These verses explain that a group of giants known as Zamzummim had lived in the land of Ammon, “a land of giants.” God destroyed the Zamzummim so that the descendants of Lot’s son Ben-Ammi (the Ammonites) could live in the land ( Genesis 19:38). But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place ( Deuteronomy 2:20–21). But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. was also regarded as a land of giants giants formerly dwelt there. The Zamzummim (almost certainly the same as Zuzim in Genesis 14:5) were also called giants and listed in the same chapter as the Emim: Moses told the people that the Emim used to live in the territory that God had given to the descendants of Lot’s son Moab ( Genesis 19:37). They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim ( Deuteronomy 2:10–11). The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. 3 The Emimĭeuteronomy 2 reveals that the Emim, which likely means “terrors,” were giants: It is telling that in their response, Joshua and Caleb did not challenge the size of the land’s inhabitants ( Numbers 14:6–9). The Amorites were one of the people groups they saw ( Numbers 13:29), and they claimed that “ all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature” ( Numbers 13:32).

The idea that the Amorites were giants is supported by the report of the spies whom Moses sent through the land of Canaan. Some may downplay the description of the Amorites in this passage, since these verses employ figurative language, but there are some good reasons to take this passage in a straightforward manner. Through Amos, God clearly stated that the Amorites were generally very tall and strong. Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite ( Amos 2:9–10). Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. 1 While the Amorites are mentioned in the same contexts as other giants a few times, they are specifically described as giants in the Minor Prophets. Although the Bible does not provide this information, the Jewish general-turned-historian Josephus gives the name of their ancestor as Amorreus. They were descendants of Noah’s grandson Canaan ( Genesis 10:15–16). The Amorites are mentioned more than 80 times in Scripture, and early on, some were allied with Abraham ( Genesis 14:13). Genesis 14 does not reveal that the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, or Amorites were giants, but this information can be found in other places. Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar ( Genesis 14:5–7, emphasis added). In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain of Seir. One of the earliest mentions of giants in the Bible is found in Genesis 14. The article concludes with a study of how big these people could have been based on what we currently understand about genetics and biology. Next, some ancient records and archaeological data that corroborate some of the biblical data will be examined. This article surveys all of the individuals and people groups described as giants in Scripture. So did these giants really exist? If so, how big were they? Also, a great deal of misinformation about giants in the Bible has been proliferated on the Internet along with some fake pictures of supposed giants. Interpreters have speculated about the size of these people with guesses ranging anywhere from 6 feet to more than 30 feet in height. The Bible describes many individuals as giants, and it also mentions several giant people groups.

Compare heights of giant characters