Deuteronomy 2:11 is a historical aside. Moses notes that the giant-sized people who lived in the land east of the Jordan were known by several names, depending on who was doing the naming. The verse matters less for its specific facts than for what it shows about how God’s people remember the nations that came before them.
Moses speaks this in the book of Deuteronomy, addressing the generation of Israelites about to enter the promised land. He is recounting the journey they have just completed past the territories of Edom and Moab, and he pauses to explain the names of the peoples who once lived there.
These also are considered to be Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
Deuteronomy 2:11 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 2:11 Means
The verse makes a simple point. The people called the Emim were, in Moses’ view, the same kind of people as the Anakim, a race of tall and powerful inhabitants. Some traditions in the region called them Rephaim, a name associated with ancient giants, while the Moabites used the name Emim for them. Two names, one people, and the verse simply records that fact so the reader is not confused when different names appear in other texts.
What the verse does not do is offer spiritual instruction in itself. It does not command anything, comfort anything, or promise anything. It is a note in the margin of the story. Its value comes from what it tells us about the care Moses took to describe the land accurately, and about the way Israel was learning the geography and history of the region before crossing into Canaan.
The Context of Deuteronomy 2:11
Deuteronomy is presented as a series of addresses Moses gives to Israel on the plains of Moab, shortly before his death and before the people enter the land. The book is traditionally attributed to Moses, though scholars have long discussed the process by which it reached its final form. Its original audience was the generation that had grown up in the wilderness, many of whom had not experienced the Exodus directly.
The verses just before this one describe God instructing Israel not to fight Moab, because God had given the land of Ar to the descendants of Lot. Verse 11 sits inside that parenthetical history of previous inhabitants. Read in that setting, the verse reminds the people that the land they are inheriting was not empty, and that God had been directing the movements of many nations, not only Israel’s. The aside about the Emim is part of a larger lesson that God gives land according to his own purposes.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 2:11
Deuteronomy 2:9
The LORD said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.”
(WEB)
This verse, just before the Emim aside, records God telling Israel not to contend with Moab because he had given Ar to Lot’s descendants. It shows the same theme of God assigning lands to peoples, and it explains why Israel must pass by rather than fight.
Deuteronomy 9:2
A people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?”
(WEB)
Later in Deuteronomy, Moses refers back to the Anakim and describes them as a people of great stature. Reading this verse alongside Deuteronomy 2:11 shows how the memory of these giants shaped Israel’s understanding of the challenge ahead.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 2:11
Lord, you know the names of every people and the boundaries of every land. When the people and places in my life feel larger than I am, help me remember that you have been guiding history long before I arrived in it. Teach me to notice the details of your faithfulness without losing sight of the bigger story you are writing. Give me steady trust in your direction, and let my fears shrink in the light of your care. Amen.
