Deuteronomy 2:20

20 (That land was also thought to be a land of the Rephaites, because those people used to live there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

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 will pass by Ar, on the border of Moab.

19 When you come near the people of Ammon, don't bother them or go to war against them, because I will not give you any of their land as your own. I have given it to the descendants of Lot for their own."

20 (That land was also thought to be a land of the Rephaites, because those people used to live there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

21 They were strong people, and there were many of them; they were very tall, like the Anakites. The Lord destroyed the Zamzummites, and the Ammonites forced them out of the land and took their place.

22 The Lord did the same thing for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Edom, when he destroyed the Horites. The Edomites forced them out of the land and took their place, and they live there to this day.