Caleb

by Brad Scott

In Bemidebar (Numbers) 13:1-16 we have the account of those of the twelve tribes that were to spy out the land. Of all the twelve representatives of the tribes only two brought back the good report, Caleb, the son of Jephunnah and Oshea, the son of Nun. Oshea would have a yod (י) added to his name and go from meaning salvation to Yah is salvation. This is actually the name of the Messiah. He is the son of Nun, which means fish, and is the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter of life. This word just so happens to be the object of destruction for the Hebrew word satan, which means to surround and destroy life (fish). Oshea represents the tribe of Ephraim which later in the prophets will be referred to as the house of Israel.

The other faithful spy is Caleb, who is the son of Jephunnah, who represents the tribe of Judah. However, Caleb's ancestry is actually from Esau and not the tribe of Judah at all.

Bemidebar 32:11-12Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed YHVH.

Bere’shiyt (Genesis) 36:10-12These are the names of Esau's sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.

Why would a descendant of Esau be representing the tribe of Judah? This is because, from the beginning, a child of the Most High and a child of Israel have always been counted as those who love YHVH with all their heart no matter where they come from. For, you see, this word, Caleb, when looked up in most lexicons, means a dog. But when looking closer we see that this name is a contraction of what actually expresses what YHVH knows about him. For his name is a contraction of kal (כל), which means all and leb (לב), which means heart. You see, Caleb followed YHVH wholly with all his heart. Is that not the nature of those dedicated canine creatures that seem to always come back to their master? This puts a whole new light on Yeshua‘s comments about the dogs eating the crumbs that fall from the table. I might also add that the two tribes that followed wholly after YHVH are the only two tribes in the New Covenant, and that their lives together mean to follow Yeshua‘ with all their heart.

Shalom Alecheim! ◊