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Continuing our discussion from part five, in the very next chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, we also find mention of Og -- the king of Bashan -- who is described by Moses as "the remnant of giants". In this particular case, the word "giant" is derived from the Hebrew word "rapha", or "raphaim", which the Hebrew lexicon describes as "old race of giants". In this case, Moses adds that Bashan was called "the land of giants". Please also notice that, based on the verses which follow, Og appears to have been about the same height as Goliath:

"Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;) All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants."


Because of the similar phraseology in the previous two sets of verses, some Bible scholars have proposed that the giants of Bashan and the Zamzummims of Ammon may possibly have been the same race of giants. In fact, it's important to point out that in ancient times, different people referred to the same people and places by different names. We have already seen this in the case of Mamre, Arba and Hebron, which basically were all the very same city. Jerusalem likewise experienced the very same thing. While it was founded by Jebus, and thus was named Jebus/Jebusi in ancient times, once the Israelites took it over, they gave it the new name of Jerusalem, as we see by the following verses:

"And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:"


"And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel,"


It should also be recognized that this custom of renaming places is a political ploy which has been used down through the ages by many conquering armies. Not only do name changes send a strong political message that "We now control this place", but it is also a subtle way to destroy any evidence or record of the previous occupant who was defeated. Truly then, history is written by the victor.

This renaming of people and places can sometimes make it a bit difficult for the modern Bible student to understand what is being said. In fact, this is why scientists have designed a system whereby flora and fauna are designated by their Latin names. In this way, everyone knows without a doubt which species one is referring to.

At any rate, if we examine chapter fourteen of the Book of Genesis, we discover that some of the exact same races of giants appear to be mentioned there. We are told that during those ancient days -- which was actually the time of Abraham and the early Patriarchs -- a powerful Babylonian king from the province of Elam by the name of Chedorlaomer, along with a confederacy of other Babylonian kings -- Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, and Tidal king of nations -- smote the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the Emims and the Horites. Consider the following verses:

"And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness."


If we examine the Hebrew root, we discover that the Raphaim and the Rephaim are the same race of giants. Furthermore, The cave-dwelling Horims and the Horites were likewise the very same people. If there were true cavemen in our ancient past, surely it was the Horites. Not only did they live in caves, but they were descended from Seir -- after whom Mount Seir is named -- whose name actually means hairy or shaggy. What I also find interesting is the fact that the Horites were driven out of Mount Seir by Esau -- Jacob's brother -- who is also described in the Bible as being very hairy. In fact, the name Esau means "hairy" in Hebrew. Consider this verse:

"And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau."


You may recall that when Jacob went in to deceive his aging and almost-blind father, Isaac, into thinking that he was Esau, so that Isaac would give him Esau's inheritance as the firstborn, following his mother Rebekah's instructions, Jacob placed goat skins on his hands and neck, so that when Isaac touched him, he would think that Jacob was Esau. Here again are the verses:

"And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am."


So with the account of the Horites, we have certainly seen a story of hairy, cave-dwelling men in the Old Testament. Did they grunt and crawl around like wild animals as cavemen are often depicted in our modern day? I seriously doubt it. Like us, they were created in God's image with a certain level of intelligence.

Whether or not the Zamzummims of Ammon and the Zuzims of Ham are the same race of giants is debatable, being as there are a variety of theories regarding the actual location of Ham. Personally, I suspect that they are the same race of giants, simply because Moses lists them with three other races of verified giants. The Emims were clearly giants as well, as can be determined by the following verses which are found in the Book of Deuteronomy. In fact, as you can see, in writing about the Emims, Moses describes them exactly the same way as he described the Zamzummims. In other words, they were great, many and tall:

"And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims."


Allow me to also add that "Emims" was a very suitable name for these monstrous giants; the reason being that the Hebrew word means "terrors". On the other hand, the name Zuzim means "roving creatures", which also isn't a very inviting name.

Earlier, we discussed the giant Og, king of Bashan, who was defeated by the Israelites. In discussing him, I noted that Bashan was known as "the land of giants", and that scholars believe that the Zamzummims of Ammon may have been the same race as the giants of Bashan. One possible reason why they believe this is because Ammon -- which now constitutes a part of modern Jordan -- was located to the northeast of Jerusalem and Judea, across the Jordan River. So was Bashan, the land of the giants.

One thing seems to be certain. The land of giants in ancient Israel is discussed in more places in the Bible than what one might at first assume. This is because in certain places, the Hebrew word "rapha" or "raphaim" is retained in its original form, while in other places, it is translated as "giants". I mentioned in part five that I suspect that more Philistines may have been giants as well. I base this reasoning on the following verses, which demonstrate that the Philistines had no problem camping out in the Valley of Raphaim, or Valley of the Giants, if you prefer. It is the same exact place. How were they able to do this unless they fit right in with the giants, and were possibly giants themselves?:

"And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:"


"And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel,"


"The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim . . . And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim."


"And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim."


"Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim."


"And the Philistines came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim."


"And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim."


Are the previous verses possibly another indication that the Philistines may have been direct descendants of the Anakim? Let's not forget that the Anakim giants were forced out of Hebron, which is located twenty miles south of Jerusalem, and then apparently migrated to the Mediterranean coastal cities, which included Goliath's hometown of Gath in the Gaza Strip.

At this point, let's take a quick review of the various races of giants that we have discussed in this series, along with their locations. They are as follows:

Anakim - Arba/Hebron
Avims - possibly giants, not enough data
Emims - Moab
Horims - possibly giants, though doubtful
Nephilim - pre-Flood period
Og - Bashan (Raphaim giants?)
Philistines - Goliath and family in Gath
Raphaim - Valley of the Giants, Bashan
Zamzummims - Ammon (a.k.a. Zuzims?)

As I explained earlier in this series, because of the fact that the giants were known to different people by different names, and because places in ancient Israel often changed names when they were conquered by someone else, a certain degree of ambiguity does exist, and it is rather difficult to know exactly how many different races of giants there actually were. However, regardless of whether they were all the same race, or belonged to various races, one thing is certain: They populated a rather large area that extended from east of the Jordan River, to the south of Jerusalem in Hebron, to the Mediterranean coastal cities of Philistia in the current-day Gaza Strip, and northward towards Ashdod.

According to the clear descriptions of Goliath and Og, and the description that was provided by the spies who were sent by Moses, we know that these giants stood approximately nine to eleven feet in height, that they were fierce warriors, and that they ate people. In light of these facts, is it really any wonder then that the Israelites initially shrank back in fear of them? Wouldn't you do the very same thing if you were to encounter such a beast today?

As I mentioned earlier in this series, for me personally, the most perplexing issue is whether or not there is a connection between the antediluvian Nephilim, and the giants which are discussed later in the Scriptures. One thing we should take into account, is that the person who wrote "there were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that", is the same one who wrote about the giants in later books and chapters. That is, Moses. Of course, we need to realize that Moses did not actually witness these antediluvian/pre-Flood events. He was writing about them after-the-fact, probably based on the oral accounts of the Patriarchs who had preceded him, such as Noah and his sons, and Abraham.

Being as all of these events occurred so long ago, we tend to forget that in the beginning, human beings lived a very long time; probably due to the lingering effects of the original Creation, before the full physical effects of sin set in, and men's lives began to be radically shortened. As a result, the lives of some of these Patriarchs overlapped and intersected each other.

For example, based on my calculations in "The Earth Is Under 7,000 Years Old", while the progenitor of humanity -- Adam -- died about one hundred and twenty-six years before Noah was born, Noah died only two years before the Patriarch Abraham was born. However, Noah's son, Shem, didn't die until Abraham was one hundred and fifty years old. Abraham's life extended well into the life of Isaac, Isaac's life extended well into the life of Jacob his son, and the lives of Jacob's twelve sons, and his grandchildren, -- which included Levi -- also intersected each other during their time in Egypt. Thus, we see that Moses -- who was a Levite -- was born about ninety years after Joseph died in Egypt.

My point in sharing all of this with you is simply this: It would have been very easy for Moses to eventually receive a very clear and accurate account of Pre-Flood conditions on the Earth, the arrival of the Fallen Angels, and the rise of the Nephilim giants; whether it was an account which had been written by others before him, or simply an oral account which had been passed down to him. Shem, Noah's son, was an actual eyewitness to all of these events, and he probably shared his experiences with Abraham, and perhaps with Isaac as well, who would have been fifty years old at the time that Shem died. So there was very little opportunity for corruption occurring in the Pre-Flood story, before it was received by Moses.

The solution to the antediluvian Nephilim Post-Flood giants problem may possibly be easier than we have assumed. It may be something so simple that we have overlooked it. While he wrote that there were giants "in those days; and also after that", perhaps our mistake has been to assume that Moses was referring to the same race of giants, when maybe he actually wasn't. As a recipient of the accounts of great giants which existed prior to the Flood, and as one who had likewise heard firsthand accounts of the existence of the giants from those who had spied out the land of Canaan, it's possible, perhaps even probable, that Moses was simply saying that "There were giants then, and there are still giants now", without ever intending for us to think that they were the very same race of giants.

In other words, as the author of the Pentateuch -- the first five books of the Bible -- Moses obviously realized that he could not write that, as a result of the sins of the Fallen Angels, the rise of the Nephilim and the violence that filled the Earth, God destroyed all land-based, air-breathing life, and then turn around and say in the same breath that some of the giants somehow managed to survive, as that would directly contradict his own words. That is why I am becoming convinced that the only contradiction lies in our understanding of what Moses wrote.

However, there are a few other reasons why I am beginning to think that the only contradiction is one which lies in our own understanding concerning what Moses wrote. Perhaps one of the most glaring reasons is the obvious difference in size of the antediluvian Nephilim and the Post-Flood giants. We have seen that -- according to the description that is found in the Book of Enoch -- the Nephilim were towering monsters with a veracious appetite who began to eat people when the natural resources of the Earth were no longer enough to sustain them. In contrast, while Moses does tell us that the giants of the land of Canaan likewise ate people, going by the descriptions of Goliath of Gath and Og of Bashan, these giants only stood about nine to eleven feet tall, which is obviously a far cry from the size of the antediluvian Nephilim, based on Enoch's description of them.

Furthermore, we are clearly told in the Book of Genesis, and in other Books of the Bible, as well as in the Book of Enoch and the Jerusalem Targum, that the Nephilim were the result of a hybridization of Angel DNA with human DNA. In contrast, there is no hint or suggestion anywhere in the Books of Moses or the Book of Joshua or any other Books where the giants are mentioned, that the giants of the Post-Flood period resulted from this same process. They were simply there and the Tribes of Israel, and other peoples, fought against and subdued them.

The fact that normal-sized humans with the anointing of God -- the Israelites -- and even people without the anointing of God -- Babylonian king Chedorlaomer, for example -- were able to drive out and in some cases destroy the Post-Flood giants, also seems to indicate that these giants were not the same as the towering Nephilim of Pre-Flood days. In fact, when Moses describes the giants in Genesis chapter six he says "the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown". In other words, these giants were still men; they were just very huge, powerful men -- they were the "ghibbowr" -- which means that they had their weaknesses, and could therefore be defeated by a wise and cunning opponent, just as a young David slew the towering Goliath. This was not the case with the antediluvian Nephilim, which required a direct action from God to destroy them.

Concerning the cause behind the great physical stature of the Post-Flood giants, let us consider a few other possibilities. Is it possible that the tremendous size of these Post-Flood Anakim, Raphaim, Zamzummims, and Emims was merely the result of some genetic aberration or mutation? If we consider that at least one of Goliath's sons had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, this seems like a very plausible theory. In fact, even in our own day, a genetic abnormality referred to as gigantism continues to afflict certain people.

Gigantism is believed to be caused by a tumor forming on the pituitary gland, which is a small endocrine gland, about the size of a pea, and weighing a mere 0.5 grams, that is located near the base of the hypothalamus, just above the brain stem. Despite its small size, when a tumor develops on the pituitary gland, it results in an overabundance of human growth hormone being produced which ultimately leads to gigantism. One of the more notable nineteenth century cases of gigantism involved a Canadian woman named Anna Haining Bates. While she was born to Scottish parents who were of normal stature, Anna eventually reached a height of seven feet and five and a half inches at the age of seventeen. Sadly, she died one day short of her forty-second birthday, due to heart failure.

According to online statistics, there have in fact been many people over the past two centuries -- some of whom are still alive today and others who are now deceased -- who have grown to a height of from seven feet to over eight feet. Among them are 7'3" Peter Mayhew, who played the Wookiee "Chewbacca" in the Star Wars movies, 7'1.5" Richard Kiel, who played "Jaws" in the James Bond movies, and 7' Dutch actor Carel Struycken, who played "Lurch" in the Addams Family movies, as well as notable roles in many other movies and television shows such as the Star Wars franchise, the Star Trek franchise, and the short-lived television series "Twin Peaks". You might also be interested to know that Struycken also played a role in the 2005 American made-for-TV movie "The Fallen Ones", the theme of which was the return of the Nephilim.

There are even some unverified claims of certain individuals surpassing the nine feet mark. You can find a list of these people at the following URL on the Wikipedia website:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_people

But gigantism is not the only possible explanation for the presence of giants in the Post-Flood world. In fact, it may not even be a very plausible explanation, unless you accept that all of the Post-Flood giants had brain tumors which resulted in their huge growth. It doesn't seem very likely to me.

As I mentioned earlier, prior to the Flood, human beings lived considerably longer than we live today. However, as a result of sin entering into the world, and the natural order and balance of life being thrown off kilter in a variety of ways, following the Flood, the human life span began to be radically shortened. Thus, while the progenitors of our race -- i.e., Adam, Methuselah, Noah, Shem and others -- lived to be five hundred to almost one thousand years old, by the time of Abraham, one hundred and seventy-five was a great age; and by the time of Moses, one hundred and twenty was considered a great age. Today, very few people live to that age; and when they do, they usually end up in the Guinness Book of World Records.

But, what if in addition to man's life being radically cut short, something else happened? That is, what if some other physical change occurred as well? In case you have not yet understood what I am suggesting here, allow me to state it plainly for you: What if in their natural, physical state, as created by God in the Garden of Eden, the First Pair was considerably larger in height than we are today? Even modern science recognizes that physical traits are passed on to our offspring; which means that Noah and his sons, and his son's wives, would have also been very tall in height, and would have had body measurements that were proportionate to that height.

Now, before you are too quick to dismiss this speculation, allow me to remind you of something that I shared with you in part two. When Biblical archeologist Ron Wyatt visited eastern Turkey in 1977, one of the things that he found was what appeared to be a huge stone altar that measured twelve feet by twelve feet by twelve feet. This great stone altar, which was surrounded by a type of natural amphitheater, had one large step which was almost three feet in height. Allow me to share with you an excerpt from a July 1994 newsletter written by Mary Nell Wyatt -- Ron Wyatt's widow -- entitled "The Discovery Of Noah's Ark", that is found on their website at arkdiscovery.com:

----- Begin Quote -----

"The altar itself measures 12' x 12' x 12' and it has one step. When we stood upon it, it was obvious that whoever stood upon this altar was quite a bit taller than we are, for the step is about three feet high. The complex of pens adjacent to the altar also indicates that whoever arranged the rocks in this pattern was very, very strong, because today many of the large rocks could not possibly be moved by humans without mechanical assistance. At one point, a very large boulder is balanced upon several upright stones, forming a covered area that a six foot tall man can walk under without stooping."

----- End Quote -----

Think about that fact for a moment. How big would a man have to be in order to comfortably use that step? How tall and strong would he have to be, especially if he was heaving a large sacrificial bullock on his shoulders? The answer seems clear in my mind: As large as the nine to eleven foot tall giants that were known to exist in Post-Flood days. That is why Ron Wyatt became convinced that Noah was a very big man.

Earlier in our series, I proposed that one of the reasons why God may have selected Noah and his family, is because their gene pool had not become corrupted by Angelic DNA, or by the mixed DNA of the Nephilim. In other words, Noah was exactly what God was looking for in order to preserve the human race. It may be that Noah was a genetically-perfect human specimen. Some of you may be wondering, "Well, if Noah was a just and righteous man who walked with God, and a genetically perfect human specimen, how is it then that the evil, violent giants resulted from his seed?"

While Noah was a just man who walked before God, that doesn't mean that all of his descendants were. In fact, God created Adam and Eve, yet in the first generation, Cain rose up and murdered his brother. Similarly today, one family can produce law-abiding citizens, yet at the same time produce murderers. The Bible makes it very plain that following the Great Flood, men did in fact turn evil again. Thus, I posit that it's very possible that some of Noah's descendants likewise turned evil and became the vicious, man-eating giants who were known to the Israelites and to other nations of that area of the world. In my view, this is a very plausible, acceptable explanation. However, I obviously cannot solidly prove it one way or the other.

According to my calculations in "The Earth Is Under 7,000 Years Old", the Flood occurred when the Earth was about 1,556 years old. Following the genealogical timelines, we discover that the spies went to Canaan when the Earth was about 2,539 years old. This means that from the time of the Flood, until just prior to the beginning of the conquest of Canaan, almost one thousand years had passed. As we've already seen, during this long period, as a result of sin and other biological and physical factors, the human life span dramatically shortened, so that Methuselah died at 969 years of age, while Moses died at 120 years old. Is it possible then that just as man's life span was shortened, his height and related body measurements were likewise reduced during that stretch of time?

If my theory is correct, and if the first humans were larger than we are today, not due to corruption by Angelic DNA, or by Nephilim DNA, and not due to a genetic abnormality such as gigantism, but rather because that is simply the way that God made the First Pair, then perhaps we have an easy solution to our problem concerning the Post-Flood giants, which does not contradict the account given by Moses, concerning the Flood and the destruction of all land-based, air-breathing life on the Earth. In other words, even though God destroyed all of the Nephilim during the Flood, we may still have a plausible explanation for the Post-Flood giants, which were not related to the Nephilim. This theory would easily explain why, by the time of the Canaan conquest, the number of existing giants had also been reduced as well.

Please go to part seven for the continuation of this series.

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