And there we saw the Nephilim: The spies continue to exaggerate their negative report. The probable meaning of the term Nephilim is “fallen ones,” that is, fallen from the domain of the gods, but still of exceptional stature. If the word Nephilim is transliterated, it will have no meaning, so it will have to be explained either in the text or in a footnote. Many translations render this word as “giants” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant), suggesting mythological origins. This rendering would work well if it exaggerates the reputation of the people in view. If a word for “giants” is not known, translators may say “huge and powerful people,” “people as big as trees,” “very tall people,” “very big people with double strength,” or “unbelievably big strong people.” However, expressions that are too modern or colloquial should not be used since an ancient people are in view here.

(The sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim): This is parenthetical information, which the author has added in the middle of the spies’ report. Good News Translation makes this information a natural part of their report, but omits the clause who come from the Nephilim to do so. Even though the Hebrew does not include a definite article before the name Anak here, the comments on the sons of Anak at verse 22 still apply. The Hebrew word for sons (ben) differs here from the one (yalid) in verse 22 since the names of actual descendants are mentioned there. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates this phrase as “the Anakites.”

And we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers is literally “and we were in our own eyes like grasshoppers” (similarly King James Version). The point of comparison between the spies and grasshoppers is smallness, which Good News Translation makes clear by saying “We felt as small as grasshoppers.” In languages that have several words for grasshoppers (or locusts), a term for the smallest species should be used.

And so we seemed to them is literally “and so we were in their eyes” (Alter). Here the spies project their negative perception of themselves onto the giants, since they would hardly have spoken with them during their exploration of the land. Good News Translation makes this clear by saying “and that is how we must have looked to them.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .