They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,
Parallel translations
- WEB a great people, many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place;
- KJV A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:
- NKJV a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place,
- NASB a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
- NLT They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Zamzummim were a great and tall people like the Anakim, but God destroyed them so the Ammonites could possess their land. God's hand directed even this displacement.
Overview
This note attributes the Ammonites' dispossession of the giant Zamzummim directly to God, who 'destroyed them before them.' It underscores that the rise and fall of nations is governed by God's sovereign hand, not merely human strength. By showing God enabling even Ammon to overcome giants, the text strengthens Israel's confidence that God can do the same for them. All history bends to the purposes of the God who reigns, fulfilled in Christ's universal lordship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 1:28Where 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 the descendants of the Anakim there.’”
- Deut 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
- Deut 2:10–11(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.
- Jer 27:7–8All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
- Hab 1:10–11They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
- Judg 11:24Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
- Deut 2:22just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 2:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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