Caleb Claims His Mountain

At Gilgal, during the division of the land of Canaan, Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, steps forward before Joshua with the people of Judah. He recalls what the LORD declared at Kadesh-barnea: he was forty years old when Moses sent him to spy out the land, and he brought back his report “as it was in mine heart,” while his brothers discouraged the people. That day, Moses swore: “Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever.” Forty-five years have passed; Caleb is eighty-five, but he is “as strong this day” as he was then. He asks for the mountain where the Anakim live, with its great and fortified cities: “If so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.” Joshua blesses him and gives him Hebron as his inheritance, formerly called Kirjath-arba.