Joshua 21:11

Verse 11. The city of Arba] See Clarke on Jos 14:15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. the city of Arbah] See above, Jos_15:13.

which city is Hebron] See above, Jos_15:13.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they gave them the city of Arba, the father of Anak,.... Which from him was called Kirjatharba, Jos 14:15; and Anak, according to Kimchi, is not the name of a man, but a general name, comprehending the Anakims, a race of giants, among whom Arba was the chief and principal man, a prince and ruler over them, as Ben Melech:

which city is Hebron in the hill country of Judah; as in Jos 14:15; see Luk 1:39,

with the suburbs thereof round about it; as far as two thousand cubits, which were to put their cattle in, and provision for them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

11. Hebron — See on Jos_10:3, and Jos_14:12. We here meet the difficulty of a double proprietorship. We have seen in Jos_14:13, that Joshua gave Hebron to Caleb as a reward for his fidelity, but now we find that the same city is bestowed upon the priests. Our solution of this difficulty is, that the Levites did not have exclusive ownership of these cities. From Num_3:39, we learn that the census of the Levites was about twenty-two thousand males of a month old and upward.

This would give less than five hundred males, adult and children, to each of the forty-eight cities. As Hebron and Shechem and several others were large and important, the inference is, that the Levites had ample inheritance in these cities sufficient to give a sacred character to them. We have an intimation of this in Jos_21:12. For the Hebrews who tilled the fields of Caleb’s sons must have resided in Hebron for protection. Again, in the law requiring the alienated house and pasture land of the Levite to revert to him in the year of jubilee, there is implied that others than Levites lived with them. Lev_25:32-34.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the hill country of Judah. The word in the original is rh, mountain, the title which is consistently applied to the highlands of Palestine in the Bible, while our version translates indiscriminately by "mountain" and "hill."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Arba had been the father of Anak

This is background information about the name of the man who founded the city of Kiriath Arba. (See: Background Information)

Anak

This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)

hill country

An area of land with natural elevations, smaller than mountains.

pasturelands

An area covered with grass or plants suitable for the grazing of livestock or cattle.

fields of the city

Areas of open land, usually, planted with crops, belonging to and surrounding the city.

villages

Small communities, usually smaller than a town.

translationWords

Hebron

Caleb

possess

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.