Numbers 32:12
in Numbers 32not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Jehovah.
KJV
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.
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This verse in Numbers 32
Commentary
5 notes on this verseCaleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite - It was Jephunneh that was the Kenezite, and not Caleb. Kenaz was probably the father of Jephunneh.
This site's exposition
was kindled the same time
on Numbers 32:10-12
The oath quoted here is the oath of Numbers 14:22-24 and 14:29-30, and Moses gives as its reason a phrase those verses used only of Caleb, that they have not wholly followed me. Caleb is called the Kenezite, and Kenaz is an Edomite name at Genesis 36:11 and 36:15, which raises a question about his ancestry the text never answers. Adam Clarke reads the title as belonging to Jephunneh rather than to Caleb, and others take Kenaz for a clan absorbed into Judah.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Whether they had really meditated such a withdrawal from all share in the war of invasion, or the effect of their leader's expostulation was to drive them from their original purpose, they now, in answer to his impressive appeal, declared it to be their sincere intention to co-operate with their brethren; but, if so, they ought to have been more explicit at first.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Kenezite - Kenaz Gen 36:11 was the name of one of the “dukes of Edom:” but Israel and Edom were of kindred origin, and the use of similar names by the two peoples is not surprising.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בִּלְתִּ֞י | bilti | except | H1115 → | 112 times |
| כָּלֵ֤ב | kalev | Caleb | H3612 → | 35 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יְפֻנֶּה֙ | yefuneh | Jephunneh | H3312 → | 16 times |
| הַקְּנִזִּ֔י | hakenizi | the Kenizzite | H7074 → | |
| וִיהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ | vihoshua' | and Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| בִּן־ | bin- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נ֑וּן | nun | Nun | H5126 → | 30 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִלְא֖וּ | milu | they have filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֥י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
בִּלְתִּ֞יexcept
biltiH1115 →112 times
כָּלֵ֤בCaleb
kalevH3612 →35 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
יְפֻנֶּה֙Jephunneh
yefunehH3312 →16 times
הַקְּנִזִּ֔יthe Kenizzite
hakeniziH7074 →
וִיהוֹשֻׁ֖עַand Joshua
vihoshua'H3091 →218 times
בִּן־[the] son of
bin-H1121 →4930 times
נ֑וּןNun
nunH5126 →30 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מִלְא֖וּthey have filled
miluH4390 →249 times
אַחֲרֵ֥יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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.”
- Ephesians 6:6
And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
- Joshua 14:6–14
Through
Numbers 26:65For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:38
Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 10:5–6
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
- Numbers 14:38
Through
Numbers 14:30Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:65
For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 26:65
About Numbers

Who and where
2 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…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
