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| 1 And this is what the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, allotted for inheritance to them: |
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| 2 their inheritance was by lot, as Jehovah had commanded by Moses, for the nine tribes, and the half tribe. |
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| 3 For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half tribe beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them. |
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| 4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim; and they gave no part to the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance. |
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| 5 As Jehovah had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land. |
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| 6 Then the children of Judah came near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, Thou knowest the word that Jehovah spoke to Moses the man of God, concerning me and thee, in Kadesh-barnea. |
Caleb – A descendant of Abraham through the rejected son Esau, and adopted into the tribe of Judah. His faithfulness and reward have special meaning to us who by nature are children of wrath, typified by Esau. R3091:1
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| 7 Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of Jehovah sent me from Kadesh-barnea to search out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. |
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| 8 And my brethren that had gone up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed Jehovah my God. |
My brethren – Note the absence of any evil speaking against those who sinned. R3091:6
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| 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, The land whereon thy feet have trodden shall assuredly be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever! for thou hast wholly followed Jehovah my God. |
Thine inheritance – Caleb did not expect, and was not promised, a heavenly inheritance. R4071:2
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| 10 And now behold, Jehovah has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years, since Jehovah spoke this word to Moses, when Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. |
These 45 years – Link No. 22 in the true Bible chronology. B48
From the sending of the spies to the division of the land, leaving one year from the leaving of Egypt to the sending of the spies. HG44:3
Forty-six years after the exodus. R1980:3; B48
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| 11 I am still this day strong, as 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. |
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| 12 And now give me this mountain, of which Jehovah spoke in that day; for thou heardest in that day that Anakim are there, and great fortified cities. If so be Jehovah shall be with me, then I shall dispossess them, as Jehovah said. |
Anakims – Among these entrenched enemies are traditions of men, religious customs, nominalism, sectarian pride, ambition and love of show. R3091:5
I shall be able – This well illustrates the progress of the spiritual Israelite. He looks back to the beginning of his experiences and rejoices that the Lord has kept him and has faith to see himself victor over the strongest and most entrenched enemies of the flesh. R3091:5
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| 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. |
Joshua blessed him – In order to inherit the promises we, like Caleb, must have faith in God and a corresponding obedience. R3092:4
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| 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed Jehovah the God of Israel. |
Wholly followed – These words have special weight in view of the fact that Caleb was only an Israelite by adoption. R3091:1
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| 15 Now the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-Arba; the great man among the Anakim. And the land rested from war. |
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