Caleb stands ready to claim what God pledged to him in a land securely under the LORD’s dominion.
In “Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, ‘You know the word which the LORD spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea’” (v.6), the scene unfolds at Gilgal, a site near Jericho where the Israelites first encamped after miraculously crossing the Jordan River. Gilgal served as a vital camp and gathering place for the Israelites as they prepared to conquer Canaan, and appears multiple times throughout Scripture as the backdrop for communal worship and important national events. The tribe of Judah now gathers around Joshua, who has led Israel to many victories during the land’s conquest, and Caleb—the faithful spy who, decades earlier, stood alongside Joshua—is about to remind him of a promise made by God through Moses. Kadesh-barnea (mentioned in the verse) was the southern staging ground from which Moses had sent spies into Canaan (Numbers 13:1-3). The “sons of Judah” in this verse likely refers to both a coalition of Judahites as well as a formal delegation seeking land allocations, but it is Caleb, the Kenizzite who joined the tribe of Judah, who speaks on behalf of God’s enduring pledge.At approximately 1406 BC, near the final stages of the seven-year conquest of Canaan, Caleb approaches Joshua to invoke the divine word once spoken by “Moses the man of God.” That word promised him a portion of the land in recognition of his faithfulness, stemming from the days he and Joshua brought back a faithful report from spying out Canaan. Caleb’s mention of Kadesh-barnea underlines his longstanding devotion; he boldly asks Joshua to acknowledge the LORD’s promise that had been given years before. This moment signals Caleb’s confidence in God, as well as in Joshua’s leadership, and exemplifies the mutual history the two men share as the sole survivors of the older generation who remained steadfast in their trust of God’s covenant.
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Joshua 14:6 meaning
In “Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, ‘You know the word which the LORD spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea’” (v.6), the scene unfolds at Gilgal, a site near Jericho where the Israelites first encamped after miraculously crossing the Jordan River. Gilgal served as a vital camp and gathering place for the Israelites as they prepared to conquer Canaan, and appears multiple times throughout Scripture as the backdrop for communal worship and important national events. The tribe of Judah now gathers around Joshua, who has led Israel to many victories during the land’s conquest, and Caleb—the faithful spy who, decades earlier, stood alongside Joshua—is about to remind him of a promise made by God through Moses. Kadesh-barnea (mentioned in the verse) was the southern staging ground from which Moses had sent spies into Canaan (Numbers 13:1-3). The “sons of Judah” in this verse likely refers to both a coalition of Judahites as well as a formal delegation seeking land allocations, but it is Caleb, the Kenizzite who joined the tribe of Judah, who speaks on behalf of God’s enduring pledge.At approximately 1406 BC, near the final stages of the seven-year conquest of Canaan, Caleb approaches Joshua to invoke the divine word once spoken by “Moses the man of God.” That word promised him a portion of the land in recognition of his faithfulness, stemming from the days he and Joshua brought back a faithful report from spying out Canaan. Caleb’s mention of Kadesh-barnea underlines his longstanding devotion; he boldly asks Joshua to acknowledge the LORD’s promise that had been given years before. This moment signals Caleb’s confidence in God, as well as in Joshua’s leadership, and exemplifies the mutual history the two men share as the sole survivors of the older generation who remained steadfast in their trust of God’s covenant.