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The Histories · Old Testament

Joshua 14

The western allotments and Caleb's request for Hebron

General context

Eleazar, Joshua and the tribal family heads distribute the western inheritance by lot for nine tribes and half a tribe. The eastern grants made by Moses remain in place. Joseph's descendants count as two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh; Levi receives towns and surrounding land for livestock rather than a tribal territory. Caleb approaches Joshua at Gilgal with the people of Judah. He recalls being forty when Moses sent him from Kadesh-barnea, giving a faithful report while other scouts discouraged the people, and receiving a promise of land for himself and his descendants. Now eighty-five, he credits the Lord with preserving him for forty-five years and says his strength remains. He asks for the hill country with its Anakim and fortified cities, expressing hope that the Lord will be with him. Joshua blesses him and gives him Hebron. The narrator links the inheritance to Caleb's wholehearted following of the Lord and closes with rest from war.

Cited passages: Joshua 14:1, Joshua 14:2, Joshua 14:3, Joshua 14:4, Joshua 14:5, Joshua 14:6, Joshua 14:7, Joshua 14:8, Joshua 14:9, Joshua 14:10, Joshua 14:11, Joshua 14:12, Joshua 14:13, Joshua 14:14, Joshua 14:15

Joshua 14 (KJV)

1And 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.

2By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.

3For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and an half tribe on the other side Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them.

4For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance.

5As the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land.

6Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.

7Forty 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.

8Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.

9And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.

10And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.

13And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

14Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.

15And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The chapter explains the tribal arithmetic through Joseph's two descendant tribes and Levi's different provision. Its mention of towns for Levi qualifies what no territorial inheritance means. Caleb's ages and elapsed forty-five years belong to his own account; the passage does not say that all forty-five years were spent wandering. KJV's mountain in his request is hill-country in ASV and BBE. His request acknowledges the Anakim and fortified towns still to confront, alongside the chapter's closing rest from war. Hebron's earlier name, Kirjath-arba, and Arba's association with the Anakim are supplied by the text itself.

Cited passages: Joshua 14:1, Joshua 14:2, Joshua 14:3, Joshua 14:4, Joshua 14:6, Joshua 14:7, Joshua 14:8, Joshua 14:9, Joshua 14:10, Joshua 14:11, Joshua 14:12, Joshua 14:13, Joshua 14:14, Joshua 14:15

Literary context

A broad account of distribution gives way to one claimant's remembered promise. Caleb's speech links his earlier report, continued life and present request, while the language of wholly following the Lord appears in both his speech and the narrator's explanation. Joshua's blessing and grant answer the request, but the difficulty Caleb names remains part of it. The ending places a personal inheritance within the book's wider statement of rest.

Cited passages: Joshua 14:5, Joshua 14:6, Joshua 14:7, Joshua 14:8, Joshua 14:9, Joshua 14:10, Joshua 14:11, Joshua 14:12, Joshua 14:13, Joshua 14:14, Joshua 14:15

Key moments

  1. The allotment's leaders (Joshua 14:1). Eleazar, Joshua and the tribal family heads are named together as distributors.
  2. Forty-five years remembered (Joshua 14:10). Caleb says the Lord has preserved him and gives his present age as eighty-five.
  3. The hill country requested (Joshua 14:12). Caleb asks for the country with Anakim and fortified cities, looking to the Lord's presence.
  4. Hebron is granted (Joshua 14:13). Joshua blesses Caleb and gives him Hebron as an inheritance.

For reflection

Caleb names both the promise he remembers and the difficulties still present. When you return to a long-held commitment, can you describe what has endured without overlooking what remains to be done?

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