What do giants symbolize in Scripture?
1. Giants as Images of Tyranny in Scripture
From the earliest mention in Genesis 6:1–4, giants represent distorted power. The Nephilim, born of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men,” became “mighty men of renown.” Their might, however, is not celebrated as heroic but condemned as corrupt. In Jewish tradition, these figures became tyrants, ruling over others with violence and oppression.
The giants serve as a picture of extreme tyranny—where power is detached from God’s justice and twisted toward domination. The Amorites are described in Amos 2:9 as tall as cedars, yet God Himself humbled them. The point is clear: even the greatest of the mighty are crushed under divine judgment when they misuse their strength.
In biblical theology, tyranny is not simply political but spiritual. The giants become emblems of the rulers and authorities Paul describes in Ephesians 6:12—powers that seek to enslave and crush the people of God.
2. Giants as Symbols of Sexual Immorality
The origins of giants in Genesis 6 are tied to a violation of God’s boundaries for creation. The union of heavenly beings with human women produced a race that blurred the lines between heaven and earth. This crossing of boundaries became a symbol of sexual immorality—pleasure divorced from covenantal faithfulness.
Forbidden Unions: Just as the Nephilim came from unlawful unions, so Scripture repeatedly warns against sexual immorality as a rebellion against God’s design.
Cultural Corruption: Early Jewish writings, such as 1 Enoch, describe the fallen angels teaching humanity perverse practices. Giants became symbols of how lust and corruption spread across societies.
New Testament Echoes: Jude 6–7 recalls both the angels who abandoned their proper dwelling and Sodom’s immorality, linking them together as warnings of judgment.
The story of giants therefore serves not as fascination with size but as an allegory of sin unrestrained, where desires consume and destroy.
3. Giants as Warnings of Rebellion Against God
Above all, giants symbolize rebellion against God’s authority. Their existence embodies the arrogance of created beings seeking greatness apart from the Creator.
Genesis 6 Rebellion: The giants emerge as the fruit of angelic rebellion. Their presence is a sign of spiritual chaos intruding into the human world.
Canaanite Opposition: When Israel faced the Anakim and Rephaim, the giants became literal representations of forces standing against God’s promises. Yet Joshua and Caleb urged the people to trust the Lord, showing that rebellion can be overcome through faith.
Prophetic Polemic: The biblical authors recast pagan myths that celebrated divine-human heroes. Instead of glory, these hybrids are condemned as corrupt. The giants thus function as anti-heroes, representing the futility of defying God.
Whenever giants appear, they are associated with defiance of divine rule. They remind the faithful that rebellion always leads to ruin.
4. Giants and the Gospel of Christ
The symbolic meaning of giants reaches its climax in the Gospel. Their themes—tyranny, immorality, rebellion—are the very enemies Christ came to defeat.
Christ as the Greater David: David’s victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17) prefigures the triumph of the Son of David. Just as David struck down the arrogant giant, Christ has crushed the head of the serpent and overcome the powers of sin and death.
Victory at the Cross: Colossians 2:15 declares that Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame.” The spiritual rebellion that giants symbolize is decisively judged at Calvary.
Freedom for the Oppressed: Where giants enslave with tyranny and lust, the Gospel proclaims liberty. Jesus announces in Luke 4:18 that He has come to set captives free, echoing the reversal of everything the giants represent.
Thus, giants symbolize all that Christ has conquered. They magnify His glory as Redeemer by showing the depth of corruption He came to undo.
5. Giants and the Hope of the Last Days
The Bible uses the imagery of giants not only to look backward but also forward to the ultimate fulfillment of God’s kingdom.
Foreshadowing Final Judgment: Just as the flood swept away the Nephilim, and Israel’s armies routed the Anakim, so Revelation depicts God’s final overthrow of every rebellious power.
The Church’s Present Struggle: Believers today still face “giants” in the form of spiritual forces, systemic oppression, and temptation. These enemies can seem overwhelming, but they point beyond themselves to the spiritual conflict Christ has already won.
Assurance of Victory: Giants symbolize the might of rebellion, but they also foreshadow its end. Revelation 21 shows the holy city where God dwells with His people, free from tyranny and corruption. The giants of old remind us that God will not allow rebellion to endure forever.
For the faithful, this means living with confidence. Giants are not curiosities of the past but theological signposts of a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
6. Conclusion
In Scripture, giants symbolize far more than size. They represent tyranny that oppresses, sexual immorality that corrupts, and rebellion that defies God. From Genesis to Revelation, they serve as warnings against the consequences of sin and the futility of pride.
Yet the story does not end with fear. In Christ, the greater David, the true King, the giants are defeated. Their power is broken, their corruption overturned, and their rebellion exposed as folly. For the church, the presence of giants in Scripture is not a call to speculation but to faith—faith in the One who has overcome.
The giants, then, are not historical curiosities but theological reminders. They point to the seriousness of sin, the certainty of judgment, and the victory of Christ.
Bible Verses about Giants
Genesis 6:4 – “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days…”
Numbers 13:33 – “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight.”
Deuteronomy 2:10–11 – “The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.”
Deuteronomy 3:11 – “Only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim.”
Joshua 11:21–22 – “Joshua cut off the Anakim from the hill country…”
1 Samuel 17:45 – “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.”
Amos 2:9 – “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars.”
Jude 6–7 – “The angels who did not stay within their own position of authority… just as Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in sexual immorality.”
Colossians 2:15 – “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame.”
Revelation 20:10 – “The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur.”
