Anak

Anak (; , homophone to a word for "giant, long neck, necklace"; ) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible. His descendants are mentioned in narratives concerning the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites. According to the Book of Numbers, Anak was a forefather of the Anakim, a Rephaite tribe according to . Ten of the twelve Israelite spies described them as very tall descendants of Anak, thus associating them with the Nephilim of . Etymology L. Nesiolowski-Spano proposed a hypothesis that his name is derived from the Greek 'wanax', 'ruler'. In the Bible The sons of Anak are first mentioned in . The Israelite leader Moses sends twelve spies representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel to scout out the land of Canaan. The spies enter from the Negev desert and journey northward through the Judaean hills until they arrive at the brook of Eshcol near Hebron, where reside the sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. After the scouts have explored the entire land, they bring back samples of the fruit of the land. The scouts then report to Moses and the congregation, that "the land indeed is a land flowing with milk and honey". However, in , ten of the twelve spies state that the inhabitants of the land are descended from the Nephilim, discouraging the Israelites from even attempting to possess the land. They reported that the men were taller and stronger than the Israelites, and that they felt like grasshoppers in their presence. However, the faithful spies Caleb and Joshua do not verify this report, leading some scholars to believe that the fearful reports from the other ten are hyperbolic and should not be taken literally. The Anakites are later mentioned briefly in the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. Caleb, one of the twelve spies sent by Moses into Canaan, later drove out the descendants of Anak — his three sons — from Hebron, also called Kiriath Arba.