‘ And Caleb drove from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahinam and Talmai, the children of Anak.'
For these three sons of Anak compare Numbers 13:22. Their size was one of the main reasons for the fear of the Israelite scouts who surveyed the land of Canaan. They are mentioned here in order to demonstrate YHWH's final victory over them by one of the two faithful scouts. Joshua 1:10 says that they ‘smote them'. Hebron and its towns, having been originally weakened and ‘devoted' by Joshua, probably being burned with fire (Joshua 10:36-37), were now to be finally possessed and settled. The Canaanites, once driven out, would not be allowed to return. From now on Hebron belonged to Israel and was a thoroughly Israelite city (1 Samuel 30:31; 2Sa 2:1; 2 Samuel 2:3; 2 Samuel 2:11).
Their names suggest a possible Aramaic origin. For Sheshai compare Ezra 10:40. For Ahiman consider ‘brother of Meni' (Isaiah 65:11 - Meni is ‘Destiny', the god of fortune). The name Talmai is found among the Geshurites, an Aramean tribe (Joshua 13:13; 2 Samuel 3:3; 2 Samuel 13:7), and in Nabatean inscriptions from North Arabia.