Joshua 14:13
in Joshua 14Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.
KJV
And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.
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This verse in Joshua 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseJoshua blessed him - As the word bless often signifies to speak good or well of or to any person, (see the note on Gen 2:3), here it may mean the praise bestowed on Caleb’s intrepidity and faithfulness by Joshua, as well as a prayer to God that he might have prosperity in all things; and especially that the Lord might be with him, as himself had expressed in the preceding verse.
This site's exposition
give me this mountain
on Joshua 14:12-13
He asks for the one piece of ground that frightened the ten, and he names its two difficulties himself, the Anakim on it and the cities great and fenced. Those Anakim are the sons of Anak the spies met at Hebron in Numbers 13:22, and they are the reason Numbers 13:33 says the report ended in men like grasshoppers. His claim rests on the promise and not on his own strength, and the sentence he uses is conditional, if so be the Lord will be with me, which Adam Clarke and John Wesley both take as a plain confession that the help is not owed to him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And so, let us see who it is who first receives the inheritance from Jesus [Joshua]: "Caleb," it says, "the son of Jephunneh." For he requests first with certain fixed reasons and words that are described, words that are also able to instruct us for salvation.First of all, Caleb is interpreted "as a heart." Who, therefore, is "as a heart" if not the one who in all things has devoted effort to discernment, who is not said to be just any member of the body of the church but that one that is the more admirable in us, the heart? That is, he is the one who bears all things with reason and prudence and so arranges all things as if being none other than the heart. But also Jephunneh, his father, is interpreted "conversion." Therefore, this Caleb is the son of conversion. Why, unless he were converted to God, could Jephunneh produce from himself such fruit that he begat a heart as a son? Thus Caleb is everyone who is devoted to divine understandings and who conducts all things wisely and reasonably.
Thus, therefore, even now this very wise Caleb stands before Jesus [Joshua] and promises to be mighty for war and ready for battle. On that account he earnestly demands to be granted the faculty of disputation that he may contend with the dialecticians of the age who hold deceits for truth, to refute them and to subdue and to overthrow all the things that they have established with their false assertions. Moreover, finally, seeing his ardor, "Jesus [Joshua] blesses him," it says; doubtless because he demands and dares such things.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): Joshua blessed him, commended his bravery, applauded his request, and gave him what he asked. He also prayed for him, and for his good success in his intended undertaking against the sons of Anak. Joshua was both a prince and a prophet, and upon both accounts it was proper for him to give Caleb his blessing, for the less is blessed of the better.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
This was done at Gilgal, which was as yet their head-quarters. The Distribution of Canaan. 1 And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:82%@v1-2
And Joshua blessed him,....
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ | vayvarekhehu | and he blessed him | H1288 → | 330 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֑עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| וַיִּתֵּ֧ן | vaiyiten | and he gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חֶבְר֛וֹן | chevron | Hebron | H2275 → | 72 times |
| לְכָלֵ֥ב | lekhalev | to Caleb | H3612 → | 35 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יְפֻנֶּ֖ה | yefuneh | Jephunneh | H3312 → | 16 times |
| לְנַחֲלָֽה׃ | lenachalah | to an inheritance | H5159 → | 222 times |
וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּand he blessed him
vayvarekhehuH1288 →330 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֑עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
וַיִּתֵּ֧ןand he gave
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חֶבְר֛וֹןHebron
chevronH2275 →72 times
לְכָלֵ֥בto Caleb
lekhalevH3612 →35 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
יְפֻנֶּ֖הJephunneh
yefunehH3312 →16 times
לְנַחֲלָֽה׃to an inheritance
lenachalahH5159 →222 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 1:20Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.
it leads to
- Judges 1:10
Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
- Joshua 15:13–14
According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)
- Deuteronomy 1:36
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
- Numbers 14:24
But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
- Joshua 14:9–14
On that day Moses swore to me, saying, ‘Surely the land on which you have set foot will be an inheritance to you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD…
- Judges 1:10
Through
Joshua 22:6So Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way, and they went to their homes.
it leads to
- Luke 24:50
When Jesus had led them out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
- Genesis 47:7
Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
- Exodus 39:43
And Moses inspected all the work and saw that they had accomplished it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.
- Luke 24:50
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonConquestJoshuaMoses' minister and successor, one of the two faithful spies; he led Israel across Jordan, around Jericho, and through the conques…
- PersonWilderness / ConquestCalebOf Judah, one of the twelve spies — the man of another spirit who wholly followed Jehovah; one of only two of the census generatio…
- PlaceJudean hill countryHebronThe city of the patriarchs, where Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah, Caleb took his inheritance, and David reigned seven years…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 18.2 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 18.3.