br> During the conquest of Canaan, Joshua expelled the Anakim from the hill country, and Caleb finally drove them out of Hebron completely. However, a small remnant found refuge in the cities of <a href="Gaza-in-the-Bible.html">Gaza</a>, <a href="Gath-in-the-Bible.html">Gath</a>, and <a href="Ashdod-in-the-Bible.html">Ashdod</a> (Joshua 11:22). Many Bible scholars speculate that the Anakim’s descendants were the Philistine giants David encountered (2 Samuel 21:15-22), including Goliath of Gath (1 Samuel 17:4-7).<br><br> </div> <section class="homepage-sponsor desktop-hide"> <div class="desktop-hide" align="center"><div class="adManager-placeholder-mobile"></div></div> </section> <div class="related resources"><h4>For Further Study</h4> <a target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'amazon'});" href="https://amzn.to/3XXF14B">The Quest Study Bible</a><br><br> <a target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'logos'});" href="https://www.logos.com/?utm_campaign=logossubxlaunch-phase1&utm_source=gotquestions&utm_medium=advertising_display&utm_content=logossubxlaunch-phase1-gtlink">More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free!</a> </div> <div class="related topics"><h4>Related Articles</h4> <a href="Nephilim.html">Who / what were the Nephilim?</a><br><br> <a href="sons-of-God.html">Who were the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6:1-4?</a><br><br> <a href="Nephilim-demons.html">Are the demons the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim?</a><br><br> <a href="Rephaim.html">Who were the Rephaim?</a><br><br> <a href="alien-deception.html">Could an alien deception be part of the end times?</a> </div> <center><strong class="return">Return to:<br><br> <a class="button-link box-shadow" href="questions_miscellaneous-Bible.html">Miscellaneous Bible Questions</a><br><br> Who were the Anakim / Anakites?</strong></center> </div> </section> <section class="subscribe gradient-to-br" style="--color-start: #153c59; --color-end: #1b537c"> <div class="grid"> <div class="gradient-to-br box-shadow" style="--color-start: #2c6482; --color-end: #64547b"> <h5>Subscribe to the</h5> <h3>Question of the Week</h3> <p>Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox!</p> <iframe src="scommon/qotw.htm" title="question of the week" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%"></iframe> </div></div> </section> </main> <footer-element></footer-element> <center> <div itemprop="dateModified" content="2022-11-09">This page last updated: November 9, 2022</div></center> <script src="scripts-2025.js"></script> <div style="display: none;" itemprop="publisher" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization"><meta itemprop="name" content="GotQuestions.org"><div itemprop="logo" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img src="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/GQlogo.png"><meta itemprop="url" content="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/GQlogo.png"><meta itemprop="width" content="400"><meta itemprop="height" content="79"> </div></div> </body> </html>