Apart Nom Jesus, of course, my favorite Bible character is Caleb. Although our circumstances are quite different, I feel that if we were contemporaries, we would be close friends.
His genealogy
It is all very odd, but Caleb seems to have had several different fathers! In Numbers and Deuteronomy, he is called the son of Jephunneh and is a leader of the tribe of Judah. Joshua calls him a Kenizzite, and as his closest friend, he should know. In Judges, his younger brother Othniel is called the son of Kenaz. Othniel conquered the Canaanite town of Debir and as a reward married his niece, Caleb’s daughter Acsah. To add to the complications, Moses’ father in law, in the same passage in Judges, is described as “the Kenite.”
In I Chronicles my friend is described as “Caleb son of Hezron,” and we are given an extremely complicated genealogy of his large extended family. Since neither Kenaz nor Jephunneh are mentioned, we might be tempted to conclude that this Caleb is an entirely different person. But we cannot, for it specifically states that this Caleb’s one named daughter was Acsah.
Adding still further to the complications is the fact that Caleb’s great-grandson was Bezalel of Judah, the wonderfully skilled craftsman who made exquisite articles for the tabernacle in the wilderness. Moreover, Caleb had a large family by his first wife Azubah, and it was after she died that “Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur,” who, all scriptures agree, was Bezalel’s grandfather. But this same Hur was old enough to be a senior judge at the time when Moses and Joshua went up Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. And he held up Moses’ hands when the Amalekites attacked the camp at roughly the same time. Yet Caleb was only in his forties when the plans for the Tabernacle were drawn up. This is a puzzle which simply cannot be solved, at least by me.
When Caleb’s father was 60, he married a woman from the tribe of Manasseh, and the son of Segub, Caleb’s first cousin, became a very big man, controlling, we are told, 23 towns in Gilead, east of the river Jordan.
His large family
When it came to children, Caleb was a very productive man. It is quite unusual for the Bible to record women by name, especially daughters and slave women, unless they played an important part in God’s purpose, like Hagar or Rizpah, for example. Yet, uniquely in the case of Caleb, two wives are named, Azubah and Ephrath, and four concubines or slave wives: Jerioth, Ephah, Jandai and Maacah, mother of his daughter, Acsah. Acsah had a full brother Sheva, which means “number seven”! Altogether nineteen named sons are mentioned, and one named daughter. From simple principles of demography, Caleb must have begotten between forty and fifty children, some of whom pop up at various points in the scripture record. Interestingly, a grandson gave his name to one of the principal flash-points of violence in the world today, namely Hebron in the so-called West Bank.
Caleb means dog in Hebrew, a word used in a pejorative way of Gentiles or non-Jews. He was undoubtedly considered a great “prince” of Judah, and, according to Luke’s gospel record, the Lord Jesus himself was descended from Caleb’s brother Ram. The Hebrew word “Ram,” as well as being a personal name, also means “the Syrian.” The Kenizzites are mentioned in Genesis 15 as one of the original ten “nations” occupying the land of Canaan in the time of Abraham. Caleb is definitely called a Kenizzite by Joshua, his close friend and fellow spy. So was he a Gentile who became a leading Israelite by adoption?
All of this seems terribly complex, and a prime example of the “endless genealogies” which the apostle told us to avoid. But as “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable,” there must be some reason and purpose behind it all.
Why Caleb is my friend
I leave you to chase up the leads if you like detective stories, but I can tell you some very personal lessons that makes Caleb my favorite biblical character. > He and his large family were fully involved in the daily lives of all God’s people.
> He had tremendous faith which enabled him to cope with and accept crushing disappointments without losing heart.
> Because he was a spiritual giant himself; the giants of Hebron were mere pygmies in his sight. He had God’s vision, God’s view of things.
> Like Paul much later, he could “silence” a Jewish mob simply by his confidence and determination. His behavior and his passionate words of truth, when this rabble was about to fling stones at Moses and Aaron as they lay face down on the ground, were truly awesome.
> This is God’s estimation of Caleb: Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly.
When he was 85, he looked back on a life full of joys and frustrations with a wonderful serenity of spirit, knowing and loving the God of his salvation. His thoughts are recorded in Joshua 14. I am the same age as he was when he spoke those words, and I can echo them. Unlike Caleb, I have no children. My physical body is much more feeble than his. But I thrill to his godly sentiments, and say with his spirit, I was forty years old when the Lord sent me from Britain to explore this land. And I brought back a report according to my convictions. I followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. Now here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as I was forty-five years ago when God sent me out to the Caribbean.
Beloved, be fervent in spirit, be instant in prayer. Remember the glory, remember the Land.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One