Hebrew word · H6024

עֲנָב

'anav

Anab

A proper name for a town. It looks like the common noun ʿēnāv, 'grape', so a plausible meaning is 'grape-place'. Place names in Israel were often taken from local produce or features of the land.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Anab = "fruit"

a city in the mountains of southern Judah, 18 miles southwest of Hebron

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 15:50

Range of meaning

A proper name for a town. It looks like the common noun ʿēnāv, 'grape', so a plausible meaning is 'grape-place'. Place names in Israel were often taken from local produce or features of the land.

Against the English

All English versions transliterate it as 'Anab'. Nothing is lost except the possible wordplay on 'grape', which a Hebrew speaker might have heard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua 11:21 names Anab with Hebron and Debir as places where Joshua 'cut off the Anakim' (the giant-clan tradition of the southern hills). The name survives at Khirbet ʿAnab (es-Saghir and el-Kabir), about 20 km southwest of Hebron. This identification is widely accepted (Aharoni, The Land of the Bible; Anchor Bible Dictionary).

Where it appears

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 11:21 עֲנָ֔ב Anab

    At that time Joshua proceeded to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction, along with their cities.

    Here: Anab, a smaller town in the southern hills listed among Judah's towns (Josh 15:50). The name may mean 'grape.' It's mentioned only here and there.

  2. Joshua 15:50 וַעֲנָ֥ב and Anab

    Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,

    Here: A town in the hill country of Judah, southwest of Hebron. The name probably sounds like the Hebrew word for 'grape' (ʿēnāv), fitting for a vine-growing district, though that meaning is likely, not certain. The 'and' joins it to the list carried over from verse 48.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.