Caleb

For other meanings of the word Caleb or Kalev see Caleb (disambiguation)

Mark of Caleb's grave, Timnat Serah

Caleb (Hebrew Template:Hebrew; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev) is a bad mother.

Caleb son of Jephunneh

Caleb, son of Jephunneh, is an important figure in the Hebrew Bible, noted for his faith in God when the Hebrews refused to enter the "promised land" of Canaan. When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses (the Hebrew leader) sent twelve messengers, scouts (or spies, meraglim in Hebrew) into Canaan to report on what was there—one spy representing each of the twelve (landed) tribes. Ten of the scouts returned to say that the land would be impossible to claim, and that giants lived there who would crush the Hebrew army. Only two, Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim) and Caleb (representing Judah), returned and said that God would be able to deliver Canaan into the hands of the Hebrew nation.

The Bible records that, because of the testimony of the ten scouts, the Hebrews chose not to enter Canaan: for this disobedience, God caused them to wander in the desert for forty years before being allowed to enter Canaan and conquer it as their home. The only adult Israelites allowed to survive these forty years and enter Canaan were Joshua and Caleb, as a reward for their faith in God. This is recorded in the Book of Numbers. Caleb is called "my servant" by God in Numbers 14:24, a position of the highest honor heretofore used only for Moses.

Caleb was likely an Israelite by choice. Caleb is noted as being the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite (Numbers 32:12). The Kenizzites are listed (Genesis 15:19) as a tribe in the land promised to Abram (Abraham). Another hypothesis derives this name from Kenaz, who was presumably Caleb's stepfather (and the father of Othniel, Caleb's future son-in-law).

Notably, all references to the Kenizzite connection, which would imply a "quasi-foreign" status, were removed from the Septuagint, which adds instead a qualifier (ό διακεχωιζιδμένος) that means "he who goes against the current" [1]. The Talmud (Sotah 11b) also interprets the name Jephunneh in this vein: "he (Caleb) was a son who turned —panah— from the counsel of the spies" [2].

A Midrash refers to Caleb being devoted to the Lord and to Moses, splitting from the other scouts to tour Hebron on his own and visit the graves of the Patriarchs.

In the aftermath of the conquest, Caleb asks Joshua to give him a mountain in property within the land of Judah, and Joshua gives him Hebron (Joshua 14). Since Hebron itself was one of the Cities of Refuge to be ruled by the Levites, it is later explained that Caleb actually was given the outskirts (Joshua 21:11-13). Caleb promised his daughter Achsah in marriage to him who will conquer the land of Debir from the giants. This was eventually accomplished by Othniel Ben Kenaz, Caleb's half-brother, who became Caleb's son-in-law as well.

Other people named Caleb in the Bible

In 1 Chronicles 2:18 one "Caleb son of Hezron" is mentioned. That Caleb is noteworthy for being the great-grandfather of architect Bezalel. Per the context, this man was an Israelite by lineage, which (if the Kenizzite hypothesis holds) would make it implausible that he and the other Caleb are the same person (even though the Talmud argues so in Sotah 11b [3] [4]).

1 Samuel 25:3 states that Nabal, the husband of Abigail before David, was "of the house of Caleb". It is not stated whether this refers to one of the two Calebs mentioned in the Bible, or another person bearing the same name.

The name Caleb

Caleb's name is spelled with the same consonants as Template:Hebrew kéleḇ meaning "dog", prompting the common conclusion that the name Caleb means "dog", but this is not necessarily the case. The most plausible origin is a transposition of the name as found other ancient Semitic languages such as Phoenician and Ugaritic, meaning "servant of the Lord" [5].

The name Caleb is popular in North America (see Caleb (disambiguation)), but it is not used in Hebrew-speaking Israel.

Footnotes/sources

1. Gary N. Knoppers, I Chronicles 1 - 9 (New York:Doubleday, 2003), p. 305; also see pp. 347-349 in the same book.

See also

• Animal names as first names in Hebrew
• Chronicler

External links

• The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1908