Joshua 14:8
in Joshua 14Although my brothers who went with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear, I remained loyal to the LORD my God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed Jehovah my God.
KJV
Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.
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This verse in Joshua 14
Commentary
6 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
my brothers who went with me
on Joshua 14:8-9
When Caleb says at verse 9 that he wholly followed the LORD, he is quoting a verdict God passed on him rather than inventing praise. Numbers 14:24 says he had a different spirit and "has followed Me wholeheartedly", and adds the promise of the land he walked on. Numbers 32:12 and Deuteronomy 1:36 repeat the same verdict of him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), and how pernicious the consequences of it were was very well known. It adds much to the praise of following God if we adhere to him when others desert and decline from him. Caleb needed not to mention particularly Joshua's conduct in this matter; it was sufficiently known, and he would not seem to flatter him; it was enough to say (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Therefore it was not vain glory in him to speak it: no more than it is for those, who have God's spirit witnessing with their spirits, that they are the children of God, humbly and thankfully to tell others, for their encouragement, what God hath done for their souls.
Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me,....
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
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַחַי֙ | veachai | and brothers my | H251 → | 630 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָל֣וּ | ʾalu | they went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עִמִּ֔י | ʾimi | with me | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| הִמְסִ֖יו | himsiv | they melted | H4529 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לֵ֣ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | |
| הָעָ֑ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְאָנֹכִ֣י | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| מִלֵּ֔אתִי | mileti | I filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֖י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהָֽי׃ | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
וְאַחַי֙and brothers my
veachaiH251 →630 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָל֣וּthey went up
ʾaluH5927 →890 times
עִמִּ֔יwith me
ʾimiH5973 →1050 times
הִמְסִ֖יוthey melted
himsivH4529 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
לֵ֣ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →
הָעָ֑םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וְאָנֹכִ֣יand I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
מִלֵּ֔אתִיI filled
miletiH4390 →249 times
אַחֲרֵ֖יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהָֽי׃God my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 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
Numbers 14:24But 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.
it leads to
- Joshua 14:6–14
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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:6–9
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
- Numbers 32:11–12
‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac,…
- 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.”
- Joshua 14:6–14
Through
Revelation 14:4These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and…
it leads to
- Revelation 3:4
But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.
- 2 Corinthians 11:2
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- James 1:18
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
- Revelation 3:4
Through
Numbers 13:31But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw…
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua

This page draws on 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; 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.
