Numbers 13:22 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

Here Moses having generally described their process and course from south to north, now returns more particularly to relate some memorable places and passages, as that having entered the land in the southern parts, they travelled then till they came to Hebron. Came, Heb. he came, to wit, Caleb, as appears from Joshua 14:9,12,14; for, as was now intimated, the spies distributed their work among them, and went either severally, or by pairs: and, it seems, the survey of this part was left to Caleb. Anak; a famous giant so called, whose children these are called, either more generally, as all giants sometimes were, or rather more specially, because Arba, from whom Hebron was called Kirjath-arba, was the father of Anak, Joshua 15:13. And this circumstance is mentioned as an evidence of the goodness of that land and soil, because the giants chose it for their habitation. Before Zoan in Egypt: this seems to be noted to confront the Egyptians, who vainly boasted of the antiquity of their city Zoan above all places.

Numbers 13:22

22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)