⁴ In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.

³³ We even saw giants^[a] there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

Battles against Philistine Giants

¹⁵ Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted. ¹⁶ Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants^[a]; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds,^[b] and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him. ¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

¹⁸ After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.

¹⁹ During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair^[c] from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath.^[d] The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!

²⁰ In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man^[e] with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants. ²¹ But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.^[f]

²² These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.

⁴ Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet^[a] tall!

¹¹ (King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide.^[a] It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

²⁰ (That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. ²¹ They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land.

² They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly.

⁴ Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”