Ver. 12. In that day (for thou heardest) &c.— The LXX and Vulgate construe these words with what goes before, and render the whole thus: Give me, therefore, this mountain, which the Lord promised me, as thou thyself heardst. Beside the city of Hebron, the Anakims possessed at least two others in this district. See Numbers 13:29; Numbers 13:32-33; Judges 11:21 Joshua 20:7.
If—the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able, &c.— Here arises a difficulty. We observed that Joshua had already taken Hebron; how, therefore, can Caleb say now that he shall drive out the Anakims? Some are of opinion, that Caleb claimed the country of Hebron before the city of that name was conquered. But, without making any alteration in the narrative here given by the sacred historian, we may answer, that still, though Joshua had taken the city of Hebron, the Anakims kept in the adjacent mountains, whence they frequently descended and infested the country, and were therefore necessarily to be expelled by Caleb. This conjecture is the more probable, as it appears by the sequel that the city of Hebron was given to the priests, (ch. Joshua 21:11-13.) and not to Caleb, who only possessed the country wherein it stood, and therefore doubtless required no more. We would, however, choose rather to answer, with some other interpreters, that the Anakims had evidently retaken Hebron, and the other cities in that district, while Joshua was engaged elsewhere; in which case, the whole verse might be rendered thus: Now, therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day, as thou thyself then heardest; for though the Anakims are there—if the Lord be with me, I shall be able to drive them out. It must not be thought here, that Caleb at all doubts the faithfulness of God: so far from it, his language is that of a pious and modest man, who means to declare, that without the assistance of heaven he cannot succeed in the enter-prize which his valour had projected. The paraphrase of Jonathan has it, If the WORD of the Lord is my help, agreeable to his usual style throughout. See Houbigant on the place.