Caleb the Warrior

A man of faith mighty in war

A goodly number of outstanding men of war figure in the Old Testament narratives—not surprising, for those narratives cover fifteen hundred years of the history and the wars of Israel, a nation which is still celebrated for the courage and valour of its fighting men—but one who stands in the front rank of them all is Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Thirty‑eight years of age when the people of Israel left Egypt under Moses for the Promised Land he came into prominence as one of the reconnoitring party sent to explore the land of Canaan and bring back a true appraisal. Of the twelve men in the party only he and Joshua dissented from the pessimistic majority report which confirmed the desirability of the land but insisted that the inhabitants thereof were too strong for Israel and the idea of entering it would have to be abandoned. Caleb, stalwart in his faith in Divine power, spoke for himself and Joshua when he countered the others with his resolute "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." (Num.13:30) He was never in doubt as to the verity of the promises of God and he believed with all his heart and that Israel would inherit the land because God had said so; his faith however did not prevent him from exerting his not inconsiderable physical prowess to the utmost when it came to waging war against the enemies of Israel.

Caleb was of the tribe of Judah. This is deduced both from 1 Chron.2:50*[* It may appear as if Hur was the son of Caleb, please see other verses quoted on this page] where he is shown to have been the grandson of Hur, and the fact that he was selected to represent Judah, as being a tribal leader, in the party sent to reconnoitre Canaan. (Num.13:6) There was an earlier Caleb, his great‑grandfather mentioned in 1 Chron.2:18‑42 and 2:19, which fact has given rise to some confusion, especially since the later Caleb appears adjacent in 1 Chron.2:48‑50. This earlier Caleb, son of Judah’s grandson Hezron, (v.18) was brother to Ram through whom the royal line descended to reach Boaz, David and eventually Christ, so that while the supreme prince of the tribe during the Exodus was Nahshon, grandson of Ram, Caleb was of only slightly lesser status as head of a parallel branch of the tribe. His father Jephunneh, son of Hur, is twice called "the Kenezite" (Num.32:12; Josh.14:6,14) without there being any explanation of this appellation; it is possible that Kenez was the name of the particular Israeli village in Egypt from which they came. It may be significant that Caleb’s younger brother and his grandson were both named Kenaz. Another point of interest is that he was first cousin to Bezaleel, who superintended the construction of the Tabernacle, the Sanctuary of God in their midst. These two men each served God in their characteristic fashion and according to their talents, the one as a soldier, the other as a craftsman.

It came about that two years after the departure from Egypt, Israel was encamped along the southern frontier of the Promised Land. They had been told that by the exercise of faith in God they had only to walk over the frontier and take possession; there would be no resistance by the existing inhabitants. By way of preparation for the "take‑over" God had told Moses to send a party of twelve, one from each tribe, to explore the land thoroughly and bring back a report of its extent, nature, natural features, growing crops, cities and towns, and inhabitants. Caleb represented the tribe of Judah, and his friend Joshua, a soldier like himself and at this time the right‑hand man of Moses the Leader, represented the tribe of Ephraim. So, the party set out.

It is probable that they did so light‑heartedly and with considerable enthusiasm. They had heard so much about this land of milk and honey to which Moses was leading them, and although there had been a good many—too many—occasions on which the people had lost faith and cried to be taken back to Egypt, the fact that they were now on the borders of the Promised Land made a big difference. Their troubles were in the past; God had been as good as his word and brought them to this lovely land where the sun was going to shine all day and the rain fertilise their crops and nourish their herds and all would be well. They gazed upon the vineyards and olive groves, saw the richness of the grain in the fields, pictured their own farms dotting these smiling valleys, and talked excitedly as they came across one object of wonder after another.

And then they saw the Canaanites!

It is true that some of the tribes of Canaan were of exceptional stature. The Philistines along the sea‑coast were Bronze Age Minoans from Crete, something well over six feet, and their soldiers wore armour and big brass helmets. These Israelites had probably never seen a man in armour before. The Amorite tribes of the valleys were also a tall stock, likewise over six feet. Around Hebron and in some more northerly parts the intruders stumbled across a veritable race of giants, the Anakim, who from one allusion in the O.T. must have reached something between seven and eight feet. That was the last straw. They thought they had encountered the dreaded Nephilim who had wrought such havoc in the earth in the days before the Flood, and in sheer panic they made their way back to their own people with all their faith shattered and a message of utter and hopeless despair.

All, that is, except Caleb and Joshua.

"We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we" wailed the ten. "All the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants (Nephilim), the sons of Anak (Anakim)" (Num.13:31‑33) Caleb peremptorily cut them short; "Let us go up at once, and possess it" he exhorted the wavering people "for we are well able to overcome it. The LORD is with us: fear them not." (Num.13:30; 14:9)

But the people believed the ten, and they abandoned what they had of faith in God’s promise, and they cried all night, and in the morning, they planned to depose Moses and set up another leader who would take them back to Egypt. Better that, they said, than that we and our children should die in this wilderness.

In the face of that abandonment of their high calling the Lord sentenced them to do just that. For thirty‑eight years they remained in the wilderness, within the sight of the Promised Land but unable to enter, until all that unbelieving generation, all above twenty years of age, had died. "But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised." (Num.14:31) Then the Lord turned to Caleb and Joshua and told them that because of their faith in him and his promises they alone of all that generation would enter the land.

Of that thirty‑eight years exile in the desert practically nothing is recorded. The narrative is taken up again when Israel was commanded to leave the wilderness and make their way, not across the southern frontier of Canaan, but along its eastern border, and effect an invasion by crossing the Jordan at Jericho. It is soon after this that Caleb comes back into the picture. He still had his mind fixed on Hebron where he had seen those giant Anakim who had so frightened his fellow‑scouts. He meant to get to grips with them and destroy them in the power of his zeal for God. And not only that; in the true spirit of the Israeli warrior, ancient or modern, he was eager to take the most dangerous task for himself. The fearsome giants of the south country were Israel’s most formidable foes: he would lead the attack on them in person, and by the power of his God he would overcome. So, he came to Joshua at Gilgal with his request. Because of his integrity and loyalty in the matter of spying out the land, Moses had promised him that Hebron should be his inheritance for ever. "Forty years old was I" he said "when Moses...sent me from Kadesh‑barnea to espy out the land... and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As 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." (Josh.14:7‑11) Joshua, looking upon the doughty old warrior, honoured Moses’ promise and gave him his request, and he went out with his followers to wage sanguinary (gory) war upon the Anakim.

Hebron was a sacred place to every Israelite, for it had been the headquarters of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in those far‑off days before Jacob came down into Egypt, and it still held the revered tomb where those patriarchs and their wives were buried. That it should remain in the possession of the Canaanites was intolerable and it is understandable that the ferocity of the invaders was too much for the defenders and they were ruthlessly expelled. This was the most momentous victory gained by Israel at the time of the conquest for with the fall of Hebron the whole of the south country fell into their hands. Hebron became the political capital of Israel from then on until it was superseded by Jerusalem in the time of King David.

Three miles west of Hebron lay the Canaanite town of Kirjath‑sepher, "the city of books." There is not much doubt that this was the library of the Canaanite civilisation where its books and records were stored. For all their valour and loyalty to God the avenging Israelites did a grave disservice to posterity when they destroyed this town and its contents. No one knows what valuable store of tablets recording the culture and knowledge of the Canaanites was destroyed in that furious orgy of destruction and slaughter. Some idea could be gained from the discovery in 1976, at Tell Mardikh in Northern Syria, of a similar store of more than 18,000 Canaanite tablets, casting considerably fresh light on much of ancient history. But Caleb and his men had no interest in history and no use for books; his mission was to conquer and destroy. He conquered, and he destroyed.

For some reason he did not lead this attack in person. Perhaps, after all, he was beginning to feel his age. Perhaps though, realising that both he and Joshua would not be leading the armies of Israel forever, he wanted to discover suitable successors. So, he threw out a challenge: "he that smiteth Kirjath‑sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife." (Josh.15:16) To what extent the charms of this damsel were such as to incite to deeds of unusual valour it is not possible to say, but in the upshot Caleb’s own nephew Othniel captured the city and won the coveted prize, who promptly told her father (Josh.15:16‑19) that the south land—meaning desert land—he had given for her dowry was unacceptable and she wanted in addition land with springs of water. It would seem that the old warrior, perhaps better at settling issues in the field with his sword than negotiating points of domestic disharmony, quickly gave in and awarded some suitable fertile territory to the newly‑married couple and so all was well. He had, however, found his man. Years later, after both he and Joshua had gone the way of all flesh, and Israel had relapsed into crass idolatry and apostasy from God, and in consequence had fallen under the dominion of the king of Aram‑Naharaim, it was Othniel who emerged as the first of Israel’s national leaders, the "judges," to drive out the invader and restore Israel’s allegiance to God. The military prowess of the uncle and his sterling faith in God re‑appeared in the nephew.

After that, Caleb disappears. He probably died twenty or so years later, more or less at the same time as Joshua, at the age of a hundred and ten or so. With the passing of these two an era ended in the history of Israel. Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb, the founders of the nation, were all gone, and Israel was on its own. Nothing is known of Caleb’s sons—according to 1 Chronicles he had three sons by his unnamed wife and four more by his concubine Maachah; the name of one grandson is recorded. (1 Chron.2:42‑55) He was a strong and resolute man and firm in his conviction that he was called to fight the wars of the Lord. His strength resided in his faith and his faith never failed. Without much doubt he is included in those heroes of faith of whom it is said in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews that they "waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (v.34) Like the Apostle Paul in much later days, he fought a good fight, he finished the course, and he kept the faith. His achievements in battle have been overlaid by the ebb and flow of later conflicts time and again; his inheritance in Hebron passed into the possession of other invaders of other peoples in later history, but the sterling faith which characterised his life remains a beacon light, shining for the admiration and encouragement of all lovers of God for ever.

AOH