The term "Anakim" and its associated names appear numerous times throughout the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible. Here is a detailed compilation of the biblical references, including the full text of each verse, followed by an analysis of the geographic campaign against them.
The word "Anakim" is found 9 times in the ESV. These references primarily occur in the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua.
‘Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’
(The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.
Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’
And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain.
There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain.
Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.
The phrase "sons of Anak" appears 8 times in the ESV and is used interchangeably with "Anakim."
They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
a people great and tall, the sons of Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’
And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.
And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.
The "Nephilim" are mentioned 3 times. The Anakim are described as descending from them.
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. They were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
The "Rephaim" are mentioned 25 times. The Anakim were considered a subgroup of this broader category of giant-like peoples.
The biblical account of Yahweh's campaign against the Anakim, carried out by the Israelites under Joshua, is geographically specific. The Anakim were not scattered randomly but were concentrated in the mountainous regions of southern Canaan, areas that would later become the heartland of the tribe of Judah.
The primary stronghold of the Anakim was the city of Hebron (also called Kiriath-arba), a strategically important city in the hill country of Judah. Joshua 15:14 explicitly states that Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak—Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai—from Hebron. This city was their capital and power base.
The military campaign described in Joshua 11:21 outlines a systematic sweep through this region: "And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel." This verse provides a clear geographical progression:
This campaign effectively dismantled the Anakim power structure in the central highlands. Joshua's strategy was to conquer and secure the mountainous spine of the land first, which neutralized the most formidable military threat and divided the remaining Canaanite forces in the north and south.
However, the conquest was not total. The narrative is careful to note in Joshua 11:22 that while the Anakim were eliminated from the Israelite hill country, remnants survived in the Philistine coastal plain: "Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain." This is geographically and historically significant. It suggests that some of the Anakim were displaced and either assimilated into or found refuge among the Philistines in their powerful city-states along the Mediterranean coast. This detail later sets the stage for future conflicts, most famously the battle between David and Goliath of Gath, who is described as a descendant of these very people (the Rephaim/giants).
In essence, the campaign was a targeted highland conquest that broke the Anakim's territorial control, pushing the survivors to the coastal plains, thereby securing the promised inheritance for the tribes of Israel, particularly Judah.