Joshua 15:14

And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak,.... Some think this was after the death of Joshua, and is here inserted by some other person divinely inspired, and thoroughly acquainted with this

And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

Thence, i.e. from the said territory, from their caves and and forts in it: compare . This and the following work was done either in Joshua’ s life-time, as may seem from , or after his death, as is related ; these giants having either recovered their cities or defended themselves in the mountains. Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai; either the same who are mentioned , and so they were long-lived men, such as many were in those times and places; or their sons, called by their fathers’ names, which is very usual.

Joshua 15:14 And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.Ver. 14. And Caleb drove thence.] Nos quoque militemus, Heaven is not to be had sine sanguine et sudore, without pains, patience, violence.

(13-19) And unto Caleb . . . This paragraph occurs also in Judges 1:10-15, with some slight variations. Which is its original place? In Judges it is connected with the continuation of the conquest of Canaan by the tribe of Judah after Joshua’s death, and there we read they slew (literally, smote) Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. If this is the death, and not merely the defeat of the Anakim (the Hebrew word is not absolutely decisive), we have two stages in the conquest of Hebron described—viz., (l) the expulsion of the Anakim sufficiently for Caleb to occupy the place; and (2) their final defeat and death. It seems hardly possible to make the narrative in Judges 1 a mere repetition of an earlier story, because it is presented as a part of that which happened after Joshua’s death. It would seem, then, that the entire conquest of the Anakim was not effected at once, but begun by Caleb and Joshua in Joshua’s lifetime, and completed by the tribe of Judah, under the leadership of Caleb, after Joshua’s death. It is remarkable that Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai are mentioned as apparently living when the twelve spies went up from Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 13:22), forty years before. But it has been thought that the three names were the names of three clans of the Anakim. (See Notes on Judges 1:10.) Upon the whole, it seems most reasonable to conclude that the proceedings by which Caleb secured his inheritance, and fulfilled the promise of Jos 14:12, have been recorded here for the sake of completeness, though not necessarily belonging to this time. (15) Kirjath-sepher.—“City of books.” (17) Othniel the son of Kenaz.—Comp. Judges 3:9. (19) A south land—i.e., land in the Negeb: “a series of rolling hills clad with scanty herbage here and there.” Conder does not identify Debir, but others have taken it to be identical with Dewir-ban, about three miles west of Hebron. The upper springs, and the nether springs—i.e., the upper and lower “bubblings,” or pools of a rivulet in a valley among the hills in this neighbourhood.

Verse 14. The three sons of Anak] See Clarke on Joshua 14:15.

14. the three sons of Anak] Three chiefs of the Anakims. Comp. Numbers 13:22.

See the marginal references.

14. The three sons of Anak — Joshua had cut off the Anakim from the mountains and destroyed their cities, (Joshua 11:21,) but after his army retired northward these three old chieftains had rallied