Deuteronomy 2:20

20 (It also is usually reckoned as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly inhabited it, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,

Deuteronomy 2:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 2:20

That also was accounted a land of giants
Ammon was so reckoned as well as Moab, ( Deuteronomy 2:10 Deuteronomy 2:11 )

giants dwelt therein in old time;
the Rephaim dwelt there, as they did also in Ashteroth Karnaim, ( Genesis 14:5 )

and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;
they are thought to be the same with the Zuzims in ( Genesis 14:5 ) who had their name, as Hillerus ^F3 thinks, from Mezuzah, a door post, from their tall stature, being as high as one; and for a like reason Saph the giant might have his name, ( 2 Samuel 21:18 ) . The word Zamzummims, according to him ^F4, signifies contrivers of evil and terrible things; they were inventors of wickedness, crafty and subtle in forming wicked and mischievous designs, which struck terror into people, and made them formidable to them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 158, 288, 289.
F4 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 161, 310, 428.

Deuteronomy 2:20 In-Context

18 "Today you are going to cross the boundary of Moab at Ar.

19 When you approach the frontier of the Ammonites, do not harass them or engage them in battle, for I will not give the land of the Ammonites to you as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot."

20 (It also is usually reckoned as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly inhabited it, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,

21 a strong and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites so that they could dispossess them and settle in their place.

22 He did the same for the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, by destroying the Horim before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their place even to this day.