Joshua 14:7
in Joshua 14I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back to him an honest report.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh–barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.
⋯
This verse in Joshua 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHowever, he [the Lord] said they should not come to that land which they had refused, as a penalty for their unbelief; but their children and wives, who had not murmured, and who, owing to their sex and age, were guiltless, should receive the promised inheritance of that land. So the bodies of those of twenty years old and upwards fell in the desert. The punishment of the rest was put aside. But they who had gone up with Joshua, and had thought fit to dissuade the people, died without delay of a great plague.
This site's exposition
Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea
on Joshua 14:6-7
Caleb comes before the lot is cast, because he is asking for no share of what the lot will assign. He calls Moses "the man of God", a title Scripture first gives at Deuteronomy 33:1, and this verse is the next place it is said.
This site's exposition
I brought back to him an honest report
Caleb calls his report honest, and John Wesley explains the claim. He spoke his real judgment while the other spies spoke from fear of the people. Matthew Henry adds that he spoke from conviction, with no wish to please Moses or to oppose his companions.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
As it was in mine heart - I spake my opinion sincerely, without flattery and fear, when the other spies were biased by their own fears, and the dread of the people, to speak otherwise than in their consciences they believed.
Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land,....
He did not do it merely to please Moses, or to keep the people quiet, much less from a spirit of contradiction to his fellows, but from a full conviction of the truth of what he said and a firm belief of the divine promise. [2.] That herein he wholly followed the Lord his God, that is, he kept close to his duty, and sincerely aimed at the glory of God in it.
What Moses said he took as from God himself, because Moses was his mouth and his agent, and therefore he had reason both to desire and expect that it should be made good. What can be more earnestly desired than the tokens of God's favour? And what more confidently expected than the grants of his promise?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The claim of Caleb to the mountains of Hebron as his personal and family possessions was founded on a solemn promise of Moses, forty-five years before (Nu 14:24;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As it was in mine heart - Neither fear nor favor influenced him on the occasion; he told what he believed to be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [was] a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אַרְבָּעִ֨ים | ʾarbaim | forty | H705 → | 136 times |
| שָׁנָ֜ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| אָנֹכִ֗י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| בִּ֠שְׁלֹחַ | bishloach | when sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֨ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| עֶֽבֶד־ | ʾeved- | [the] servant of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֹתִ֛י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִקָּדֵ֥שׁ | mikadesh | from Kadesh | H6947 → | 20 times |
| בַּרְנֵ֖עַ | barnea' | Barnea | H6947 → | 20 times |
| לְרַגֵּ֣ל | leragel | to spy out | H7270 → | 25 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וָאָשֵׁ֤ב | vaashev | and I brought back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֹתוֹ֙ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דָּבָ֔ר | davar | a word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| לְבָבִֽי׃ | levavi | heart my | H3824 → | 252 times |
בֶּן־[was] a son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אַרְבָּעִ֨יםforty
ʾarbaimH705 →136 times
שָׁנָ֜הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
אָנֹכִ֗יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
בִּ֠שְׁלֹחַwhen sent
bishloachH7971 →845 times
מֹשֶׁ֨הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
עֶֽבֶד־[the] servant of
ʾeved-H5650 →799 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֹתִ֛י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
מִקָּדֵ֥שׁfrom Kadesh
mikadeshH6947 →20 times
בַּרְנֵ֖עַBarnea
barnea'H6947 →20 times
לְרַגֵּ֣לto spy out
leragelH7270 →25 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וָאָשֵׁ֤בand I brought back
vaashevH7725 →1056 times
אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
דָּבָ֔רa word
davarH1697 →1440 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
לְבָבִֽי׃heart my
levaviH3824 →252 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Numbers 13:6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
it leads to
- Numbers 34:19
These are their names: Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
- Numbers 14:6
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
- Joshua 14:6–15
Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about…
- Numbers 13:30
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”
- Numbers 14:30
Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
- Numbers 34:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 3.8.55-56; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.