Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 9:2
The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses speaks to Israel at the threshold of the Jordan, addressing the nation moments before they enter the land to dispossess stronger nations. He highlights the Anakim to ground their upcoming campaign in a known reality.
The words — גָּד֥וֹל (ga.Dol) renders as "great" or "strong," denoting the Anakim's formidable size and military capacity. עֲנָקִ֑ים ('a.na.Kim) identifies the specific clan whose reputation for height and power precedes them.
The thread — The Anakim are recorded again in Numbers 13:22 and Numbers 13:28 as the same fortified, strong inhabitants of the land. The motif of "standing" before an opponent mirrors Exodus 9:11, where physical inability to stand signals divine supremacy.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to confront the factual weight of enemy strength without allowing it to dictate strategy. It forces a pivot from human assessment to the explicit promise that God will act as a consuming fire ahead of the advance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!
Cross-references
- Numbers 13:22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
- Exodus 9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and on all the Egyptians.
- Numbers 13:28 Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.
- Numbers 13:33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
- Deuteronomy 2:11 Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.
- Deuteronomy 2:21 They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,
- Deuteronomy 7:24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
- Job 11:10 If He comes along to imprison you, or convenes a court, who can stop Him?
- Daniel 8:4 I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.
- Daniel 11:16 The invader will do as he pleases, and no one will stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.