Old Testament · History

Joshua 14

Caleb's Portion

Eighty-five years old, and Caleb still wants the mountain with the giants on it. The same faith he had at forty burns just as hot.

King James Version BSB KJV

1And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.

2By lot was their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.

3For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and an half tribe on the other side Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them.

4For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance.

5As the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land.

6Then 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 Kadesh-barnea.

7Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

8Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

9And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

10And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

13And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

14Hebron 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.

15And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

Understand This

Joshua 14, explained

What Joshua 14 is saying

The western land distribution begins at Gilgal under the supervision of Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the tribal heads. Caleb, now eighty-five years old, approaches Joshua and recalls the promise Moses made forty-five years earlier at Kadesh-barnea: because Caleb wholly followed Yahweh, he would receive the land his feet had surveyed. Caleb requests Hebron—the most fortified territory, still held by the giant Anakim—and Joshua blesses and grants it.

The background behind it

Caleb was one of two faithful spies (with Joshua) from the Kadesh-barnea reconnaissance of Numbers 13–14. His Kenizzite heritage (v. 6, 14) may indicate non-Israelite origins integrated into the tribe of Judah, mirroring Rahab's inclusion.

Themes running underneath

Caleb's request embodies faith that does not diminish with age or seek comfort. His insistence on the most difficult territory—'give me this hill country'—contrasts sharply with the fear of the original spies. Wholehearted faithfulness (shalem) is the chapter's keynote, used three times of Caleb.

Why it still matters

Caleb at eighty-five did not ask for retirement—he asked for the hardest assignment. His example challenges the notion that faith becomes passive with age or experience.

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Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.