Biography of Caleb

Numbers 13

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying

2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.

4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.

9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country.

18 “See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.

19 “How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?

20 “How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

The Spies’ Reports

25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,

26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

28 “Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

29 “Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”

32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

33 “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Numbers 14

1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel

11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?...

22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it...

30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

Joshua 14

14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.

From Jewish Encyclopedia, by Morris Jastrow Jr., George A. Barton, Marcus Jastrow, and Louis Ginzberg

—Biblical Data:

According to the Biblical text, Caleb was of the tribe of Judah. He represented that tribe among the twelve spies whom Mosessent from the wilderness to spy out Canaan. He and Joshua alone brought back an encouraging report, and in consequence were the only ones of all that came out of Egypt who were permitted to survive and enter Canaan (Num. xiii. 6, 30; xiv. passim; xxvi. 65; xxxii. 12; xxxiv. 19; Deut. i. 36). After the conquest he was given Hebron and the region around it. In the conquest of this territory he offered the hand of Achsah, his daughter, to the man who would capture Hebron for him; the feat was accomplished and the maiden won by Caleb's younger brother, Othniel. To him was assigned the south land, to which later, at Achsah's request, "the upper springs" were added (Josh. xiv., xv.; and Judges i. passim). His name is connected with several towns in southern Judah (I Chron. ii. passim).J. Jr. G. A. B.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

In the rabbinical sources, Caleb, the son of Hezron (I Chron. ii. 18-20), is identified with Caleb, the son of Jephunneh (Num. xiii. 6), the epithet "Jephunneh" having been given to him because he "turned away" ( = ) from the sinful intention of the other spies who advised the people against going into the Holy Land. Caleb is also called (I Chron. iv. 5) "Ashhur," because his face became black () from much fasting, and "father of Tekoa" (), because he fastened () his heart on God, and in this faith he married the prophetess Miriam, whom, although she was neither fair nor healthy, he treated with fatherly love (), appreciating her own piety and her relationship to such brothers as Moses and Aaron.

Although the son of Jephunneh, Caleb is also called "the Kenizzite" (A. V., "Kenezite," Josh. xiv. 6, 14; compare Judges i. 13), because Kenaz, the father of Othniel, was his stepfather; Othniel thus being in fact his half-brother (Soṭah 11a, 12a, where the names of Azubah's children [I Chron. ii. 18] are applied to Caleb in haggadic fashion; see also Ex. R. i. 17).

When Caleb came to Palestine as one of the spies, he visited the graves of the Patriarchs in Hebron (compare Num. xiii. 22) and prayed for their help against the sinful intention of his colleagues (Soṭah 34b). It was also he alone who insisted that the spies should take some of the fruits of the country with them in order to convince the people of the extraordinary fertility of Palestine. As they did not wish to do this Caleb drew his sword and said: "If you will not take any fruit with you, then either my life or yours!" (Tan., Shelaḥ 15, ed. Buber; Num. R. xvi. 14). Thoroughly realizing the evil intentions of the spies, and knowing that it was useless to attempt to dissuade them, he did not betray his plans to them, but acted as if he agreed with them (Tan., l.c. 19; Num. R, l.c. 19). But when the spies began to incite the people against Moses, and hissed Joshua, who attempted to act as peacemaker, Caleb, whom they had thought to be on their side, rose and said, "This is not the only thing the son of Amram has done for us."—here all the ring-leaders were silent—"He has taken us out of Egypt; he has divided the sea for us; and he has fed us with manna. Now, therefore, if he were to command us to make ladders and scale the heavens, we should obey him. Let us go up at once and take possession" (Soṭah 35a; Num. R. l.c.; Tan., l.c.). When the country was divided, Caleb and Joshua received the portions that had been intended for the other spies (B. B. 117b, 118b).

Caleb was the father of Hur from his second wife Ephrath (I Chron. ii. 19), and, therefore, the progenitor of the Davidic house, the "Ephrathite" (I Sam. xvii. 12; Soṭah 11b; Sanh. 69b).J. Sr. L. G.

—Critical View:

The eponymous ancestor of the clan of Calebites. Since "Caleb" signifies dog, it has been thought that the dog was the totem of the clan. Modern criticism finds several different strata to this material, representing different points of view. The oldest writer (J) calls him simply Caleb in Josh. xv. 14-19; and Judges i. connects him with the expulsion of the sons of Anak from Hebron, and with the gift of Achsah and of certain lands to Othniel. D and P call him Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and make him one of the twelve spies. In the original form of the story he alone brought back the favorable report, and so of all that came out of Egypt he alone entered Canaan.

From Wikipedia

Caleb (Hebrew כָּלֵב; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev), the son of Jephunneh, is an important figure in the Hebrew Bible, noted for his faith in God when the Hebrews refused to enter the "promised land" of Canaan. When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses (the Hebrew leader) sent twelve messengers, scouts (or spies, meraglim in Hebrew) into Canaan to report on what was there—one spy representing each of the twelve (landed) tribes. Ten of the scouts returned to say that the land would be impossible to claim, and that giants lived there who would crush the Hebrew army. Only two, Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim) and Caleb (representing Judah), returned and said that God would be able to deliver Canaan into the hands of the Hebrew nation.

The Bible records that, because of the testimony of the ten scouts, the Hebrews chose not to enter Canaan: for this disobedience, God caused them to wander in the desert for forty years before being allowed to enter Canaan and conquer it as their home. The only adult Hebrews allowed to survive these forty years and enter Canaan were Joshua and Caleb, as a reward for their faith in God. This is recorded in the Book of Numbers.

Caleb was likely an Israelite by choice. Caleb is noted as being the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, Numbers 32:12. The Kenizzites are listed as a tribe in the land promised to Abram (Abraham), Genesis 15:19. This status seems likely if you consider Caleb's appointment as a scout. It would benefit the Israelites to choose one who knew the land, who spoke a native dialect, who looked like the inhabitants, and who was familiar with their military methods.

Caleb's name is spelled with the same consonants as כֶּ֫לֶב kéleḇ meaning "dog", prompting the common conclusion that the name Caleb means "dog". However, this is not clear. 1 Samuel 25:3 states that Nabal, the husband of Abigail before David, was of the house of Caleb. In Hebrew, the word used for this reference is כָּלִבִּי Kālibbî, and the presence of the -î suffix exposes the double consonant indicating two ב radicals fused together. The Hebrew word לֵב lēḇ, meaning "heart", has the same stem form לִבּ libb-. If כָּ kā- is to be understood as the preposition kə- meaning "as; like", and the vowel as the pretone syllable promoted to ā, then the name כָּלֵב Kālēḇ could also be understood to mean "as the heart". Indeed, a more flowery form of the word for "heart" is לֵבָב lēḇāḇ, where the two ב radicals are not fused but separated by a vowel. Biblical text uses the flowery expression כְּלֵבָב kəlēḇāḇ "as the heart" and כִּלְבַב kilḇaḇ "as the heart of", and there is also the modern expression כִּלְבָבִי k'l'vavi "after my own heart".