Deuteronomy 9:2

2 a people great and tall, the 'Anakim, whom you know about and of whom you have heard it said, 'Who can stand before the descendants of 'Anak?'

Deuteronomy 9:2 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:2

A people great and tall
Of a large bulky size, and of an high stature, so that the spies seemed to be as grasshoppers to them, ( Numbers 13:33 ) ,

the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest;
by report, having had an account of them by the spies, who described them as very large bodied men, and of a gigantic stature, the descendants of one Anak, a giant; and so the Targum of Jonathan,

``a people strong and high like the giants;''

from these Bene Anak, children of Anak, or Phene Anak, as the words might be pronounced, the initial letter of the first word being of the same sound, Bochart ^F26 thinks the country had its name of Phoenicia:

and of whom thou hast heard say, who can stand before the children, of
Anak?
or the children of the giants, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; which they had heard either from the spies who had suggested the same, ( Numbers 13:31 ) or as a common proverb in the mouths of most people in those days.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Canaan, l. 1. c. 1. col. 346.

Deuteronomy 9:2 In-Context

1 "Listen, Isra'el! You are to cross the Yarden today, to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities fortified up to the sky;

2 a people great and tall, the 'Anakim, whom you know about and of whom you have heard it said, 'Who can stand before the descendants of 'Anak?'

3 Therefore understand today that ADONAI your God will himself cross ahead of you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them and bring them down before you. Thus will you drive them out and cause them to perish quickly, as ADONAI has said to you.

4 "Don't think to yourself, after your God has pushed them out ahead of you, 'It is to reward my righteousness that ADONAI has brought me in to take possession of this land.' No, it is because these nations have been so wicked that ADONAI is driving them out ahead of you.

5 It is not because of your righteousness, or because your heart is so upright, that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that ADONAI your God is driving them out ahead of you, and also to confirm the word which ADONAI swore to your ancestors, Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov.