Caleb
When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised to them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses (the Hebrew leader) sent twelve spies (Hebrew: מרגלים, meraglim) into Canaan to report on what was there—one spy representing each of the Twelve Tribes. Ten of the spies 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 ten of the spies, 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 (son of Jephunneh), 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, son of Jephunneh, first mentioned in the above account (Numbers 13:6) is not to be confused with another Caleb, great-grandson of Judah through Tamar( 1 Chronicles 2:3-9). This other Caleb was the son of Hezron, and his wife was Azubah (I Chronicles 2:18,19).
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, is thought by many to be a true Israelite by birth, since he is associated with and represented the tribe of Judah as one of the 12 spies. Jephunneh could have descended from some member of the non-Israelite Kenizzites (Ge 15:18, 19) who associated with the descendants of Jacob (Israel), marrying an Israelite wife. Perhaps the name Kenizzite in his case derives from some ancestral Judean family head named Kenaz, even as Caleb’s brother was so named.—Jos 15:17; Jg 1:13; 1Ch 4:13.
However, Jephunneh is clearly called a Kenizzite (Numbers 32:12, Joshua 14:6,14), and the Kenizzites are listed (Genesis 15:19) as one of the nations who lived in the land of Canaan, at the time that God covenanted to Abram (Abraham) to give that land to his descendants forever (Genesis 17:8). Furthermore, a search of Caleb's ancestry in 1 Chronicles 4, does not list his line of descent as being from Judah, since Jephunneh's father is not listed there. It would seem that Jephunneh wished to be included in the nation of Israel, and was included without his ancestral lineage in the tribe of Judah. This provision, for a Gentile to be included in Israel was clearly spelt out in the regulations for Passover (Exodus 12: 48,49). In this Exodus passage it is written: "If an alien who resides with you wants to observe the Passover to the lord, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may come near to observe it. He is to be like a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person is to eat it. A single law exists for the native and the alien who resides among you." (Exodus 12:48,49 ISV)
Notice carefully that right from the very beginning of the Nation of Israel, God makes full provision for a Gentile to enter the Nation. A Gentile enters through the covenant of circumcision, as a sign that he has accepted the whole of God's covenant. As a full member, he then has exactly the same rights and obligations as a native-born Jew, and from then on is treated by God as a full member of His family, provided that the circumcision was a true circumcision of the heart. He is then assigned to one of the twelve tribes, and becomes grafted into the root of Abraham. This would explain the manner of Caleb's 1 Chronicles 4 entry, and the lack of mention of his ancestry. When a Gentile joins the Family of Israel, his ancestry is Israel.
At the time of God's covenant with Abram, God made it clear to Abram that the sins of the people of Canaan- in particular the Amorites- had not yet reached the point where God was ready to act in judgement of them. All nations are given time to repent of their wickedness, and although God foreknew that the Amorites would not repent, he nonetheless gave them time, in order to prove that his judgement at the hands of Joshua was a just one. This is the context, one of ripeness for judgement, in which Joshua, Caleb, and the other ten went to spy out the land. It is also the clear explanation of Joshua's later conquest of the land; a conquest in which Caleb fully participated.
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 blesses him as a sign of God's blessing and approval, giving 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 nephew (Judges 1:13), who became Caleb's son-in-law as well (Joshua 15:16,17).
God promised Abram that " I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed."(Genesis 12:3) Caleb is a truly wonderful example of a "Righteous Gentile" in the eyes of God. He saw and understood clearly that the blessing of God is with the people of Israel, and with his father Jephunneh he left his own people to become a part of God's people. In doing so he laid up blessing for his household forever.
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