Kirjath-Arba

Kirjath-arba — spelled Kiriath-arba in UPDV — is the older name of the city better known as Hebron. The name and its newer equivalent are paired in the text whenever the older form is used, so that the reader can locate the city under either name.

The older name of Hebron

The older form first surfaces at Sarah's death: "And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her." (Ge 23:2). The parenthetical equation is a fixed editorial pattern — wherever the archaic name is given, the newer name is placed alongside.

In the conquest narrative, the equation comes with a tradition about the older name's origin: "Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba, which was great among man of Anakim. And the land had rest from war." (Jos 14:15). The verse pairs the older toponym with the Anakim — the giant inhabitants of the southern hill-country whom Caleb dislodged. A UPDV note glosses the awkward construct ("among man of Anakim") as "among the people of Anakim."

The book of Judges repeats the equation when narrating Judah's southern campaign: "And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai." (Jud 1:10). Once again the older name is given as a parenthetical alongside the current one. Across these passages the picture is consistent: Kirjath-arba is the city's earlier designation, displaced by the name Hebron in current usage but still cited whenever the narrative is reaching back to patriarchal or pre-conquest events.