Introduction

Throughout Scripture, humanity repeatedly encounters things that appear overwhelmingly great: mighty men whose reputations become legendary, giants whose physical presence inspires terror, kings who boast in their kingdoms, and creatures so powerful that no human being can command them.

From the “men of the name” in Genesis 6 to Babel's determination to make a name for itself, from Goliath's defiance to Nebuchadnezzar's boasting and the king of Tyre's self-exaltation, Scripture exposes humanity's recurring temptation to confuse creaturely greatness with ultimate greatness.

Yet David stands before Goliath in the Name of YHWH, Job is confronted with creatures that only their Creator can command, and Romans warns against worshiping creation rather than the Creator.

The great question running through all these accounts is therefore not whether giants, kings, beasts, and mighty men are imposing, but whether God's people will allow what they see to become greater in their minds than the One who made and rules over all things.

Ultimately, Philippians declares the answer: Jesus Christ possesses the Name above every name, before whom every power, creature, ruler, and human reputation must finally bow.

Part I - Men of the Name

Genesis 6:1-4 - When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God (bene elohim) saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 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. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

The Hebrew does not actually say “men of renown” as though fame were the primary concept; it literally says “men of the name,” (’anshê ha-shem) using shem, a word that encompasses name, identity, reputation, and the significance attached to a person.

These were men whose strength and exploits had given them an enduring reputation, and the description sits within a larger account of humanity's increasing corruption.

Their greatness had become part of the human story, but Genesis invites us to ask whether a creature's greatness should ever become the ultimate object of human awe. What could some negative side-effects be?

Genesis 6:5-6 - The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart.

Genesis 10:8-10 - Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 11:2-4 - As people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 

Human desire is no longer to possess a reputation but to manufacture a shem—to establish significance through collective power, monumental achievement, and defiance of God's ordering of creation. Their ambition is now explicit.

The same impulse appears in later rulers who identify their greatness with what they have built, conquered, accumulated, or commanded. Scripture repeatedly exposes the danger of creatures taking the gifts, abilities, and authority entrusted to them and turning those gifts into evidence that they themselves deserve glory.

Nebuchadnezzar provides one of Scripture's clearest examples.

Daniel 4:28-30 - All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

His language concentrates everything upon himself—I have built, my power, my majesty—until his achievement becomes an altar to his own greatness.

Daniel 4:31-32 - While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field.

And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”

The king of Tyre takes the same trajectory even further. Ezekiel says that his heart became proud because of his wealth, wisdom, splendor, and commercial success until he declared, “I am a god” (Ezekiel 28:2).

Isaiah's oracle concerning Babylon similarly depicts the ruler saying, “I will ascend to heaven… I will set my throne on high… I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14).

The pattern is consistent: greatness becomes self-reference, self-reference becomes self-exaltation, and self-exaltation ultimately challenges the sovereignty that belongs exclusively to God.

Yet Scripture offers a profoundly different way for a human being to possess a name. God tells Abram, “I will make your name great” (Genesis 12:2), reversing Babel's declaration that humanity would make its own name great.

The issue is therefore not whether a person may become known, powerful, accomplished, or honored; the issue is who gives the name and what the name ultimately magnifies. A God-given name becomes an instrument of God's purposes, while a self-made name becomes a monument to the creature.

This distinction prepares us to understand Goliath. His physical stature, armor, weapons, military identity, and reputation all combine into an imposing presence, but his defining characteristic is his defiance: “I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together” (1 Samuel 17:10).

He does not simply stand before Israel as a large man; he uses his greatness to establish fear, challenge Israel's honor, and publicly assert his superiority. Goliath's greatness has become a weapon, and his challenge is ultimately directed against the God whose people he is confronting.

David sees the same giant but refuses to measure him independently of God. Israel asks, in effect, “Have you seen this man?”, while David asks, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:25–26).

David does not deny Goliath's strength; he denies that Goliath's strength gives him the right to define the encounter. The giant is enormous, but he is still a creature standing before the Creator.

Part II - The Name Above the Giants

Goliath comes bearing weapons that advertise his own strength, while David comes bearing a Name that belongs to another. David's answer to Goliath reveals the fundamental difference between the two men:

1 Samuel 17:45 - “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of YHWH of Hosts.”

This places God's identity and authority at the center of the confrontation. David then explains why he is fighting:

1 Samuel 17:46 - “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

His objective is not to make David's name famous by defeating a famous giant; his objective is for the earth to recognize the Name of Israel's God.

Goliath's challenge has become an opportunity for God's sovereignty to be revealed, so David's courage is ultimately an act of theological clarity: the size of the enemy cannot change the identity or authority of the God who stands behind His people.

David's next statement makes the principle explicit: “YHWH saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is YHWH's” (1 Samuel 17:47). The sling and stone become signs that the victory cannot be attributed to conventional military superiority.

David's victory therefore does not establish David as the great power who conquered Goliath; it demonstrates that YHWH is sovereign over the outcome of battles and is not dependent upon the weapons through which humans measure strength.

The subsequent giant narratives reinforce this point by showing that David's victory was not an isolated achievement. Goliath's kindred and other giant warriors continue to appear, but they repeatedly fall before David's servants, demonstrating that the principle David proclaimed extends beyond David himself.

The victory belongs to YHWH, and His servants participate in what He accomplishes. The giant killers named in these accounts are:

• David — kills Goliath (1 Samuel 17).
• Abishai — kills Ishbi-benob (2 Samuel 21:15–17).
• Sibbecai — kills Saph/Sippai (2 Samuel 21:18; 1 Chronicles 20:4).
• Elhanan — kills Lahmi, identified as Goliath's brother (1 Chronicles 20:5).
• Jonathan — kills the enormous warrior with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (2 Samuel 21:20–21; 1 Chronicles 20:6–7).

The identifiable individual giants include:

• Og of Bashan — the last of the Rephaim (Deuteronomy 3:11).
• Goliath of Gath — David's opponent (1 Samuel 17).
• Ishbi-benob — descendant of the giant (2 Samuel 21:16).
• Saph/Sippai — descendant of the Rephaim (2 Samuel 21:18; 1 Chronicles 20:4).
• Lahmi — Goliath's brother (1 Chronicles 20:5).
• The unnamed 24-digit warrior — descendant of the giant tradition (2 Samuel 21:20–21).
• Ahiman — son of Anak (Numbers 13:22; Joshua 15:14).
• Sheshai — son of Anak (Numbers 13:22; Joshua 15:14).
• Talmai — son of Anak (Numbers 13:22; Joshua 15:14).

The giant clans and peoples include:

• Nephilim — Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33.
• Anakim — Numbers 13:28, 33; Deuteronomy 1:28; Joshua 15:14.
• Rephaim — Deuteronomy 2–3; Joshua 12:4; 2 Samuel 21.
• Emim — Deuteronomy 2:10–11.
• Zamzummim — Deuteronomy 2:20–21.

These accounts should not cause God's people to imagine that the giants were insignificant. Scripture intentionally portrays some of them as enormous, powerful, terrifying, and dangerous.

The theological point is stronger precisely because the threat is real: something can be genuinely imposing without possessing ultimate authority. A giant can tower over a man and still stand beneath the command of God.

Part III - Behold the Creatures; Remember the Creator

This perspective becomes especially powerful when Job encounters YHWH in Job 38–41. God does not answer Job's questions by giving him a small explanation for the universe.

He takes Job into the overwhelming scale of creation and asks whether Job can command the morning, govern the sea, bind the stars, provide food for wild creatures, or establish the boundaries of the world.

The lesson is not that creation is small but that Job's understanding of creation is small compared with the wisdom and sovereignty of its Creator. Then God points Job toward Behemoth: “Behold, Behemoth, which I made with you” (Job 40:15).

Whatever precise creature the passage has in view, the theological emphasis is unmistakable: this enormously powerful creature exists because God made it. Its strength is immense, its bones are described as bronze and iron, and yet its extraordinary power places it nowhere near God's level because it remains a creature under God's authority.

Leviathan intensifies the lesson. God asks Job, “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?” and describes a creature so formidable that no human is fierce enough to stir him up (Job 41:1, 10).

Yet the climax of the description is not Leviathan's power but God's question: “Who then is he who can stand before me?” (Job 41:10). The terrifying creature becomes a measuring stick for human weakness, but human weakness itself becomes a measuring stick for recognizing the immeasurable sovereignty of God.

Psalm 104 provides an especially beautiful counterpoint to human fear. After describing Leviathan's overwhelming power, the psalm says, “There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it” (Psalm 104:26).

What appears terrifying from the human perspective exists comfortably inside God's creation. The creature that humans cannot master is something God formed. This changes how Scripture wants us to look at imposing creatures and imposing men.

Goliath says, “Look at me,” while God effectively says, “Look at what I have made.” The giant wants his size to become the measure of reality; God displays creatures whose size and strength should instead cause humanity to marvel at the One whose command encompasses them all.

The question is never simply, “How great is the creature?” but “How great is the God who made and commands the creature?”

That is why David's courage is fundamentally an act of remembrance. He remembers that the God who rules Israel is YHWH of Hosts, the God whose authority encompasses armies, nations, creatures, and creation itself.

Goliath's spear does not become smaller; God becomes larger in David's sight. The giant does not cease to be imposing; the giant ceases to be ultimate. The same truth reaches beyond ancient giants to every intimidating reality a person may face.

A powerful ruler, an enemy, an institution, a dangerous creature, an overwhelming circumstance, or anything else capable of producing fear remains within the boundaries of God's sovereignty. What stands before us may be greater than our strength without ever being greater than His authority.

This is why the biblical answer to fear is not always to insist that the thing we fear is harmless. Sometimes Scripture allows us to say plainly: Yes, that is formidable. Yes, that creature is powerful. Yes, that man is imposing. Yes, that situation exceeds your ability.

Now remember who made it, who commands it, and whose Name stands above it.

The progression from Genesis to David to Job therefore reaches a profound conclusion. The “men of the name” may establish reputations, Babel may attempt to manufacture a name, Babylon may boast of what it has built, Tyre may exalt itself to divine status, and Goliath may defy God's people—but none of these can approach the sovereignty of YHWH.

His Name is not one name among many; it is the Name before which every creature's greatness finds its proper scale.

And that is the remembrance God's people need when confronted by something that looks impossibly large: do not let the size of the creature determine the size of your God. The giant is still a creature. The beast is still a creature. The king is still a creature. The enemy is still a creature.

YHWH alone is Creator, Sovereign, and Lord of Hosts—and therefore His Name is greater than anything we could ever face.

Reflection on Giants Who Want to Make a Name For Themselves

Romans 1 gives the theological diagnosis behind the entire pattern: humanity “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23).

Paul's concern is not simply that people worshiped the wrong objects; it is that they reversed the proper order of creation, directing toward created things the reverence that belongs to their Creator.

What God made was intended to reveal His eternal power and divine nature, yet humanity “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25), turning the created world from a testimony to God's greatness into an object of worship itself.

This provides a profound backdrop for the giants, beasts, kings, and warriors that have been examined: the danger is not that creation is unimpressive, but that its impressiveness can capture the human gaze and displace the One who made it.

The proper response to an imposing creature or powerful man is therefore not worship, despair, or self-exaltation, but remembrance—to look at the creature and allow its greatness to direct our attention beyond itself to the infinitely greater Creator.

Paul ends the thought with the proper orientation: “the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 1:25).

“the Name that is above very name”

Philippians 2:6–11 brings the entire biblical “Name” theme to its climax by showing that Jesus possesses “the Name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9).

The movement is deliberately downward before it is upward: Christ does not grasp at status, but empties Himself, takes the form of a servant, humbles Himself, and becomes obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.

Therefore God highly exalts Him and bestows on Him the Name above every name, so that every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9–11).

The contrast with Babel, the mighty men, proud kings, and Goliath could hardly be sharper: they seek to establish their own name, elevate their own power, or compel recognition of their greatness, while Jesus receives supreme exaltation through humble obedience.

His Name is not the product of self-promotion; it is the Name God publicly vindicates and places above every competing name.

This also brings the giant theme into its proper perspective. Scripture presents imposing men and beasts whose size, strength, authority, or reputation can overwhelm human beings, yet every one remains a creature beneath the sovereignty of God; Jesus is Lord over all of them.

The Name David invoked when he stood before Goliath—“the name of YHWH of Hosts” (1 Samuel 17:45)—is ultimately revealed in the risen and exalted Christ, whose lordship encompasses heaven, earth, and everything under the earth.

Therefore the believer does not need to deny the magnitude of what stands before him in order to have courage; he remembers that no name, no giant, no king, no beast, no power, and no creature can occupy the place belonging to Jesus Christ.

The proper response to everything imposing is worship directed upward: “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).

Conclusion

The testimony of Scripture calls us to remember that nothing imposing is ever independent of God.

Giants may tower over men, kings may build kingdoms, nations may accumulate power, beasts may possess strength beyond human control, and circumstances may rise before us with terrifying force, but every one of them remains part of creation and therefore beneath the sovereignty of its Creator.

The great failure described in Romans 1 is to allow the greatness of created things to capture the worship that belongs to God alone; the great faith demonstrated by David is to look directly at what inspires fear and remember the Name that stands above it.

Jesus Christ now stands as the ultimate fulfillment of this truth—the One who humbled Himself, was exalted by the Father, and received the Name above every name. Therefore, when confronted by anything that appears greater than us, we need not pretend that it is small; we need to remember that it is not greater than Him.

No giant, no king, no beast, no power, and no name can rise beyond the authority of Jesus Christ, and the proper response to everything that makes us look up in fear is to lift our eyes higher still—in worship of the Creator, the Sovereign Lord of Hosts, whose Name is above every name.