Deuteronomy 1:28

1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage 1  by describing people who are more numerous 2  and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven 3  itself! Moreover, they said they saw 4  Anakites 5  there.”

Deuteronomy 28:52

28:52 They will besiege all of your villages 6  until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you.

1 tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”

2 tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).

3 tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

4 tn Heb “we have seen.”

5 tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”

sn Anakites were giant people (Num 13:33; Deut 2:10, 21; 9:2) descended from a certain Anak whose own forefather Arba founded the city of Kiriath Arba, i.e., Hebron (Josh 21:11).

6 tn Heb “gates,” also in vv. 55, 57.