Limitless Word
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
Numbers 13:6 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
  • KJV Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
  • NKJV from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
  • NASB from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
  • NLT Judah Caleb son of Jephunneh

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Caleb of Judah is listed, a man who will prove faithful. His name anticipates the faithful minority report.

Overview

Caleb, the spy from Judah, is named among the twelve. He and Joshua alone will trust God's promise against the majority's fear. His inclusion here foreshadows the contrast between faith and unbelief that defines the chapter, and Judah's prominence anticipates the tribe of the Messiah.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Num 14:6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
  • Num 34:19These are their names: Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
  • Num 14:30Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
  • Num 13:30Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”
  • Josh 14:6–15Then 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.
  • Num 26:65For 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.
  • Num 14:24But 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.
  • 1 Chr 4:15The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz.
  • Josh 15:13–19According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)
  • Deut 31:7–17Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.
  • Num 27:15–23So Moses appealed to the LORD,
  • Luke 1:10–15And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.
  • Judg 1:12–15And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”
  • Num 14:38Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 13:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 13:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.