Deuteronomy 9:2
in Deuteronomy 9The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak?
KJV
A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!
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This verse in Deuteronomy 9
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis representation is much the same with that which the evil spies had made ( Num. xiii. 28, 33 ), but made with a very different intention: that was designed to drive them from God and to discourage their hope in him; this to drive them to God and to engage their hope in him, since no power less than that which is almighty could secure and prosper them.
This site's exposition
Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan
on Deuteronomy 9:1-3
Hear, O Israel opens four passages in this book, at 5:1, 6:4, here and 20:3, and each one introduces something the people are to take as settled. The cities fenced up to heaven and the children of the Anakims are the evil report of the spies at Numbers 13:28 and 13:33 given back almost in their own terms, with the opposite conclusion drawn from it. Verse 3 supplies that conclusion: the consuming fire of 4:24, which stood over Israel there, goes over Jordan in front of them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A people great and tall,....
He cautions them not to attribute their successes to their own merit, but to God's justice, which was engaged against their enemies, and his faithfulness, which was engaged to their fathers,
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַֽם־ | ʾam- | a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| גָּד֥וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וָרָ֖ם | varam | and lofty | H7311 → | 190 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֲנָקִ֑ים | ʾanakim | [the] Anakites | H6062 → | 9 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתָּ֤ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ | yada'ta | you know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| וְאַתָּ֣ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| שָׁמַ֔עְתָּ | shama'ta | you have heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| מִ֣י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יִתְיַצֵּ֔ב | yityatzev | will he stand | H3320 → | 48 times |
| לִפְנֵ֖י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֲנָֽק׃ | ʾanak | Anak | H6061 → |
עַֽם־a people
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
גָּד֥וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
וָרָ֖םand lofty
varamH7311 →190 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] descendants of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עֲנָקִ֑ים[the] Anakites
ʾanakimH6062 →9 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אַתָּ֤הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
יָדַ֙עְתָּ֙you know
yada'taH3045 →945 times
וְאַתָּ֣הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
שָׁמַ֔עְתָּyou have heard
shama'taH8085 →1159 times
מִ֣יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יִתְיַצֵּ֔בwill he stand
yityatzevH3320 →48 times
לִפְנֵ֖י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] descendants of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עֲנָֽק׃Anak
ʾanakH6061 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 13:33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 6:4
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of…
- Isaiah 40:22
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Through
Nahum 1:6Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:10
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
- Malachi 3:2
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Jeremiah 10:10
Through
Deuteronomy 7:24He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
it leads to
- Joshua 10:8
The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have delivered them into your hand. Not one of them shall stand against you.”
- Joshua 23:9
The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and to this day no one can stand against you.
- Joshua 10:8
Through
Numbers 13:28Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:1–2
Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.
- Deuteronomy 9:1–2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.