And the name of Hebron before [was] Kirjatharba,.... According to Jerom , it had its name of Hebron from a son or grandson of Caleb of that name, 1Ch 2:42; and if so, then it is here, and in some other places, so called by anticipation: Kirjatharba may be rendered "the city of the four"; and had its name, as some think, from the four couple buried there, or near it, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah; or from four eminent persons, who formerly dwelt there, Aner, Eshcol, Mamre, and Abraham; or rather from four persons that more lately dwelt there, Anak and his three sons, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai; or Arba is the name of some great man, to whom this city belonged, and so was called the city of Arba, which is the sense of our version, as appears by the following supplement:[which Arba was] a great man among the Anakims; both in stature and in dignity, and in authority, which some take to be Anak himself, the father of the Anakims; so Jarchi and Kimchi:and the land had rest from war; as is observed in Jos 11:23; after Joshua had finished his conquest; and here again it is remarked just before the division of the land, as being now a proper time for it.
De loc. Heb. fol. 87. F.