JOSEPH W. TKACH
PASTOR GENERAL

May 1987

Dear Friend:

You asked about the fate of the giants spoken of in the Bible. Did they all die out?

The Scriptures indicate that they did. Genesis 7 tells of a worldwide flood which God sent to destroy "all flesh" upon the earth (verse 21). Since the giants of Genesis 6:4 were simply a natural, genetic variation of human beings, they died along with the rest of the earth's population. The only humans to escape that catastrophe were Noah and his family.

Since Noah was of a stock of smaller people, most of his descendants were of his stature. However, some of the genes to produce giants survived through the wife of Ham, one of Noah's sons. Therefore, a number of the sons of Canaan (one of Ham's sons) were giants (Num. 13:1-2, 32-33). In Deuteronomy 2:21 we read that God destroyed the giants which dwelt in Ammon so that the children of Lot could possess the land. Those giants -- who apparently were from a line of a descendant of Canaan named Anak -- eventually became extinct King Og of Bashan was the last of them to inhabit Palestine east of Jordan (Deut. 3:11).

Both before and after the Flood, God was directly involved in the destruction of those giant men. The reason for their destruction is not stated directly. But, like Goliath, those men seemed always to be in opposition to God and to His people Israel.

Thank you for your interest. If you have any other questions from the subjects we cover in our publications, please let us know.

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT