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But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.
Numbers 14:38 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.
  • KJV But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
  • BSB Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
  • ESV Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
  • NASB But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.
  • NLT Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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

Joshua and Caleb alone survived among the spies. Their faith preserved their lives while the others perished.

Overview

Of the twelve who explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive, spared from the plague that struck the unfaithful. Their survival vindicated their trust in God. This sharp contrast reinforces that faith leads to life while unbelief leads to death, a theme running throughout Scripture.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Josh 14:6–10Then the children of Judah came near to Joshua in Gilgal. Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the thing that Yahweh spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and concerning you in Kadesh Barnea.
  • Num 26:65For Yahweh had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

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 14:38YouTube · 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 14:38 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.