CALEB (Heb. «Dog»). - A contemporary and collaborator of Joshua. Of the tribe of Judah, he was, along with Joshua, among the twelve sent by Moses, while he was at Kadesh, to explore the land of Canaan. He was forty years old when, in forty days of exploration, he pushed as far as Emath. On returning to Kadesh, he reanimated the discouraged Israelites, refuting the exaggerations of his companions, who reported having encountered in Canaan very robust inhabitants in impregnable cities. But he did not succeed in instilling the optimism of his faith into the demoralized and tumultuous people, who were therefore entirely excluded from entering the Promised Land; only C. was exempted, together with Joshua, from this punishment, as a reward for his faith (Num. 13:2; 14:38).
At the age of 85 he occupied the fortified cities of Hebron and Kiriath-sepher (Josh. 15:13-19, cf. Judg. 1:10-15), contributing to the conquest and the division of the land of Canaan (Num. 34:19); whence Ecclus. 46:9 celebrates the "vigor" of his "old age."
He was the "elder brother," and more precisely the father-in-law, of the judge Othniel, to whom he had given his daughter Achsah as a reward for the capture of Kiriath-sepher (Judg. 1:12, 13; 3:9). Through his father Jephunneh, C. was linked (Num. 32:12 and Josh. 14:6, 14) to Kenaz, who from Gen. 36:11 and I Chron. 1:36, 53 is placed among the sons of Esau-Edom. Therefore the family of C. was perhaps of Edomite origin, although it must have been incorporated quite early into the tribe of Judah. The C. of I Chron. 2:42-55, also called Chelubai (ibid., 2:9), is usually considered an ancestor of C. because of the different paternity (Hezron) and descendants and because of the mention (ibid., 2:20) of the great-grandson Bezalel (v.) craftsman of the tabernacle (Ex. 31:2). Nevertheless F. de Hummelauer maintains their identity, eliminating as spurious verse 2:20, or supposing that Bezalel was a foreigner already advanced in years later incorporated into the family of C.