Chapter 14
Inheritance of Land West of the Jordan
14:1 These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit.
Only the land west of the Jordan River was called the land of Canaan. Eleazar, the high priest (he succeeded Aaron his father, see Numbers 20:25-28), Joshua, and the heads of the tribes came together for this procedure. Although not mentioned, Eleazar would have had access to the Urim and Thummim (see Numbers 27:21, see also Numbers 34:17).
14:2 Their inheritance was by lot, just as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes.
We are not given any details on how this group sought God’s guidance, as both by lots and the Urim and Thummim would have been guided by God, it is not important, but knowing that these territorial boundaries were His decision is important, as there should not be any disputes or charges of favoritism.
14:3 For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.
Perhaps to help readers with the math, we are told again that the Levites had no land inheritance and that Moses had already allocated land “beyond the Jordan” (the east side) to the tribes of Rueben , Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, making the count three and a half tribes. Adding the nine and a half tribes stated from verse two, our total is now thirteen tribes. Why thirteen and not twelve tribes? The next verse answers that question.
14:4 For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance. 5 The people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses; they allotted the land.
To answer that question we are reminded that Jacob (Israel) had adopted the sons of Joseph (see 48:5) and instead of one territory for Joseph, each now, as separate tribes, get their own land inheritance. Per the instructions given to Moses from God, the Levities were to be given cities and adjacent pasturelands (see Numbers 35:1-8). The land allocation was done just as YHWH commanded Moses.
Caleb’s Inheritance
14:6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me.
Caleb and the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal (the location of this land allocation gathering) and said “You know what the LORD said to Moses,” as both he and Joshua were the only two spies that were sent out that came back with favorable “let’s go!” reports (see Numbers 14:6-9, 30).
14:7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God.
Caleb offers some history saying he was forty years old when he, Joshua and the other ten spies, were sent from Kadesh-barnea to check out the Promised Land. That he told Moses when they got back what was on his heart, that they should follow YHWH and capture the land, but the ten other spies were terrified and their report made the people of Israel’s hearts to melt.
14:9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming.
Caleb reminds Joshua that an inheritance of land was promised to him and that God has kept him alive these forty-five years since that day. Even though he was eighty-five years old he was still as strong as he was when Moses sent him into the land, that he was active and could still fight!
14:12 So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”
Caleb requests that the hill country where the Anakim (another Nephilim clan) built their great cities for his land inheritance. If YHWH is with him he is confident that he will be able to drive them out just as God said He would (see Numbers 13:28-33; 14:6-9, 24; Deuteronomy 1:36; 9:1-3).
14:13 Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel. 15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.
Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron where he drove out the three sons of Anak (see Judges 1:20). We are also told that Caleb received this inheritance because he wholly followed YHWH, and that Hebron was formally known as Kiriath-arba named after Arba the greatest of the Anakim (note: the word ‘kiriath’ means ‘city of’).
The final words of verse fifteen are also found at the end of chapter eleven (the end of the northern campaign) and some believe that means that the account of Caleb conquering the Anakim occurred earlier during the southern campaign (see Joshua 10:29-43), but that doesn’t follow the chronology of the first chapter in Judges (see Judges 1:10).