As the eponymous ancestor of the Anakites, Anak gave his name to a feared people of unusually large warriors who controlled the mountainous regions of southern Canaan with Hebron (Kiriath-Arba) as their power center. His father Arba is described as the foremost among the Anakites, and the city of Hebron originally bore his name. The Anakites are counted in Scripture among the so-called giant peoples, together with the Rephaim and the Emim. When Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan, the mighty stature of Anak’s descendants became the decisive turning point: ten of the spies declared conquest impossible, and the resulting panic-driven rebellion against God led to the judgment of forty years of wandering in the wilderness (Num 13–14). Only Caleb and Joshua held fast to trust in God’s promise. Generations later, Joshua carried out a systematic campaign that drove the Anakites from the mountainous regions, and the aged Caleb fulfilled his personal calling by expelling three named descendants of Anak—Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai—from Hebron. Some Anakites survived in the Philistine coastal cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod, a detail that links their history further to later biblical narrative. In the theological whole, the Anakites serve as a paradigmatic image of overwhelming opposition that can be overcome only through unwavering faith in God’s promises—a lesson fully expressed through the contrast between the people’s fear and Caleb’s steadfastness.
When Moses sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan, they reported seeing descendants of Anak—giants who made the spies feel like grasshoppers by comparison. Hebron, where the Anakim lived, was especially highlighted.
22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim. In our own eyes we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
The terrifying size of the Anakites caused panic among the Israelites, who refused to enter the Promised Land. This rebellion led to God's judgment: an entire generation had to die in the wilderness during 40 years of wandering.
2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!
3Why is the LORD bringing us to this land, only to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
28Where can we go up? Our brothers have melted our hearts with their report: 'The people are greater and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky; and we even saw the Anakites there.'"
Caleb and Joshua were the only spies who trusted God's promise and insisted that Israel could defeat the Anakites. Caleb later asked for the hill country where the Anakites lived as his inheritance, relying on God's power.
24But my servant Caleb—because a different spirit is in him and he has followed me wholeheartedly—him I will bring into the land he entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
12So give me this hill country the LORD spoke of that day, for you yourself heard then that the Anakites are there, with large fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out, just as the LORD said."
14So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.
Joshua destroys the Anakites from the hill countries
During the conquest of Canaan, Joshua led a comprehensive campaign against the Anakites in the hill countries—Hebron, Debir, and Anab—and wiped them out there. Only in the Philistine coastal cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did some survive.
21At that time Joshua went and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction along with their cities.
Caleb captures Hebron and drives out the descendants of Anak
The now 85-year-old Caleb drove the three descendants of Anak—Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai—from Hebron, which was formerly called Kiriath-Arba after Arba, the father of Anak. This fulfilled the promise Caleb had received 45 years earlier.
13To Caleb son of Jephunneh, Joshua gave a portion among the people of Judah, as the LORD had commanded him: Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron—Arba being the ancestor of Anak.
Arba, the father of Anak, is described as the greatest man among the Anakites. The city of Hebron was originally called Kiriath-Arba ('Arba's City') after him, which testifies to this family's dominant position in the hill country of southern Canaan.
13To Caleb son of Jephunneh, Joshua gave a portion among the people of Judah, as the LORD had commanded him: Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron—Arba being the ancestor of Anak.