Deuteronomy 2:10

10 (The Emim previously lived in it, a people large, numerous, and tall, like the Anakites.

Deuteronomy 2:10 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 2:10

The Emims dwelt there in time past
We read of them as early as the times of Chedorlaomer, ( Genesis 14:5 ) when their dwelling was in Kirjathaim, a city which Sihon king of the Amorites took from the Moabites, and which being taken from him, was with others given to the tribe of Reuben, ( Numbers 32:37 ) . These are by some thought to be the same with the Yemim which Anah found and met with in the wilderness, and defeated, which we render "mules", ( Genesis 36:24 ) . They had their name from the fear and terror they put men into because of their gigantic stature and great strength, as follows: it is probable they were the descendants of Ham:

a people great and many, and tall as the Anakims;
who were very numerous, of a very bulky size of body, and of high stature, like the giants the spies had seen at Hebron, the sons of Anak, a noted giant there, ( Numbers 13:22 Numbers 13:23 ) .

Deuteronomy 2:10 In-Context

8 And so we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, past the road of the Arabah, from Elath and Ezion Geber, and we turned and traveled along the route of the desert of Moab.

9 And Yahweh said to me, 'You shall not attack Moab, and you shall not engage in war with them, for I will not give you any of his land [as] a possession; I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot [as] a possession.'

10 (The Emim previously lived in it, a people large, numerous, and tall, like the Anakites.

11 They were reckoned also [as] Rephaim as the Anakites [were]; but the Moabites called them Emim.

12 The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them {from among themselves}, as Israel did with respect to the land of their possession that Yahweh gave to them.)

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "great" in the sense of influential