Anak (; he, , homophone to a
word for "giant, long neck, necklace"; ) is a figure in the
Hebrew Bible. His descendants are mentioned in narratives concerning the conquest of
Canaan by the
Israelites. According to the
Book of Numbers, Anak was a forefather of the
Anakim. Ten of the twelve Israelite spies described them as very tall descendants of Anak, compare . The text states that the giant stature of the Anakim was the standard by which other giant races were measured, such as the
Rephaite
In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf. the plural word in he,
רְפָאִים, rəfāʾīm; Phoenician: ') refers either to a people of greater-than-averag ...
s, and that Anak was a son of
Arba.
Etymology
L. Nesiolowski-Spano proposed a hypothesis that his name is derived from the Greek '
wanax', 'ruler'.
In the Bible
The sons of Anak are first mentioned in . The Israelite leader
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
sends twelve spies representing the
Twelve Tribes of Israel
The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( he, שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, translit=Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit=Tribes of Israel) are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel, throu ...
to scout out the land of
Canaan. The spies enter from the
Negev desert and journey northward through the Judaean hills until they arrive at the brook of
Eshcol near
Hebron, where reside
Sheshai,
Ahiman, and
Talmai, the sons of Anak. After the scouts have explored the entire land, they bring back samples of the fruit of the land; most notably a gigantic cluster of grapes which requires two men to carry it on a pole between them. The scouts then report to Moses and the congregation, that "the land indeed is a land flowing with milk and honey," but ten of the twelve spies discourage the Israelites from even attempting to possess the land, for they reported that the men were taller and stronger than the Israelites, and moreover the sons of Anak dwell in the land, and that they felt like grasshoppers in their presence.
The Anakites are later mentioned briefly in the books of
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
,
Joshua, and
Judges
A judge is an official who presides over a court.
Judge or Judges may also refer to:
Roles
*Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc.
*Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
. Caleb, one of the twelve spies sent by Moses into Canaan, later drove out the descendants of Anak — his three sons — from
Hebron, also called Kiriath Arba ().
Extrabiblical mentions
A woman of a similar name,
ʿAnāq bint Ādam, appears as the mother of ʿŪj (the Arabic equivalent of Og) in Islamic tradition.
The Egyptian
Execration texts
Execration texts, also referred to as proscription lists, are ancient Egyptian hieratic texts, listing enemies of the pharaoh, most often enemies of the Egyptian state or troublesome foreign neighbors. The texts were most often written upon stat ...
of the
Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC) mention a list of political enemies in Canaan, and among this list are a group called the "ly Anaq" or people of Anaq. The three rulers of ly Anaq were Erum, Abiyamimu, and Akirum.
Robert Graves
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...
, considering the relationship between the Anakites and
Philistia (, ), identifies the Anakim with
Anax
(Greek alphabet, Greek: ; from earlier , ') is an ancient Greek word for "tribal chief, lord, (military) leader".. It is one of the two Greek titles traditionally translated as "king", the other being basileus, and is inherited from Mycenaean Gr ...
, the giant ruler of the
Anactorians in
Greek mythology.
Cultural references
In
Herman Melville's 1851 novel ''
Moby-Dick'' (Chapter 59. Squid.) narrator
Ishmael
Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
alludes to "the great
Kraken
The kraken () is a legendary sea monster of enormous size said to appear off the coasts of Norway.
Kraken, the subject of sailors' superstitions and mythos, was first described in the modern age at the turn of the 18th century, in a travelogu ...
of
Bishop Pontoppodan," then concludes the chapter: "By some naturalists who have vaguely heard rumors of the mysterious creature, here spoken of, it is included among the class of
cuttle-fish
Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of buo ...
, to which, indeed, in certain external respects it would seem to belong, but only as the Anak of the tribe."
See also
*
Balor
In Irish mythology, Balor or Balar was a leader of the Fomorians, a group of malevolent supernatural beings. He is often described as a giant with a large eye that wreaks destruction when opened. Balor takes part in the Battle of Mag Tuired, a ...
*
Laufey
Laufey (Old Norse: ) or Nál is a figure in Norse mythology and the mother of Loki. The latter is frequently mentioned by the matronymic ''Loki Laufeyjarson'' (Old Norse 'Loki Laufey's son') in the ''Poetic Edda'', rather than the expected tradi ...
References
{{Reflist
Book of Numbers people
Rephaites
Anakim
he:ענק#הענקים במקרא