Anak (; he, , homophone to a

word A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...

for "giant, long neck, necklace"; ) is a figure in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

by the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

. According to the

Book of Numbers The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and c ...

, Anak was a forefather of the

Anakim Anakim ( ''ʿĂnāqīm'') are mentioned in the Bible as a race of giants, descended from Anak. According to the Old Testament, the Anakim lived in the southern part of the land of Canaan, near Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). states that they i ...

. 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 Rephaites, and that Anak was a son of Arba.

Etymology

L. Nesiolowski-Spano proposed a hypothesis that his name is derived from the Greek '

wanax (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 Greece. It is nota ...

', 'ruler'.

In the Bible

The sons of Anak are first mentioned in . The Israelite leader Moses 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, thro ...

to scout out the land of

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

. The spies enter from the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...

desert and journey northward through the Judaean hills until they arrive at the brook of

Eshcol Eshcol (, ''’Eškōl'') is a term in the Hebrew Bible. It may refer to: * One of three Amorite confederates of Abram in the Hebron area, who, with his brothers Mamre and Aner, joined forces with those of Abram in pursuit of king Chedorlaomer an ...

near

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

, where reside

Sheshai Sheshai () was a clan of Anakim living in Hebron named for a son of Anak in the Bible (Numbers 13:22). The clans were driven out of the city by Caleb (Joshua 15:14) and the Tribe of Judah (Judges 1:10). The two brothers of Sheshai were Ahiman an ...

Ahiman Ahiman () is the name of two persons in the Bible: * One of the three giant sons of Anak (the other two being Sheshai and Talmai) whom Caleb and the Israelite spies saw in Mount Hebron (Book of Numbers 13:22) when they went in to explore the pro ...

, and

Talmai Talmai (; he, תלמי 'my furrows') is a name in the Bible referring to a number of minor people. Its Aramaic version was associated with the Greek Ptolemy (see that article for the list of corresponding names and surnames), and is the origin of ...

, 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,

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, 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

, 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 sta ...

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, considering the relationship between the Anakites and

Philistia Philistia (; Koine Greek (LXX): Γῆ τῶν Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''gê tôn Phulistieìm''), also known as the Philistine Pentapolis, was a confederation of cities in the Southwest Levant, which included the cities of Ashdod, Ashk ...

(, ), identifies the Anakim with Anax, the giant ruler of the Anactorians in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

Cultural references

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...

's 1851 novel ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

'' (Chapter 59. Squid.) narrator Ishmael alludes to "the great Kraken 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 buoy ...

, to which, indeed, in certain external respects it would seem to belong, but only as the Anak of the tribe."

References

{{Reflist Book of Numbers people Rephaites Anakim he:ענק#הענקים במקרא

Etymology

In the Bible

Extrabiblical mentions

Cultural references

See also

References