“The Bible is just a fairytale, full of witches, demons, and giants.”
You have probably heard that argument before. And for those of us who know our Bibles it can be hard to disagree because all three of these creatures are found in the text of Scripture. In fact, all three appear in what was originally one book of the Bible: 1–2 Samuel.
While we are familiar with the famous giant, Goliath, whom David slays in chapter 17, less well known may be the “harmful spirit” that afflicts King Saul (1 Samuel 16:14) or the witch he consults at the end of his life (1 Samuel 28). Although in our modern, “scientific” age these creatures seem mythical, the Bible does claim that they exist, even if their reality does not reflect how we imagine them in our fairytales and art.
In this article, I will focus on the giants of 2 Samuel 21:15–22 (and the parallel in 1 Chronicles 20:4–8). What were they? How big were they? What did they signify theologically, and how does that help us understand this passage of Scripture and apply it to ourselves?
What Were They?
The term “giant” appears only seven times in most modern translations of these two passages (2 Sam 21:15–22; 1 Chr 20:4–8), but in the King James Version it appears over 20 times. Why the difference? It comes down to the underlying Hebrew words. Some terms, like nephilim (Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33) and rephaim (Deuteronomy 2:11, 20; 3:11, 13), are left untranslated in many modern Bibles because their meaning isn’t fully clear. The giants in 2 Samuel 21 are called Raphah, likely the singular form of Rephaim.
Our English versions usually render these words as “giants” for two reasons. First, the ancient Greek translators (of the “Septuagint”) used the Greek word gigas – from which we get “giant” and “gigantic” – to translate these Hebrew terms. Second, that choice seems based not necessarily on perfect knowledge of the Hebrew, but on the context: these people are described as oversized and fearsome. Remember the spies in Numbers 13, who said, “We seemed like grasshoppers” beside the Nephilim (13:33).
Or we can think of Og, the Amorite king of Bashan, the land east of the Jordan from Israel. He was one of the Rephaim whom the Israelites had to defeat on their way to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3). His tall height is reflected in the size of his iron bed, which was over thirteen feet long and six feet wide (Deut 3:11)!
Then there is the most famous of all the giants in the Bible—the Philistine Goliath of Gath (2 Samuel 21:19; 1 Chronicles 20:5), whom King David slays shortly after his anointing (1 Samuel 17). He is described as being over nine feet tall (i.e., 6.5 cubits; 1 Samuel 17:4)! And his armor fits this enormous size: his coat of mail weighing over 100 pounds, the shaft of his spear being “like a weaver’s beam” (probably 2 to 3 inches in diameter and 8 to 10 feet long), with a spearhead weighing 15 pounds. (1 Samuel 17:5–7)!
The giants described in 2 Samuel 21 and 1 Chronicles 20 all seem to share some sort of “overgrownness,” whether towering in stature, armed with massive weapons, or sporting six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (2 Samuel 21:20). It may well be that the terms Raphah and Rephaim were not just applied to people whose height was gigantic, but more broadly to individuals who were considered disproportionate in any number of ways compared to more “ordinary” people. The giants were human beings pushed beyond ordinary limits – too tall, too strong, too strange.
While some dismiss these descriptions as mythical, history shows they are not impossible. The tallest man in modern times, Robert Wadlow, stood 8’ 11” and weighed over 400 lbs. at his death due to a condition known as acromegaly, or gigantism. Only 22 years old when he died, Wadlow was reportedly still growing at a rate of about an inch per year, so by age 30 he could have been Goliath’s size. Like the giants of the Bible, with Wadlow’s large size came great strength: he reportedly could carry his father up a flight of stairs at the tender age of nine years old!
But the Bible’s interest in giants is not merely biological; it is also theological.
What Do the Giants Signify Theologically?
In an age of hand-to-hand combat, size was everything. Imagine facing a man with nearly twice your reach, his sword striking before you could even get close. Giants had not only the height advantage but also the strength to wield massive weapons, each blow carrying devastating force. No wonder the Israelite spies trembled at the sight of the Anakim in Canaan.
Yet that fear sets the stage for the Bible’s point: though undefeatable by human strength, even giants fell when the Lord fought for his people.
Beyond a giant’s military threat, the Bible presents giants as symbols of something deeper. Oversized men who used their power to dominate represent the sinful abuse of strength, like when people use raw power or wealth today to intimidate and exploit.
Their deformities, such as six fingers and six toes, hint at creation itself twisted out of order and used for evil oppression. Sometimes the very word Rephaim is translated “the dead” or “shades,” further linking these figures with this world’s death and darkness that is due to sin (Isaiah 14:9; Job 26:5).
Even Goliath is painted as more than a man. The “bronze” of his armor echoes the Hebrew word for “serpent,” and his “scaled mail” makes him resemble a snake or dragon (1 Samuel 17:5–6). His taunts mimic Satan himself, that “great dragon” and “ancient serpent” who is the accuser of God’s people (Revelation 12:9–10; Job 1–2; Zechariah 3:1).
The same pattern continues in 2 Samuel 21: despite having slain Goliath, David nearly falls to Ishbi-benob (21:15–17), and the six-fingered giant of Gath taunts Israel until silenced by David’s nephew, Jonathan (21:21). Again and again, these figures vividly represent the serpent’s offspring (Genesis 3:15): corrupted powers of this world set against the Lord and his people.
We Have the Cosmic Giant-Slaying King!
If giants represent worldly power corrupted by sin, then God’s people need a giant-slaying king. That is exactly who we first glimpse in David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Saul had been called to fight the Philistines to confirm his kingship in the eyes of the Lord (10:5-7), but he failed to do so and cowered in fear (17:11).
By contrast, while still a young shepherd freshly anointed (16:13), David trusted the Lord. He faced Goliath in a battle of champions and won, toppling not only the giant but the Philistine army behind him (17:50–52). In this way the book of Samuel shows David to be a shadow of the true Champion-King we need to win not just an earthly skirmish, but the cosmic, spiritual battle with sin, Satan, and death.
This theme resurfaces in 2 Samuel 21:15–22, part of the book’s closing epilogue (chs. 21–24). Each section of these chapters echoes earlier portions of 1 and 2 Samuel that tell of God’s rejection of Saul as a “king like the nations” and his selection of David as a “king after his own heart.” The events of 2 Samuel 21:15–22 echo back to David’s ascent to the throne through his military victories starting in 1 Samuel 17. This passage’s focus on the giants slain by King David and his men shows that his reign was one of vanquishing the great spiritual enemies of God’s kingdom that disobedient Israel could never quite remove from the Promised Land (Judges 2:1–3).
But even David’s victories over giants only foreshadowed the greater deliverance God’s people needed. David grew weary and needed his men to rescue him (2 Samuel 21:15–17). In time the “lamp of Israel” (21:17) would be quenched by death (1 Kings 2:10).
By contrast, Jesus Christ is the Greater Son of David, the promised King (2 Samuel 7:12–16; Matthew 1:1). He is the true giant-slaying King who never faints or grows weary. As the Light of the World, he entered the battle not to be spared but to have his life snuffed out for us. At the cross he allowed sin, Satan, and death – the monstrous enemies behind every Goliath – to strike him down, only to rise on the third day in unassailable victory.
By his death and resurrection, Jesus acted as our true Champion-King—crushing the ancient serpent’s head once for all and winning for us entrance into his eternal kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13).
As we follow Christ by faith, the taunts of our fiercest foes are silenced, the serpent’s head is crushed, and death itself is defeated. This is the good news: in Christ we have a champion who fights and wins where we cannot, defeating all the giants of earthly evil and sinful powers and reigning forever as the King who both protects his people and calls us to share in his triumph.
Dr. S.A. Fix serves as senior pastor of Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bowie, Maryland
Read the other articles in our Stranger Things of the Old Testament series here: