Based on this explanation, we can now better appreciate Rashi’s commentary on the continuation of the verse “(there we saw the Nephilim...) we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes”:
Rashi explains: “And so we were in their eyes — we heard them saying to each other, ‘There are ants in the vineyards which look like men.’” He then cites the word, “Anak {a giant}” and explains {that they were thus called} “because they wore the sun like a necklace {ma’anikim} with their height.”
This requires clarification: a) What compels Rashi to find an explanation of the word “Anak”? b) If this word must indeed be explained, why doesn’t Rashi provide this explanation earlier on the verse, “and we also saw there the offspring of the anak {giant}”? c) Why does Rashi explain the meaning of “Anak” after his comment on “and so we were in their eyes,” which is the inverse of the order in the verse (“the sons of a giant... we were... in our eyes... and so we were in their eyes”)?
The explanation:
When dealing with ordinary giants — tall people — a regular person wouldn’t appear like “ants (in the vineyards)” in relation to them. This is because the height ratio between a giant and a regular person (who is three cubits tall) is nowhere near the ratio between a person and an ant. Therefore, only after Rashi explains, “we heard them saying to each other, ‘There are ants...’” must he clarify the meaning of the word “Anak {giant}” in this context: “they wore the sun like a necklace with their height.”
This aligns with the distinction explained above between these two verses: The spies’ first statement, “and we also saw there the offspring of the anak {giant},” refers to ordinary giants. Only in our verse, where the spies spoke of “Nephilim... who fell from the heavens,” are we discussing giants who “wore the sun like a necklace with their height”; and as a result, “we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes.”
