Numbers 13:33

33. The giants Hebrew and R.V. Nephilim, like the antediluvian tyrants who corrupted the earth. Genesis 6:4, note. The application of the term Nephilim to a race of antediluvians does not prove that the giants found by the spies were the lineal descendants of these, nor does it justify the extraordinary hypothesis of the “higher criticism,” that the writer of Genesis 6:4, knew nothing of a flood in which all mankind except one family were destroyed. A resemblance in stature is all that is requisite.

Sons of Anak See Numbers 13:22, note.

As grasshoppers An Oriental exaggeration of the disparity of stature between the Hebrews and some of the Canaanites. The fears of the unbelieving spies magnified their foes. Probably the average stature of the Israelites did not fall much below that of the Canaanites.

In our own sight… in their sight The contempt of their enemies is consequent upon their own cowardly self-depreciation. They who do not respect themselves will fail to gain the respect of others. “The man who counts himself as a grasshopper when he is set to represent a great cause is apt to be counted as a grasshopper by those who oppose him. Peculiarly is this the truth with one of God’s representatives. He who realizes that he stands for One into whose hands all power in heaven and earth is given need have no fear of giants or of the sons of giants. His sufficiency is of God; and in this sufficiency he can move forward unflinching-ly, until the giants who oppose him find themselves as grasshoppers in the path of his progress.” H. Clay Trumbull.