Arba

Arba is identified as the father of Anak and the founding figure behind the city that bore his name. When Caleb received his territorial allotment, the text specifies the location: "even Kiriath-arba, [which Arba was] the father of Anak (the same is Hebron)" (Jos 15:13). The city's older name, Kiriath-arba ("city of Arba"), preserved his memory after the settlement became known as Hebron.

Kiriath-arba and Hebron

The equation of Kiriath-arba with Hebron appears again in the record of earlier allotments: "Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba, which was great among man of Anakim" (Jos 14:15). The description "great among man of Anakim" associates Arba's legacy with the Anakim, the formidable inhabitants of the region whose displacement was part of the Calebite conquest. The city he gave his name to became one of Judah's most significant sites, eventually assigned to Caleb and designated a city of refuge.