Anakim - the descendants of
Anak[?] (Josh. 11:21; Num. 13:33; Deut. 9:2).
They dwelt in the south of
Palestine, in the neighbourhood of
Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). In the days of
Abraham (Gen.
14:5, 6) they inhabited the region afterwards known as
Edom[?] and
Moab, east of the Jordan. They were probably a remnant of the
original inhabitants of
Palestine before the
Canaanites, a
Cushite[?] tribe from Babel, and of the same race as the
Phoenicians and the
Egyptian shepherd kings[?]. Their formidable
warlike appearance, as described by the spies sent to search the
land, filled the Israelites with terror. They seem to have
identified them with the
Nephilim, the "giants" (Gen. 6:4; Num.
13:33) of the antediluvian age. There were various tribes of
Anakim (Josh. 15:14).
Joshua finally expelled them from the
land, except a remnant that found a refuge in the cities of
Gaza,
Gath, and
Ashdod[?] (Josh. 11:22). The
Philistine giants whom
David encountered (2 Sam. 21:15-22) were descendants of the
Anakim. (See
Giants[?].)
From Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
All Wikipedia text
is available under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License