Bible Strands
Numbers 13:6
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator lists the twelve scouts Moses commissioned to survey Canaan, specifying the representative designated for Judah. This occurs during the initial roster formation before the spies are dispatched into the southern wilderness.
The words — The text uses לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה (lemaṭṭê Yəhûḏāh), literally "for the tribe of Judah," followed by כָּלֵב בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּה (Kālēḇ ben-Yəpunnēh), meaning "Caleb son of Jephunneh." These phrases operate as a formal tribal and genealogical identifier within a structured list.
The thread — This specific designation reappears in Numbers 34:19 when Caleb is named among the leaders assigned to apportion the land. He is also recorded in Numbers 14:6 and Numbers 13:30 as one of the two scouts who directly addressed Moses and the assembly after the reconnaissance.
Why it lands — The verse anchors Caleb’s identity within the official roster, requiring the reader to track his lineage through the subsequent narrative. It demands attention to how tribal affiliation and filial naming function as structural markers for later leadership and covenantal fulfillment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
Cross-references
- Numbers 14:6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
- Numbers 34:19 These are their names: Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
- Numbers 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”
- Numbers 14:30 Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
- Joshua 14:6 Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me.
- Numbers 14:24 But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
- Numbers 26:65 For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
- 1 Chronicles 4:15 The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz.
- Numbers 14:38 Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
- Numbers 27:15 So Moses appealed to the LORD,