Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 1:36
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
36. save ] Heb. zlath, in the Hex. only here, Deu 4:12 and Jos 11:13.
Caleb the son of Jephunneh ] In the O. T. Kaleb probably meaning dog (as from a tribal totem, W. R. Smith, Kinship, 200, 219), though other meanings have been suggested 1 [110] is the name both of an individual and of a tribe, as among other Semites; Nabatean Kalba (Cooke, N. Sem. Inscr. 237); Arab. Kilb (Wellh. Reste, 176 f., 217) and el-Kleib, a small tribe, (Musil, Ar. Petr. iii. 120 f.). In JE frequently Kaleb alone (Num 13:30; Num 14:24; Jos 15:14; Jos 15:16 f.); those passages in JE in which he is called son of Y e phunneh 2 [111] are usually regarded as editorial, but it would be rash to say that the name of his father was not already found in JE by the deuteronomists. In D and P Kaleb the son of Y e phunneh (Num 13:6; Num 14:6; Num 32:12; Num 34:19). According to J, Jos 15:17 (= Jdg 1:13) Kaleb was the brother of naz (the sons of naz were Edomite, Gen 36:11; Gen 36:15; Gen 36:42) and is called the Kenizzite in secondary passages of JE, Jos 14:6; Jos 14:13 f., which also explain along with Jos 15:13 how Joshua gave him ebron in fulfilment of Moses’ promise to him. In David’s time the clan was still distinct from Judah or at least the memory of its original distinction was then preserved, 1Sa 30:14. Yet according to P, Num 13:6; Num 14:6; Num 34:19, Kaleb the spy was already of the tribe of Judah, and so the tribe or its ancestor is reckoned by the genealogies, 1Ch 2:9, 1Ch 2:18 ff., 1Ch 2:42 ff., 1Ch 4:15. This history of the name proves that the tradition held Kaleb the spy and Kaleb the ancestor of the tribe to have been the same. Yet it is possible that there was more than one possessor of so general a name; in connection with which, notice that neither in E, Numbers 13 f., nor in D is Kaleb described as a Kenizzite or indeed as anything but an Israelite.
[110] Sayce ( Early Hist. of Hebr. 265) points out that in the Tell-el-Amarna letters awl later Assyr. despatches kalbu, ‘dog,’ is used of the king’s officers; but surely this is a term of humility; Hommel ( Geogr. u. Gesch. d. alt. Orients) identifies Kaleb with Kalabu (Kalibu) ‘priests.’
[111] He (God?) is turned: cp. Palmyrene Ithpani, Cooke, p. 276.
to him will I give the land and to his children ] J E Num 14:24, his seed shall possess it.
that he hath trodden upon ] JE, Num 14:24, whereinto he went. ‘D in harmony with its more elevated style uses the choicer and more expressive word, Deu 11:24 f.; Jos 1:3; Jos 14:9 ’ (Driver).
because ] Heb. ya‘an a sher, JE. in consequence of, ‘eeb.
hath wholly followed the Lord ] Heb. hath fulfilled after Jehovah. Jehovah, being the speaker, we expect rather after me, as in Num 14:24; and so doubtless it was originally here ’a a rai, the last letter of which has been mistaken by a scribe for the initial of Jehovah. Sam. and LXX, after Jehovah.
Further Note to Deu 1:36-38. Because Moses has just been described as seeking to turn the people from their sin, 29 ff., and it is therefore unreasonable to include him in their punishment; because Deu 1:37-38 needlessly anticipate Deu 3:26; Deu 3:28 and Deu 4:21; and because Deu 1:39 in whole or part follows suitably on Deu 1:36; therefore Deu 1:37-38 are taken by many (Dillm., W. R. Smith, Steuern., Berth, etc.) as a later addition to the text. And indeed the beginning of Deu 1:39 shows that the original has been disturbed by an editorial hand (see below). Steuern. would also omit Deu 1:36 on the ground that Kaleb has not been previously mentioned in this survey. But Kaleb is mentioned in JE on which this survey otherwise depends. In whatever way these textual questions may be decided, the parallel passages Deu 3:26 ff. and Deu 4:21 confirm the fact of a D tradition or statement that Jehovah was angry with Moses for the people’s sake. This can only mean, their guilt was great enough to include the very leader who had done his best to dissuade them from their disaffection! Now neither JE nor P gives any hint of so remarkable a judgement. On the contrary, P accounts for the exclusion of Moses by his own sin in striking the rock at adesh 37 years after this disaffection of Israel, Num 21:10 ff; Num 27:13 f.; Deu 32:50 f. The most reasonable explanation of such discrepancies is that they are discrepancies not of fact but or opinion. The earliest tradition, JE, merely held the facts that Kaleb survived and that Moses died on the eve of the possession of the Promised Land. The problem, which arose from this contrast of fortune, the deuteronomic writers solved by the statement that Moses was included in the guilt of the people when, startled by the report of the spies, they refused to invade Canaan from the S. in the second year of the wandering; and this agrees with the deuteronomic principle of the ethical solidarity of Israel. But the later priestly writer or writers, under the influence of the idea, first emphasized in the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer 31:29 f., Ezekiel 18), that every man died because of his own sin, found a solution for the problem in Moses’ own guilt in presumptuously striking the rock at adesh, 37 years later. In this double engagement, from two different standpoints, with so difficult a problem, note the strong evidence that the survival of Kaleb and the death of Moses before Israel’s entrance to the Land were regarded as irremoveable elements of the early tradition.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Deu 1:36
Because he hath wholly followed the Lord.
Following the Lord fully
You want to be a Christian, meanwhile your heart is set upon getting riches. You would store your mind with the learning and wisdom of the world, you wish to gain repute as a good talker in company, and a convivial guest at the social hoard. Ambition prompts you to seek fame among your fellows. Well, I shall not denounce any of these things, but I would use every persuasion to induce you who are believers in Christ to renounce the world. If Christ has redeemed you He has henceforth a claim on you as His servant, and it is at your peril that you take up any pursuits that are inconsistent with a full surrender of yourself to Him. Why many Christians never attain to any eminence in the Divine life is because they let the floods of their life run away in a dozen little rivulets, whereas if they cooped them up in one channel and sent that one stream rolling on to the glory of God, there would be such a force and power about their character that they would live while they lived. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Following the Lord fully
It ought to be the great care of every one of us to follow the Lord fully. We must follow Him universally, without dividing; uprightly, without dissembling: cheerfully, without disputing; constantly, without declining; and this is following Him fully. (Matthew Henry.)
Self-concentration on God
No man makes progress in any branch of human thought or science without this first condition–the habit of pinning himself down wholly to the subject in band, and rigidly restraining all other thoughts. You must bring your instrument to a point before it will penetrate, to an edge that it may cut; and only firm concentration of oneself on the matter before us will do that. Alas! how little of this patient prolonged concentration of interested thought on our dear Lord do even the best and devoutest of us employ! And as for the ordinary Christian life of this day, what a sad contrast does it present to such an ideal. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 36. Caleb – wholly followed the Lord.] See Clarke on Nu 14:24.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Caleb, under whom Joshua is comprehended, as is manifest from Deu 1:38; Num 14:30, though not here expressed, because he was not now to be one of the people, but to be set over them as chief governor. The land; that particular part of the land: compare Jos 14:9.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it,…. Enter into it, and enjoy it:
and Joshua also; who was the other spy with him, that brought a good report of the land; see De 1:38,
and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children: not the whole land of Canaan, but that part of it which he particularly came to and searched; and where the giants were, and he saw them, and notwithstanding was not intimidated by them, but encouraged the people to go up and possess it; and the part he came to particularly, and trod on, was Hebron, Nu 13:22 and which the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra, interpret of that; and this was what was given to him and his at the division of the land, Jos 14:13,
because he hath wholly followed the Lord; see Nu 14:24.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(36) Save Caleb.Caleb is here placed by himself, as the one exception among the people. Joshua, as Moses substitute, the exception among the recognised leaders, is named separately.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Caleb. Compare Num 14:23, Num 14:24. Jos 14:9. Jdg 1:20.
children = sons.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Caleb: Num 13:6, Num 13:30, Num 26:65, Num 32:12, Num 34:19, Jos 14:6-14, Jdg 1:12-15
wholly followed: Heb. fulfilled to go after, Num 14:24
Reciprocal: Num 14:30 – save Caleb Jos 14:8 – wholly Jdg 1:20 – they gave Psa 119:52 – remembered Heb 3:16 – not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 1:36-37. Save Caleb Under whom Joshua is comprehended, though not here expressed, because he was not now to be one of the people, but to be set over them as a chief governor: we are also to except Eleazar and some other Levites. For your sakes Upon occasion of your wickedness and perverseness, by which you provoked me to speak unadvisedly.