And they ascended by the south, and came. — The latter verb is in the singular number in the Hebrew text: he came. It is quite possible that the twelve spies may not always have been together, and that one only may have gone to Hebron.
Animan, Sheshai, and Talmai. — Some suppose these to be the names of tribes, not of individuals. It is quite possible, however, that the same individuals may have been still alive when the city of Hebron was assigned to Caleb, about fifty years later, and when he drove out these three sons of Anak (Joshua 15:14).
The children of Anak. — Better, the children of the Anakim. (Comp. Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:2.) When Anak, as an individual, is mentioned, as in Numbers 13:33, the article is omitted.
Before Zoan in Egypt. — Zoan, or Tanis, on the eastern bank of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, appears to have been the residence of Pharaoh in the days of Moses (Psalms 78:12). Hebron was in existence in the days of Abraham (Genesis 13:18; Genesis 23:2, &c.).