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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And these are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed unto them, |
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| 2 by the lot of their inheritance, as Jehovah commanded by Moses, for the nine tribes, and for 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 unto the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. |
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| 4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: and they gave no portion unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for their cattle and for their substance. |
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| 5 As Jehovah commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land. |
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| 6 Then the children of Judah drew nigh unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that Jehovah spake unto Moses the man of God concerning me and concerning 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 spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. |
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| 8 Nevertheless my brethren that went 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 sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and to thy children for ever, because 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 hath kept me alive, as he spake, these forty-five years, from the time that Jehovah spake this word unto Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness: and now, lo, 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 As 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, and to go out and to come in. |
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| 12 Now therefore give me this hill-country, whereof Jehovah spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakim were there, and cities great and fortified: it may be that Jehovah will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as Jehovah spake. |
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 he gave Hebron unto 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 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite unto this day; because that 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 time was Kiriath-arba; which Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. And the land had rest from war. |
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