Rephaim

Biblical Occurrences

The Rephaim first appear in Genesis 14:5, where the kings allied with Chedorlaomer "smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim." The Korean New Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) renders the name in this verse as "the Repha people." In Genesis 15:20 they are listed among the peoples inhabiting the land that God promised to give to the descendants of Abraham.

Deuteronomy 2 describes the great peoples who formerly lived in the lands of Moab and Ammon.

• Deuteronomy 2:10-11 records that they were tall like the Anakim and were counted among the Rephaim, and that the Moabites called them "Emims."
• Deuteronomy 2:20 records that the Ammonites called them "Zamzummims."

Deuteronomy 3:11 states that Og king of Bashan "remained of the remnant of giants" (Hebrew: Rephaim). His bedstead of iron is said to have been nine cubits long and four cubits wide. Deuteronomy 3:13 calls the land of Bashan "the land of giants" (Rephaim). Joshua 12:4 and 13:12 likewise present Og as one of the remnant of the Rephaim.

The "valley of Rephaim," southwest of Jerusalem, is mentioned in several places (Joshua 15:8; 2 Samuel 5:18). In David's time the Philistines encamped in this valley. Second Samuel 21:16-22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4-8 mention Philistine descendants of "the giant." Scholars disagree as to whether the Hebrew word rendered "giant" here derives from the same root as Rephaim.

Two Uses of the Word

Besides serving as the name of a people, Rephaim is also used to refer to the spirits of the dead. This usage appears in Isaiah 14:9; 26:14, 19; Psalms 88:10; Proverbs 9:18; Job 26:5; and elsewhere. Korean Bibles generally translate these passages with words such as "the dead" or "ghosts," so readers of the Korean New Revised Version will find it difficult to recognize that the same original word lies behind them.

The etymology of the word is uncertain. One view derives it from a root meaning "to heal"; another derives it from a root meaning "to be weak, to sink down." A similar word (rpum) is known from the Ugaritic texts of the ancient Syrian coast, where it reportedly refers to the spirits of deceased ancestors or heroes. Scholars regard this as a clue to explaining the two biblical uses. In a number of places where Rephaim is the name of a people, the Septuagint renders it "giants."

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Deuteronomy mentions the Rephaim together with giant peoples such as the Anakim. In doing so it shows that even the foes Israel feared were driven out before God. This account stands in contrast to the unbelief of the twelve spies (Numbers 13:33). The accounts of David and his servants defeating the Philistine giants are read in the same light (see David and Goliath).

The New Testament does not mention the Rephaim directly. The word does, however, have a usage referring to the dead. Isaiah 26:14 says that the Rephaim (KJV "deceased") "shall not rise," while 26:19 sings of the dead coming back to life. This passage is frequently cited in discussions of Old Testament belief in the resurrection.

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• The relationship between the people and the dead: Why a single word refers both to an actual people and to the spirits of the dead is unclear. One interpretation holds that an ancient heroic people came to be remembered after their death as beings of the underworld, but there is no scholarly consensus.
• Og's bedstead: Some interpret the iron bedstead as an actual bed. Others take it to be a burial structure, such as a basalt sarcophagus or one of the dolmens of the Bashan region.
• Connection with the Nephilim: Numbers 13:33 describes the Anakim as descendants of the Nephilim. On the basis of this verse, some interpreters link the Rephaim with the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4. However, the biblical text does not say that the Rephaim were a lineage born of angels and humans, or that their descendants survive to the present day. Such claims should be recognized as later speculation or popular assertions and kept distinct from the text.
• Historicity: Conservative interpreters regard the Rephaim as an ancient people who actually existed. Some critical scholars hold that the explanations in Deuteronomy 2 are compilations of older traditions.