Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Caleb"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Caleb
a dog. (1.) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of
Judah. He is also called Chelubai (1 Chr. 2:9). His descendants
are enumerated (18-20, 42-49).
(2.) A "son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah" (1 Chr. 2:50).
Some would read the whole passage thus: "These [i.e., the list
in ver. 42-49] were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the
firstborn of Ephratah, were Shobal, etc." Thus Hur would be the
name of the son and not the father of Caleb (ver. 19).
(3.) The son of Jephunneh (Num. 13:6; 32:12; Josh. 14:6, 14).
He was one of those whom Moses sent to search the land in the
second year after the Exodus. He was one of the family chiefs of
the tribe of Judah. He and Joshua the son of Nun were the only
two of the whole number who encouraged the people to go up and
possess the land, and they alone were spared when a plague broke
out in which the other ten spies perished (Num. 13; 14). All the
people that had been numbered, from twenty years old and upward,
perished in the wilderness except these two. The last notice we
have of Caleb is when (being then eighty-five years of age) he
came to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, after the people had
gained possession of the land, and reminded him of the promise
Moses had made to him, by virtue of which he claimed a certain
portion of the land of Kirjath-arba as his inheritance (Josh.
14:6-15; 15:13-15; 21:10-12; 1 Sam. 25:2,3; 30:14). He is called
a "Kenezite" in Josh. 14:6,14. This may simply mean "son of
Kenez" (Num. 32:12). Some, however, read "Jephunneh, the son of
Kenez," who was a descendant of Hezron, the son of Pharez, a
grandson of Judah (1 Chr. 2:5). This Caleb may possibly be
identical with (2).
(4.) Caleb gave his name apparently to a part of the south
country (1 Sam. 30:14) of Judah, the district between Hebron and
Carmel, which had been assigned to him. When he gave up the city
of Hebron to the priests as a city of refuge, he retained
possession of the surrounding country (Josh. 21:11,12; comp. 1
Sam. 25:3).
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