Caleb
A dog. (1.) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. He is also called Chelubai (1 Chr 2:9). His descendants are enumerated (18-20, 42-49).
(2.) A “son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah” (1 Chr 2:50). Some would read the whole passage thus: “These [i.e., the list in ver. 42-49] were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, were Shobal, etc.” Thus Hur would be the name of the son and not the father of Caleb (ver. 19).
(3.) The son of Jephunneh (Num 13:6; Num 32:12; Josh 14:6, Josh 14:14). He was one of those whom Moses sent to search the land in the second year after the Exodus. He was one of the family chiefs of the tribe of Judah. He and Joshua the son of Nun were the only two of the whole number who encouraged the people to go up and possess the land, and they alone were spared when a plague broke out in which the other ten spies perished (Num 13:1–33; Num 14:1–45). All the people that had been numbered, from twenty years old and upward, perished in the wilderness except these two. The last notice we have of Caleb is when (being then eighty-five years of age) he came to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, after the people had gained possession of the land, and reminded him of the promise Moses had made to him, by virtue of which he claimed a certain portion of the land of Kirjath-arba as his inheritance (Josh 14:6–15; Josh 15:13–15; Josh 21:10–12; 1 Sam 25:2, 1 Sam 25:3; 1 Sam 30:14). He is called a “Kenezite” in Josh 14:6, Josh 14:14. This may simply mean “son of Kenez” (Num 32:12). Some, however, read “Jephunneh, the son of Kenez,” who was a descendant of Hezron, the son of Pharez, a grandson of Judah (1 Chr 2:5). This Caleb may possibly be identical with (2).
(4.) Caleb gave his name apparently to a part of the south country (1 Sam 30:14) of Judah, the district between Hebron and Carmel, which had been assigned to him. When he gave up the city of Hebron to the priests as a city of refuge, he retained possession of the surrounding country (Josh 21:11, Josh 21:12; comp. 1 Sam 25:3).
Named in the Bible
The first 20 of 36 verses
- Numbers 13:6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
- Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
- Numbers 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
- Numbers 14:24 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.
- Numbers 14:30 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.
- Numbers 14:38 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.
- Numbers 26:65 For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
- Numbers 32:12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.
- Numbers 34:19 And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
- Deuteronomy 1:36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
- Joshua 14:6 Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.
- Joshua 14:13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.
- 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.
- Joshua 15:13 And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.
- Joshua 15:14 And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
- Joshua 15:16 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
- Joshua 15:17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
- Joshua 15:18 And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?
- Joshua 21:12 But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.
- Judges 1:12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
