Joshua 14:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Joshua 14:12
Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.
to give · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
mountain
הָהָ֣רha.Har
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
spake
דִּבֶּ֥רdi.Ber
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
day
בַּיּ֣וֹםbai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
heardest
שָׁמַעְתָּ֩sha.ma'.Ta
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
day
בַיּ֨וֹםvai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Anakims
עֲנָקִ֣ים'a.na.Kim
H6062
an Anakite or descendant of Anak · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
cities
וְעָרִים֙ve.'a.Rim
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
great
גְּדֹל֣וֹתge.do.Lot
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine plural absolute
fenced
בְּצֻר֔וֹתbe.tzu.Rot
H1219
to gather grapes · adjective, feminine plural absolute
be
אוּלַ֨י'u.Lai
H194
if not · adverb
LORD
יְהוָ֤הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
with
אוֹתִי֙'o.Ti
H854
properly · preposition with the article + pronominal suffix
out
וְה֣וֹרַשְׁתִּ֔יםve.Ho.rash.Tim
H3423
to occupy (by driving out previous tenants · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said
דִּבֶּ֥רdi.Ber
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hebrews 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in the…
Numbers 13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Ana…
Joshua 15:14 And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Numbers 14:8-9 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Psalms 27:1-3 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 14:6–end
Before the lot was cast into the lap for the determining of the portions of the respective tribes, the particular portion of Caleb was assigned to him. He was now, except Joshua, not only the oldest man in all Israel, but was twenty years older than any of them, for all that were above twenty years old when he was forty were dead in the wilderness; it was fit therefore that this phoenix of his age should have some particular marks of honour put upon him in the dividing of the land. Now,
I. Caleb here presents his petition, or rather makes his demand, to have Hebron given him for a possession (this mountain he calls it, Jos 14:12), and not to have that put into the lot with the other parts of…
give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day--this highland region.
for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there--The report of the spies, who tried to kindle the flame of sedition and discontent, related chiefly to the people and condition of this mountain district, and hence it was promised as the reward of Caleb's truth, piety, and faithfulness.
Adam Clarke on Joshua 14:12
I shall be able to drive them out - He cannot mean Hebron merely, for that had been taken before by Joshua; but in the request of Caleb doubtless all the circumjacent country was comprised, in many parts of which the Anakim were still in considerable force. It has been conjectured that Hebron itself had again fallen under the power of its former possessors, who, taking the advantage of the absence of the Israelitish army, who were employed in other parts of the country, re-entered the city, and restored their ancient domination. But the first opinion seems best founded.
John Gill on Joshua 14:12
Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day,.... The mountainous part of the country, the hill country of Judea, in which Hebron, Debir, and other cities were; for it was not one particular city only that Caleb requested, but a large tract of ground:
for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced; that the giants, called Anakims, dwelt in the mountainous country, and their cities, Hebron, Debir, and Anab, were very large, and well fortified; this Joshua heard at the time the spies were sent into the land, he being one of them; and this he heard, not from the report of the spies, but from the people of the count…
The Church Fathers
But let us also see his petition, which "Caleb, the son of Jephunneh," asked first from Jesus. "I ask of you," he says, "this mountain, as the Lord said in that day." The holy man seeks nothing lowly or base, nothing that lies in sunken valleys, but he seeks a lofty "mountain," and a "mountain" in which there are "great and fortified cities." For it is written: "there are the Anakim, cities great and fortified." And he was asking for these things because he knew how to wage war, as it is written: "the wise man occupied fortified cities and destroyed the stronghold in which the impious trusted." Do you suppose that, when Solomon said these things, he wished to teach us this — that "the wise man captured cities and destroyed strongholds" built of stones? Or does it rather indicate that the city and the walls are the dogmas of the impious and the syllogisms of the philosophers, by which they construct all manner of impious things contrary to the divine law, which are observed among the pagans or the barbarians? But those things too must be reckoned among these, and to be "fortified cities" and set upon mountains, which the heretics place in their assertions from the Scriptures as though upon high mountains. These "cities," then, every "wise man" who preaches the word of truth "has destroyed," and he has overthrown the cities of falsehood with the battering-ram of truth, just as the Apostle Paul also said: "destroying reasonings and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." So then even now this most wise Caleb stands before Jesus and promises that "he is strong for war and ready for battle," and therefore he begs that there be permitted to him, as it were, the faculty of disputation, so that he may contend with the dialecticians of the world, with those who confirm falsehoods in place of truths, that he may refute and overcome them and overthrow all the things which they have constructed with their false assertions. And so at last, seeing his eagerness, "Jesus," it says, "blesses him" — namely, because he asks for and dares such things. But you too, if you are willing to give effort to your studies and to meditate prudently upon the law of God and to become a heart in the law of God, are able to overthrow those great and fortified cities, that is, the assertions of falsehood, so that you too may deserve to be blessed by Jesus and to…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Caleb — A dog. (1.) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. He is also called Chelubai (1 Chr. 2:9). His descendants are enumerated (18-20, 42-49). (2.) A “son of Hur, the firstborn of…
Debir — Oracle town; sanctuary. (1.) One of the eleven cities to the west of Hebron, in the highlands of Judah (Josh. 15:49; Judg. 1:11-15). It was originally one of the towns of the Anakim (Josh. 15:15),…
Judah, Tribe of — Judah and his three surviving sons went down with Jacob into Egypt (Gen. 46:12; Ex. 1:2). At the time of the Exodus, when we meet with the family of Judah again, they have increased to the number of…
Anakim · General references — General references
Anakim, The · Hebron a possession of, given to Caleb for his faithfulness — Hebron a possession of, given to Caleb for his faithfulness
Caleb · the land of promise — the land of promise
Cities · Fortified — Fortified
Hebron · .Conquest of, by — .Conquest of, by
Obedience · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And Moses swear on that day, etc Here, then, is one fruit of the embassy honestly and faithfully performed -- to gain possession of an inheritance of which the whole people is deprived. For although long life is justly accounted one of the mercies of God, the end proposed by it is here added, viz., that Caleb may obtain the inheritance which is denied to others. This was no ordinary privilege. He next extols the faithfulness of God in having prolonged his life, and not only so, but supplied vigor and strength, so that though he was now above eighty years of age, he was not a whit feebler than when in the flower of his youth. Others, too, had a green old age, but they were few in number, and…
"The mountain," according to the context, is the mountainous region of Hebron, where the spies had seen the Anakites (Num 13:22, Num 13:28). The two clauses, in Jos 14:12, beginning with כּי are not to be construed as subordinate to one another, but are co-ordinate clauses, and contain two distinct motives in support of his petition: viz., "for thou heardest in that day," sc., what Jehovah said to me then, and also "for (because) the Anakites are there;" ... "perhaps Jehovah is with me (אתי for אתּי, see Ges. 103, 1, anm. 1, and Ewald, 264, b.), and I root them out" (vid., Jos 15:14). The word "perhaps" does not express a doubt, but a hope or desire, or else, as Masius says, "hope mixed with…
Israel had stayed out of Canaan forty-five years earlier because they feared the descendants of Anak, a tall, strong people who lived in the hill country of Judah (Num 13:32-33).
Rashi on Joshua 14:10
It is now forty five years. From this we learn that it took seven years to conquer the land, for it was in the second year5After they went out of Egypt. that Moshe sent the spies.6To spy out the land. After that, there remained thirty eight years during which they traveled through the wilderness, and seven years to conquer the land, which add up to forty five years.
