Deuteronomy 2:10 is a historical aside. Moses pauses to note that the land of Moab was once inhabited by a fearsome people called the Emim, who were as large and numerous as the Anakim later known in Canaan. Moses, speaking to the Israelites just before they enter the promised land, includes this detail as part of a longer explanation of how God has dealt with the nations around them.
(The Emim lived therein before, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim.
Deuteronomy 2:10 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 2:10 Means
The phrase “the Emim lived therein before” tells you that the territory east of the Jordan had a history long before Israel arrived. The Emim were not the current residents at the time of this speech. They had been displaced, and the verse records a past fact about who held that ground.
The description “a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim” is a way of saying they were impressive and formidable. The Anakim were a well-known race of giants in the wider biblical story, so comparing the Emim to them signals that these were people Israel would have regarded as intimidating. The verse does not say the Emim were divinely punished or that Israel should fear them. It simply records their size and strength as a matter of memory.
What the verse does not promise is any direct lesson about military strategy or personal courage. It is a footnote within a larger point, which is that God gives each nation its own land and has already been working in the history of the region before Israel ever arrived.
The Context of Deuteronomy 2:10
Deuteronomy is traditionally attributed to Moses and presents his final addresses to Israel on the plains of Moab, shortly before they cross the Jordan. Its audience is the generation that grew up in the wilderness, and much of the book reviews their history and restates God’s law for life in the land.
Verses 7 through 13 describe Israel’s passage past the territories of Edom and Moab, which God had assigned to the descendants of Esau and Lot. Israel is told not to attack Moab, because God has given that land to others. Verse 10 sits in a parenthetical note inside this passage, explaining that the Emim once lived there and that the neighboring Horites were similarly displaced by Esau’s descendants. Read this way, the verse reinforces a theme: God governs the movement of peoples and territories, and Israel is to respect those boundaries.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 2:10
Deuteronomy 2:7
For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years, the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.
(WEB)
This verse comes just before Deuteronomy 2:10 and reminds Israel that the LORD has been with them through the wilderness and has provided everything they need. It frames the whole passage with God’s faithful presence, which gives the historical note about the Emim its setting of trust.
Acts 17:26
He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings…
(WEB)
Paul’s sermon in Athens says God has determined the times and boundaries of the nations. This New Testament statement echoes the Deuteronomy theme that God appoints the places where peoples live, showing that the principle runs through the whole Bible.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 2:10
Lord, you have been at work in the history of every land and every people, long before I arrived in the places I now call home. When I feel small or intimidated by what lies ahead, remind me that you have already been present there. Help me hold my plans with an open hand, trusting that your ordering of time and place is wiser than my fears. Steady my heart today, and let me walk with humility and courage wherever you lead. Amen.
