You are not a grasshopper

And you aren't facing the Nephilim

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don't know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it "really" means.. Let's see where this takes us! 

I'm reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Numbers 13

Moses sent spies Into the land of Canaan. Upon returning, they reported that it's good land. But they also said, "Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large, and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there."

Nevertheless, a spy named Caleb was optimistic: “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Other members of the team disagreed: "We are not able to go up against these people, for they are stronger than us … There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim), and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

This brings up the question of the Nephilim. Genesis 6:4 in the NRSV says, "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went into the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown." After this is the story of Noah. So the Nephalim were present in the days of Noah before the Flood, and also afterward. 

I assume there was something in Israelite lore, or the lore of the region, that had stories about this "Anak" and his descendants. 

I don't think, however, that the spies actually saw the Nephilim. They were just exaggerating the size and strength of the Canaanites to refute Caleb's position that "we can take them." They mentioned Anak and the Nephilim for the same reason they referred to themselves as "grasshoppers."

Their exaggeration of the enemy was really a lack of confidence in themselves.

That's usually the case when people choose inaction over action. They pretend that "enemies" or obstacles are bigger problems than they really are. The only problem, however, is a lack of faith in themselves.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)