CALEB (PERSON) . Var. CHELUBAI. CALEBITES. It is possible to distinguish three persons with this name, plus a variant form in the name Chelubai (Heb kelûbāy). Any discussion of the name Caleb and its variant form must necessarily involve an investigation of the Calebites or Caleb’s descendants. This gentile use is very important to classify the geographical location and the genealogical identification of the individuals and groups thus named; however, these problems are one step away from an examination of the name itself.
Caleb has been most commonly treated as a form of the stem klb, “dog”, which is found in virtually all ANE languages (TWAT 4:158; Beltz 1974:116-34). Traditionally, the complementary and non-complementary connotations are associated with the literal meaning of Heb keleb, “dog”. On the one hand, meanings such as “mad dog” (IPN, 230), “dog-faced baboon” (Thomas 1960:419-23), “dead dog” and the like, all of which are attested in extra-biblical sources (TWAT 4 : 157-62; Thomas 1960: 410-14), express self-humiliation or invective. In a biblical example, Hazael, doubting his own abilities, says to Elisha: -What is your servant, who is nothing more than a dog? . . (2 Kings 8:13). On the other hand, most scholars agree that Hebkeleb is used in certain lyrics, hymns, etc., to express the fidelity of a servant, such as that of a faithful watchdog (Thomas 1960: 424-27; EncMiqr 4: 106-10; Boling and Wright Joshua AB, 356-57) Margalith (1983) argues that these are not two different connotations of meaning for a term, but rather the distinctive meanings of two homonymous terms. Brunet (1985) challenges the traditional view that there are two connotations for the term and concludes that in biblical and non-biblical occurrences -dog- and its synonyms are almost exclusively self-abasing terms. Several theophoric names use the KLB root, i.e. Phoen klBlm, -dog of the gods- ( IPSFL, 131, 331) and Akk kalbi- il sin and kalbi- il marduk (Thomas 1960: 425; see also TWAT 4: 158-62). Therefore, the Biblical name Caleb appears to be -an abbreviation of a name beginning with the element kalb- – (Albright 1941: 47, no. 26) meaning lit. “Dog”, with the main connotation of self-humiliation, and probably also a secondary connotation of “faithful servant”.
1. The son of Jephunneh and the representative of the tribe of Judah among the twelve spies sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:6). Caleb (only in the so-called J source; Num 13:30), together with Joshua son of Nun (in the so-called P source; Num 14:6), brought a favorable report from the land and urged the people to go up and take it. In contrast to God forbidding the people to enter the land because they rejected this recommendation, God singled out “my servant Caleb” and promised to take him to the land where he had gone and give it to his descendants as a possession (Num. 14:24; see also Numbers 26:65; 32:12; Deuteronomy 1:36). This promise sets Caleb apart from all of his companions, including Joshua, and raises the issues of the geographic location and genealogical identification of Caleb and the Calebites.
The land that became Caleb’s property, by apportionment (Joshua 14:6-15; 15:13), force (Joshua 15:14-19 = Judges 1:11-15), or a combination of the two means was associated with Hebron and Debir in S Palestine. 1 Sam 30:14 identifies part of this area as “Caleb’s Negeb”. If we identify the cities and boundaries of the tribe of Judah, the DRM becomes obvious that the land belonging to or associated with Caleb is located within the borders of Judah (Josh. 15:1-12, etc.; see KHC , 115-24, 372-97). Hebron is a key element in this association, in part because of its proximity to other Jewish cities, but in light of the centrality of the Davidic dynasty in biblical tradition, it was as David’s first capital city that Hebron played an unquestioned role and big role. (Note that Nabal, the first husband of David’s wife Abigail, was a Calebite who lived in this region; 1 Sam 25:3.) When later tradition identified Hebron as one of the Levitical cities of Judah, it resolved the property problem of the Calebites specifying that the surroundings, and not the city itself, belonged to Caleb (Josh. 21:12; 1 Chron. 6:56).
The relationship between the Kenizzite clan of Calebites and their Jewish neighbors was mutually beneficial for political and economic reasons (see Beltz 1974: 64-70), and although the Calebites became part of the tribe of Judah within the Israelite tradition, they retained its distinctive character. Of course, geographic location is not the only basis on which the Calebites joined this tradition; there was also a genealogical connection.
In 1 Chronicles, several genealogies contain the name Caleb, and these reflect lineage inconsistencies and raise questions in light of other biblical information about individuals named Caleb. First, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, is only explicitly mentioned in a genealogy of the sons of Kenaz, or the Kenizzites (1 Chronicles 4:13-15), which is found within a section dealing with the descendants of Perez. The daughter of this Caleb is named elsewhere as Achsah (Josh.15:16-17 = Judges 1:12-13), while Achsah appears as the daughter of Caleb the son of Hezron, and a grandson of Perez (1 Chr 2 : 49). Second, the MT never identifies the wife of Jephunneh’s son Caleb. However, Caleb the son of Hezron has several wives and concubines, and his descendants are not easily located in his genealogy (1 Chronicles 2: 18-24, 42-55). An identifiable descendant, Bezalel (1 Chronicles 2:20), great-grandson of Caleb son of Hezron, was a contemporary of Moses (Exodus 31:2; 35:30) and thus cannot be a great-grandson of Caleb son of Jephunneh. Third, Caleb son of Hur can be identified from the MT of 1 Chr. 2:50, but from his genealogy (1 Chr. 2:42-55), this Caleb appears to be his own. grandfather of him. Fourth, the names of some of Caleb’s descendants are place names (ie, Tekoa, Ziph, Madmannah, and Hebron), which complicates attempts to understand the purpose of the genealogies (see Noth 1932). This Caleb Williamson appears to be his own grandfather. Fourth, the names of some of Caleb’s descendants are place names (ie, Tekoa, Ziph, Madmannah, and Hebron), which complicates attempts to understand the purpose of the genealogies (see Noth 1932). This Caleb Williamson appears to be his own grandfather. Fourth, the names of some of Caleb’s descendants are place names (ie, Tekoa, Ziph, Madmannah, and Hebron), which complicates attempts to understand the purpose of the genealogies (see Noth 1932). Williamson1 & 2 NCBC Chronicles, 48-55) resolves these problems by assuming that the Chronicler collected most of the genealogies, but did not concern himself with the details of genealogical consistency. Rudolf (Chronikbücher HAT, 10-25), on the other hand, attributes the inconsistencies to later additions that altered the consistency of the Chronicler’s composition. One section (1 Chr 2:42-50) is generally agreed to derive from a tradition before the Chronicler, probably from the United Monarchy or soon after (Williamson 1 & 2 Chronicles NCBC, 55).
The key to resolving the tensions in these genealogies is the fact that Caleb is part of the genealogy of Judah. Caleb, the son of Jephone, is a Kenixzite who gained a special status through his deeds in the desert, wanderings, and stories of conquest. On the other hand, Caleb, the son of Hezron, plays a role only in the genealogies of Judah, and Bezalel, the builder of the tabernacle, seems to be the central character in his genealogy. The chronicler does not attempt to link Caleb the son of Jephunneh with Caleb the son of Hezron because neither of them is fundamental to his purpose of establishing a royal and cult origin in the tribe of Judah (Williamson 1 and 2 Chronicles NCBC, 52) . Caleb the Quenezee is important, rather, for the things he did (Numbers 13-14; Josh. 14: 6-15) and the associations he had (Josh. 15: 13-19 = Judges 1: 11-15; Judg 3:9; see Judges Boling AB, 82) outside the Chronicler’s framework, although these were not unknown to the Chronicler. Therefore, in addressing the questions posed above, Caleb the Kenizzite appearing in 1 Chronicles 4:15 within the lineage of Perez must be identified with the well-known individual from the Calebite tradition in southern Palestine (Numbers 13-14). ; Joshua 14-15; Judges 1). Asking if his daughter Acsa is the same as the daughter of Caleb son of Hezron in 1 Chronicles 2:49 misses the point of the genealogy there. Additionally, Caleb’s complex genealogies in 1 Chr 2:18-24, 42-55 serve to highlight the mix of parallel (i.e., a sequence of brothers) and hierarchical (i.e., father followed by son) genealogies in this chapter. . The chiastic structure of the genealogy sections in 1 Chronicles 2, as discussed by Williamson (1 and 2 Chronicles NCBC, 49), focuses the reader’s attention on the significance of the clan of Hezron within the tribe of Judah; furthermore, this follows the pattern of treating children in reverse order as set forth in 1 Chronicles 1:5-23, 28-34. Finally, by listing Caleb’s descendants who have names associated with geographic locations, the Chronicler reveals both the antiquity of his source material and the close association of people with places (Noth 1932; see also EJ 3:41-42). .
This introduces the final question of the function of genealogies. According to Wilson (1977: 183), genealogies can be used to delineate the social and political ties between two groups and, in particular, to incorporate clans marginally affiliated with a central group. Caleb’s genealogy is thus related to the tribe of Judah (Yeivin 1971: 13-14) and was thereby assimilated into the Israelite tribal system (Johnson 1969: 6). Not only individuals and groups of people, but the places associated with them became part of the tribe. Thus, genealogy provided a means of legitimizing social relationships and defining the geographic domain of the individuals or groups in question.
It appears that Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, is the name of a Kenizzite whose personal exploits became the tradition of the clan that took his name as its patronym. This clan existed independently in southern Palestine, but through political, economic, and religious ties eventually became part of the tribe of Judah. Even within the broader Israelite tradition, the distinctive stories of the Calebites remained in the post-exilic period.
2. Son of Hezron and great-grandfather of Bezalel (1 Chronicles 2: 18-20). A variant form of the name appears in 1 Chronicles 2:9 as Chelubai (Heb keľbāy), and the LXX interprets the form as chaleb and identifies this third son of Hezron with the Caleb who appears in the following verses. The…