Why did Caleb ask for land if his tribe (Judah) had already received land? (14:12)
Why did Caleb ask for land if his tribe (Judah) had already received land? (Joshua 14:12) 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
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Asked July 04 2018
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
In my opinion, this action was fulfilling the intention that God Himself had expressed in Numbers 14:24, after Caleb (as a representative of the tribe of Judah), along with Joshua (as a representative of the half-tribe of Ephraim), had urged Israel to conquer the Promised Land following the return of the twelve spies (including Joshua and Caleb) whom Moses had sent to scout out the land. The other ten spies gave a negative assessment of Israel's ability to conquer the land, and were killed by God for their rebellion (Numbers 13-14). At that time, God promised to reward Caleb for his obedience by giving a specific possession to Caleb and his descendants (apart from land allocated to the tribe of Judah as a whole) as an inheritance. Years later, after Israel had finally entered the Promised Land (Canaan), this was done by Joshua at Caleb's request, as indicated in Joshua 14:6-15, by awarding Caleb the city known at that time as Kiriath-arba, which Caleb conquered and renamed Hebron.
Robert Stanion
Great question! Not only did the tribes have territorial land, but each individual family within each tribe was assigned land within the tribe's territory. Caleb was chosen to be the spokesperson for Judah (as explained in Joshua 13), and he went forward with the land assignments of each family - starting with his. If you take a glance at 1 Kings 21, you will see a story which revolves around a plot of land that was an "inheritance of my fathers". It is clear that this was land that was originally assigned during the council described in Joshua 13-14. Hope this helps!
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