Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim
“Eimim – as anyone who saw them, fear of them [eimatan] would descend upon them.” Bereshit Rabbah 26:7
Opening up with a simple etymology from Ibn Ezra “The Emim. They were so called because they were frightening. Emah means fear.”1 This same interpretation is affirmed by Bereshit Rabbah “Eimim – as anyone who saw them, fear of them [eimatan] would descend upon them.”2 Why this fear existed in the people who saw them is unclear, but if we are to assume they were giants all the same as their brethren the Rephaim and Zuzim, then their giant stature would strike fear into the hearts of other warriors. This would be quite similar to Goliath and the other warriors of Saul’s army who were fearful of his stature; although Goliath himself was not outright stated to be an Emim there is the reality Orpah, being a Moabite, might imply Goliath's father was some sort of Moabite Emim.
In Deuteronomy we are given a pretty explicit explanation of the Emim “And the Lord said to me, Do not distress the Moabites, and do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land [as] an inheritance, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot [as] an inheritance. The Emim dwelt there formerly, a great and numerous people, and tall [in stature], as the Anakim; They also are considered Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.”3 Not only does the line confirm these Emim are from Moab unlike the Zuzim in Ammon, but it helpfully directly explains them as a group that is ‘considered Rephaim’. The text even goes on to say the Anakim fit this category, and might be the same people as the Emim, but the Moabites gave them the name Emim, while the Ammonites called them Zuzim. Effectively both groups might be specific classes of Anakim explaining why Anakim are sometimes left off the lists which include either group.
Going back to Ramban for a source on these Emim he says “THE EMIM ABODE THEREIN FORMERLY etc....Those Emim were considered Rephaim, like Anakim who are called Rephaim [from the root raphoh — weak] because the hands of everyone who sees them become ‘weak.’...Emim [from the root eimah — fear] are so called because their ‘dread’ lays upon people.” This is Rashi’s language....They defeated [the Emim] and drove them from before them; it is therefore not proper to take from them by force the land which G-d gave them through a miracle....This is interpreted by Rashi to mean: “The Emim who formerly lived in the lands of Ammon and Moab were accounted as Rephaim, that is, the Anakim.”4
We effectively see that these names are all pretty interchangeable, and signal a sort of interconnected tribal class of “Rephaim” or “Giants” (whatever their actual title may be) which serve some kind of social function as warriors, or military leaders. They are perhaps some sort of mercenary group that changes their title based on the regional flavor, or even era of their existence giving rise to the varying yet still similar names centered around a general theme.
Back to Ramban he continues “It is possible that such is also the meaning of the expression written above [with reference to Moab], these also are ‘yeichashvu’ Rephaim, Scripture stating that the Emim who formerly dwelled there are...also “accounted” Rephaim since they were part of them, and they were as the Anakim , and therefore they [the Moabites] called them ‘Emim’ [because their “dread,” like that of the Anakim lay upon the people...The Moabites and the Ammonites were the ones that changed [the name of the Rephaim] to other names: [the Moabites calling them] Emim and [the Ammonites calling them] Zamzummim. Joshua 13:3.”5 Ramban again confirms all this by saying that the different groups that settled in the region simply gave different names to the various Rephaim groups based on slightly differing qualities.
There is one further reference from Ramban regarding the Emim that actually sends us down a sort of rabbit hole we will explore in the following section: “First it states that the Emim were also of the Rephaim and the Moabites succeeded them. Then it states that the children of Esau succeeded the Horites, who were also of the Rephaim.”6 An explosive implication from this line, but it appears Ramban is suggesting just as the Moabites replaced the Emim - and the Ammonites replaced the Zuzim - the Edomites (Esau’s descendants) would have replaced the Horites makings them actually a group of Rephaim! This is quite stunning, and would place their ancestry among these ‘giants’, but we will see a complete lack of textual reference to any physical size of the Horites making it a tenuous link to include them in the group of giants, but Ramban giving us some Rabbinic precedence.
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 14:5:2
Bereshit Rabbah 26:7
Deuteronomy 2:9-11
Ramban on Deuteronomy 2:10:1
Ramban on Deuteronomy 2:20:1
Ramban on Deuteronomy 2:23:1