And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.
Kirjath-arba - i:e., the city of Arba-a warrior among the native race remarkable for strength and stature. The verse literally rendered should stand thus: 'And the name of Hebron before was the city of Arba, the great man among the Anakims' (Robinson, 'Biblical Researches,' 2:, p. 454, note; Havernick's 'Introduction,' pp. 145, 146). х lªpaaniym (H6440), "before" - i e., previous to the invasion, and when the spies went to search the land, the southern portion of which was occupied by the Anakim, who acquired it by conquest after the time of Abraham. The Septuagint has: to proteron. But that version reads, instead of Arba, the city of Argob.] The Israelites, on their settlement, restored the original name Hebron (see the note at Gen. 23:22).
The land had rest from war. Most of the kings having been slain, and the natives dispirited, there were no general or systematic attempts to resist the progress and settlement of the Israelites (cf. Joshua 11:23).