Joshua 14

Introduction to the division of the land (vs. 1-5)--The first verse "These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan..." actually introduces the next several chapters. For the most part, it will be a rather dry, but important, listing of the boundaries of the territory of each of the tribes. There's an occasional interlude in the listing, as in the rest of this chapter. The writer once again mentions that two-and-a-half tribes received their inheritance east of the Jordan, and the Levites received no land (except for 48 cities they were given, scattered in various locales around the land).

Caleb asks for the land promised to him (vs. 6-15)--Caleb was one of the two men (Joshua being the other) of the 12 spies who gave a positive report after Moses sent them in to reconnoiter the land (read the story in Numbers 13). It almost cost the two men their lives (Numbers 14:10). Because he had "wholly followed the Lord my God" (v. 8), Moses had promised Caleb a special inheritance once the land was occupied. In these verses, he comes to Joshua to request (demand?) that a certain parcel of land be given to him (v. 12). Joshua thus granted him Hebron, a major city, and the land around it (that's implied in the giving of Hebron) to Caleb.

There are a couple of interesting historical notes in this section. In verse 15, the writer tells us that "the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim)." Caleb informs us (v. 12) that some of the Anakim were still there, and that if "the Lord will be with me...I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said." The Anakim are an interesting people. They were the descendants of a man named Anak (Num. 13:33). They dwelt in the south of Palestine (hence, Hebron), but also, during the days of Abraham (some 500 years before), they lived south of that region in territories that eventually were known as Edom and Moab (the latter being east of the Jordan River). Some have suggested that they may have come from the same race as the Phoenicians and Egyptians, and they also have been identified with the Nephilim, "giants," of Genesis 6:4. This is purely speculation, however. This idea is derived from Numbers 13:33, which reads "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight" (this is the report given by the 10 unfaithful spies). More than likely, these 10 men were simply cowards, looking for an excuse not to attack. The Anakim almost surely weren't "giants," though they do appear to have been formidable and very warlike.

The other interesting point is that Caleb recounts a bit of his biography in verses 10 and 11. He was 40 years old when Moses sent him (and the other 11) into Canaan as spies, but as he was speaking to Joshua, he was 85. Well, since the Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, Caleb would have been 80 when they first entered the land. So we learn here that they had been at war for five years. They had conquered quite a bit of land, but not nearly all of it yet.