Hebrew word · H6061

עֲנָק

'anak

Anak

As a common noun: necklace or neck-chain (Judg 8:26; Prov 1:9; Song 4:9). As a group name: 'the Anak', and in the plural 'the Anakim', a pre-Israelite people living around Hebron and the hill country. Israelite tradition remembered them as unusually tall (Num 13:32-33; Deut 2:10, 21; 9:2).

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Num.13.22;

father of: Ahiman (H0289), Sheshai (H8344) and Talmai (H8526); also called Anakim at Deu.1.28; 2.10,11,21; 9.2; 1x,22; 14.12,15;

Also named: a.na.qi (עֲנָקִי "Anakim" H6062)

§ Anak = "neck"

progenitor of a family, or tribe of the giant people in Canaan

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 15:14

Range of meaning

As a common noun: necklace or neck-chain (Judg 8:26; Prov 1:9; Song 4:9). As a group name: 'the Anak', and in the plural 'the Anakim', a pre-Israelite people living around Hebron and the hill country. Israelite tradition remembered them as unusually tall (Num 13:32-33; Deut 2:10, 21; 9:2).

Against the English

English versions mostly print 'Anak' as a personal name ('the sons of Anak'), and NIV and NLT use 'Anakite(s)'. In Hebrew the word carries 'the' ('the Anak'), which suggests a group name or title, not simply a man's name.

How it drifted

Because it is printed as a capitalised name, readers usually picture one ancestor called Anak. Joshua 15:13 does call Arba 'the father of the Anak'. The Hebrew allows a forefather, but the word 'the' shows the word also worked as a group label.

Used elsewhere in the period

Egyptian Execration Texts (curse-texts from about the 19th–18th centuries BCE) name rulers of a people or place often read as ʿIy-ʿanaq. Many scholars connect this with the Anakim, but the link is disputed. In Numbers 13:33 the spies tie the Anakim to the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4, and Deut 2:10-11 groups them with the Rephaim. Later Jewish tradition built on these links.

From the study of Joshua 15:13

Range of meaning

As a common noun, ʿănāq means 'neck' or 'necklace' (compare Judg 8:26; Prov 1:9 with a related form). As a proper noun it names an ancestor or group, 'Anak' or 'the Anakim', remembered as unusually tall people living around Hebron.

Against the English

English versions print 'Anak' as a plain personal name. The Hebrew article ('the Anak') suggests a group label or title, something like 'the Anakite' or perhaps 'the long-necked one'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 13:22, 28, 33; Deut 1:28; 2:10–11, 21; 9:2 ('Who can stand before the sons of Anak?'); Josh 11:21–22. Egyptian Execration Texts (about the 19th–18th centuries BC) mention a people or rulers called ʿy-ʿnq in Canaan. Scholars often link this name to the Anakim, though the connection is debated.

From the study of Joshua 21:11

Range of meaning

As a common noun, 'neck' or 'necklace'. As a proper name, Anak, the ancestor figure of the Anakim (benei ʿanaq, 'sons of Anak'). They were a pre-Israelite people of the southern highlands remembered for their great height. Whether the name is connected to 'neck' (long-necked, tall) is a guess.

Against the English

English versions all transliterate it as 'Anak'. Read as a single individual, 'the father of Anak' can sound like a two-generation family note. The article ('the Anak') and parallel texts show it names a people group and its ancestor.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 13:22, 28, 33 (Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, 'descendants of Anak', at Hebron; the spies felt like grasshoppers beside them). Deuteronomy 1:28; 2:10–11, 21; 9:2 ('Who can stand before the sons of Anak?'). Joshua 11:21–22; 14:12–15; 15:13–14 (Caleb drives out the three sons of Anak); Judges 1:10, 20. Some scholars have linked the name to Egyptian Execration Texts (curse texts of the early 2nd millennium BCE) that list a people of 'Iy-ʿanaq'. That link is debated.

Where it appears

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 13:22 הָעֲנָ֑ק <the> Anak

    They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.

    Here: 'The Anak,' with 'the'. This suggests a people or clan name rather than only the name of one ancestor. The same word means 'necklace' or 'neck', so it may have meant something like 'the long-necked ones'. Later verses (13:28, 33; Deut 2:10–11) make the Anakim a byword for frightening height and strength.

  2. Numbers 13:28 הָֽעֲנָ֖ק <the> Anak

    Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.

  3. Numbers 13:33 עֲנָ֖ק Anak

    We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”

    Here: Anak is the ancestor or name of a group of tall inhabitants around Hebron (v. 22: Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai). The same root means "neck" or "necklace" (as an ornament), so the name may mean something like "long-necked", that is, tall. This is possible but not certain.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 9:2 עֲנָֽק׃ Anak

    The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?”

Joshua · 4

  1. Joshua 15:13 הָעֲנָ֖ק <the> Anak

    According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

    Here: It has 'the' in front of it ('the Anak'), which suggests a group or a title more than a simple personal name. The Anakim were the feared tall people whose presence had terrified ten of the twelve spies (Num 13:28, 33).

  2. Joshua 15:14 הָעֲנָ֑ק הָעֲנָֽק׃ <the> Anak

    And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

    Here: Literally 'the Anak'. The word 'the' suggests a group name or title as much as a single ancestor (compare 'the Rapha'). The same word means 'necklace', and many scholars connect it with 'long-necked', meaning 'tall'. That fits the Bible's picture of the Anakim as people of great size (Num 13:32-33; Deut 2:10).

  3. Joshua 21:11 הָֽעֲנ֛וֹק <the> Anak

    They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

    Here: With the article ('the Anak'), it works as the name of a group, the Anakim. They were the famously tall pre-Israelite inhabitants whose size had frightened the spies (Num 13:28, 33; Deut 9:2). It is spelled here with an extra vowel letter.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 1:20 הָעֲנָֽק׃ <the> Anak

    Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.