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Matthew Henry on Joshua 14:1-5
The Israelites must occupy the new conquests. Canaan would have been subdued in vain, if it had not been inhabited. Yet every man might not go and settle where he pleased. God shall choose our inheritance for us. Let us…
The Distribution of Canaan. (b. c. 1444.)
THE DISTRIBUTION OF CANAAN. (B. C. 1444.) The historian, having in the foregoing chapter given an account of the disposal of the countries on the other side Jordan, now comes to tell us what they did with the countries…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1
Peasant proprietorship. The land of Canaan is divided not amongst nobility and gentry, but amongst the people. Each family has its little farm—probably averaging about ten acres. Divided equally amongst the people, the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1-15
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1
Tribes. The word here for "tribes," in connection with the word "fathers," is the one which implies genealogical descent (see note on Joshua 13:29). Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fa…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1-5
The allotment of the tribes. This record of the division of the land among the tribes is suggestive of principles that are capable of a wider and more general application, and also of one that is narrower and more indiv…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:2
By lot was their inheritance. The commentators, following the Rabbis, have amused themselves by speculations how the lot was taken. The question is of no great practical importance; but no doubt the contrivance was a ve…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:2
Inheritance by lot. While the trans-Jordanic tribes chose their own inheritance, the nine-and-a-half tribes submitted to the distribution by lot, and thus signified their desire to have their possession chosen for them…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:4
For the children of Joseph were two tribes (see Genesis 48:5): therefore they gave. There is no "therefore" In the original. The passage is a simple repetition of what we find in Joshua 13:14, Joshua 13:33, and is added…
Matthew Henry on Joshua 14:6-15
Caleb's request is, “Give me this mountain,” or Hebron, because it was formerly in God's promise to him, and he would let Israel knows how much he valued the promise. Those who live by faith value that which is given by…
Caleb's Request. (b. c. 1444.)
CALEB'S REQUEST. (B. C. 1444.) Before the lot was cast into the lap for the determining of the portions of the respective tribes, the particular portion of Caleb was assigned to him. He was now, except Joshua, not only…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:6-15
Caleb's faithfulness and its reward. The history of Caleb seems to have a special fascination for the sacred historian. We read of him here, and in the next chapter, and in 1:1-36. Whether this were due to his bravery,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:6
In Gilgal (see Joshua 9:6). Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite. Or, descendant of Kenaz, as was his kinsman Othniel. As far as we can make out from the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2:1-55, Caleb and Kenaz were family…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:6-15
Caleb. I. THE CHARACTER OF CALEB. II. THE REWARD OF CALEB.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:7
Forty years old. The Hebrew expression is "the son of forty years." Compare the expressions "son of man," "sons of Belial," "son of the perverse re. bellious woman." As it was in my heart. Literally, according as with m…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:8
Personal influence. Assuredly no Israelite could look without emotion upon the face and form of Caleb, the utterer of the words of the text. His very existence was a memorial of a memorable day. And when he arose and st…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:8
But I wholly followed. Literally, "I fulfilled after." That is to say, he rendered a full obedience to the precepts of the Most High. So also in the next verse.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:8
I wholly followed the Lord my God. I. TRUE RELIGION IS BASED ON PERSONAL RELATIONS WITH GOD. Caleb ascribes his courage and fidelity to his connection with God, and he speaks of the Lord as "my God." II. RIGHT PERSONAL…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:9
And Moses sware on that day (cf. Numbers 14:21-24; Deuteronomy 1:35, Deuteronomy 1:36). Keil raises the difficulty that in the above passage not Moses, but God is said to have sworn, and that no special inheritance is p…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:10
Forty and five years. This marks the date of the present conversation as occurring seven years after the invasion. Caleb was forty years of age when be went to spy the land of Canaan. For thirty-eight years the Israelit…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:11
As yet am I as strong this day. A vigorous and respected old age is ordinarily, by Nature's own law, the decreed reward for a virtuous youth and a temperate manhood. Caleb's devotion to God's service had preserved him f…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:12
Caleb's inheritance. But little comparatively is said in the sacred writings concerning Caleb. What is recorded is decidedly in his favour, He stands before us as a model of unbending integrity. Selected from among the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:12
The Anakims. I. WE HAVE "ANAKIMS" IN OUR INHERITANCE. Some of the highest blessings are fenced about with She greatest difficulties. 1. No earthly inheritance is without its peculiar disadvantages. Some of the "Anakims"…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:12
This mountain. The neighbourhood of Hebron is described by Bartlett 'Egypt to Palestine,' p. 401, as "a region of hills and valleys." In one of the hollows in this "hill country of Judaea" Hebron still nestles, hut at a…