Giants in the Land

Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 20-22; Psalm 6

“And there was again war with the Philistines... And Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite... And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot… And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, struck him down.”
– 1 Chronicles 20:4–7

We meet them in the shadowy edges of the biblical story—giant warriors from Philistine cities like Gath. Goliath is the most famous, but he had brothers. One had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. These are the last flickers of something much older.

Where did they come from?

Genesis 6:4 says “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward.” That phrase “and also afterward” has puzzled readers for centuries. The Nephilim were among the reasons for the judgment of the Flood. If God wiped out humanity to purge this corruption, how could giants return?

Some suggest their line survived through Noah’s family—perhaps through one of the wives on the Ark. But Scripture calls Noah “blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9), and nothing in the text suggests God allowed corruption to slip past judgment.

Others—especially in early Jewish writings—believed there was a second “incursion” after the Flood. That the mysterious “sons of God” once again transgressed the boundary between heaven and earth. It’s speculative, but not unbiblical. Scripture hints. It doesn't explain.

Are these giants just metaphors for dangerous enemies? Or are they literal? Scripture seems to present them as real people. Real battles. Real victories. 1 Chronicles is a history book, not a myth.

The Bible doesn’t answer every curiosity—but it leaves the door open. These giant warriors weren’t just footnotes. They were part of a war between kingdoms—spiritual and physical.

So, what do we do with this?

We remember that Scripture doesn’t shy away from mystery. It invites us to think more deeply. To read carefully. To connect dots across centuries. And maybe to reconsider the parts of the Bible we’ve quietly labeled as myth or legend. These strange stories are Scripture. They are history. They are truth.

“These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.”
(1 Chronicles 20:8)

a gigantic man