Caleb Receives His Inheritance

Men from the tribe of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb spoke to him. Caleb reminded Joshua of what the LORD had said to Moses long ago at Kadesh Barnea. He said that when Moses sent him to explore the land, he brought back his report faithfully, even though the other men made the people afraid.

Caleb said Moses had promised that the land he had walked on would belong to him and his children, because he had followed the LORD wholeheartedly. Now forty-five years had passed. Caleb was eighty-five years old, yet he said he was still strong for the work ahead, for going out and coming in, just as he had been before.

So Caleb asked for the hill country the LORD had spoken about. He knew the Anakim were there, and that their cities were large and fortified. Still, Caleb asked for that land, saying that if the LORD was with him, he would drive them out, as the LORD had said. Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.

Hebron belonged to Caleb because he had followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. Hebron had earlier been called Kiriath Arba. Joshua 15 later notes that Caleb drove out three sons of Anak from there: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. The account in Joshua 14 closes by saying the land had rest from war.

Caleb also went against Debir, which had earlier been called Kiriath Sepher. He said that the man who captured it would marry his daughter Achsah. Othniel, the son of Kenaz, captured it, and Caleb gave Achsah to him as his wife. Kenaz is identified here as Caleb's brother.

When Achsah came, she had Othniel ask her father for a field. Then she got off her donkey, and Caleb asked what she wanted. Achsah asked for a blessing: since she had been given land in the South, she asked for springs of water too. So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.