Caleb's father living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness
Jephunneh, a Kenizzite, was the father of Caleb, one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore Canaan.
🗺 Places mentioned alongside Jephunneh on the map →
Jephunneh, a Kenizzite, was the father of Caleb, a prominent figure in the Old Testament. Caleb was chosen as one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. Along with Joshua, Caleb was one of the two spies who brought back a positive report and encouraged the Israelites to trust in God and take possession of the land. As a result, Caleb and Joshua were the only two adults from their generation permitted to enter Canaan. Jephunneh's Kenizzite background suggests that he may have been a descendant of the Kenizzites, a non-Israelite tribe that was later absorbed into the tribe of Judah. Caleb's inheritance in the Promised Land, including Hebron and its surrounding areas, is mentioned multiple times in connection with Jephunneh, emphasizing the faithfulness and obedience of this father-son duo.
More background: search Wikipedia ↗
15 verses in 4 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H3312
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
For 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.
not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’
These are their names: Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
Then 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.
Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.
Therefore Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.
According to the LORDʼs 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.)
But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.
The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz.
But the fields and villages around the city were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.