Caleb’s petition; Hebron is given to him and to his seed.
Caleb of the tribe of Iuda (seing some knew their lottes already, and that the whole land was now to be diuided) 6. demandeth, according to Gods promise made by Moyses (for his true and good report of the same land, when he with others viewed it) that Hebron be geuen him, and his seede to inherite, 13. which Iosue confirmeth vnto him.
1This is what the children of Israel possessed in the land of Chanaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son of Nun, and the princes of the families by the tribes of Israel gave to them.Ecco quel che possedettero i figliuoli d'Israele nella terra di Canaan, secondo la distribuzione che ad essi ne fecero Eleazaro sommo sacerdote, e Giosuè figliuolo di Nun, e i principi delle famiglie di ciascheduna delle tribù d'Israele,THIS is it, which the children of Israel possessed in the Land of Chanaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Iosue the sonne of Nun, & the princes of the families by the tribes of Israel gaue to them:Hoc est quod possederunt filii Israël in terra Chanaan, quam dederunt eis Eleazar sacerdos, et Josue filius Nun, et principes familiarum per tribus Israël: 2Dividing all by lot, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, to the nine tribes, and the half tribe.I quali il tutto distribuirono a sorte alle nove tribù e mezzo, conforme aveva ordinato il Signore per mezzo di Mosè:diuiding al thinges by lotte, as our Lord had commanded in the hand of Moyses, to the nine tribes, and the half tribe.sorte omnia dividentes, sicut præceperat Dominus in manu Moysi, novem tribubus, et dimidiæ tribui. 3For to two tribes and a half Moses had given possession beyond the Jordan: besides the Levites, who received no land among their brethren:Imperocché a due tribù e mezzo avea Mosè data la loro porzione di là dal Giordano: tralasciando i Leviti, i quali non ebber parte veruna alla distribuzione fatta tra i loro fratelli:For to two tribes and a half Moyses had geuen possession beyond Iordan: besides the Leuites, which receiued no land among their brethren:Duabus enim tribubus, et dimidiæ, dederat Moyses trans Jordanem possessionem: absque Levitis, qui nihil terræ acceperunt inter fratres suos: 4But in their place succeeded the children of Joseph divided into two tribes, of Manasses and Ephraim: neither did the Levites receive other portion of land, but cities to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed their beasts and flocks.Ma subentrarono nel luogo loro i figliuoli di Giuseppe divisi in due tribù, Manasse, ed Ephraim: e i Leviti non ebbero altra cosa nel paese, se non delle città da abitarvi, e i loro sobborghi per mantenere i loro armenti, e i greggi.but into their place succeded the children of Ioseph diuided into two tribes, of Manasses and Ephraim: neither did the Leuites receiue other portion in the Land, but cities to inhabite, and their suburbes to feede their beastes and cattel.sed in eorum successerunt locum filii Joseph in duas divisi tribus, Manasse et Ephraim: nec acceperunt Levitæ aliam in terra partem, nisi urbes ad habitandum, et suburbana earum ad alenda jumenta et pecora sua.
5As the Lord had commanded Moses so did the children of Israel, and they divided the land.Come aveva ordinato il Signore a Mosè, così fecero i figliuoli d'Israele nella divisione del paese.As our Lord had commanded Moyses, so did the children of Israel, and they diuided the Land.Sicut præceperat Dominus Moysi, ita fecerunt filii Israël, et diviserunt terram. 6Then the children of Juda came to Josue in Galgal, and Caleb the son of Jephone the Cenezite spoke to him: Thou knowest what the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Cadesbarne.Ma si presentarono a Giosuè i figliuoli di Giuda in Galgala, e Caleb figliuolo di Jephone Cenezeo gli disse: Tu sai quel che il Signore disse di me e di te a Mosè uomo di Dio in Cadesbarne.Therfore the children of Iuda came to Iosue in Galgal, and Caleb the sonne of Iephone the Cenezeite spake to him: Thou knowest what our Lord spake to Moyses the man of God concerning me & thee in Cadesbarne.Accesserunt itaque filii Juda ad Josue in Galgala, locutusque est ad eum Caleb filius Jephone Cenezæus: Nosti quid locutus sit Dominus ad Moysen hominem Dei de me et te in Cadesbarne. 7I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Cadesbarne, to view the land, and I brought him word again as to me seemed true,Io avea quarant'anni, quando Mosè servo del Signore spedimmi da Cadesbarne a visitare la terra, e io gli riferii quello che mi parve essere la verità.Fourtie yeares old was I when Moyses the seruant of our Lord sent me from Cadesbarne, to view the Land, and I reported to him that which to me semed true.Quadraginta annorum eram quando misit me Moyses famulus Domini de Cadesbarne, ut considerarem terram, nuntiavique ei quod mihi verum videbatur. 8But my brethren, that had gone up with me, discouraged the heart of the people: and I nevertheless followed the Lord my God.Ma i miei fratelli, che erano venuti con me, misero spavento nel cuore del popolo: e con tutto questo io ho seguito il Signore Dio mio.But my brethren, that had gone vp with me, discouraged the hart of the people: and I neuertheles folowed our Lord my God.Fratres autem mei, qui ascenderant mecum, dissolverunt cor populi: et nihilominus ego secutus sum Dominum Deum meum. 9And Moses swore in that day, saying: The land which thy foot hath trodden upon shall be thy possession, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast followed the Lord my God.E Mosè fece giuramento in quel giorno, e disse: La terra, sopra la quale hai messi i tuoi piedi, sarà posseduta da te, e da' tuoi figliuoli in perpetuo: perocché tu hai seguito il Signore Dio mio.And Moyses sware in that day, saying: The Land, which thy foote hath troden, shal be thy possession, and thy childrens for euer, because thou hast folowed our Lord my God.Juravitque Moyses in die illo, dicens: Terra, quam calcavit pes tuus, erit possessio tua, et filiorum tuorum in æternum: quia secutus es Dominum Deum meum.
10The Lord therefore hath granted me life, as he promised until this present day, It is forty and five years since the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel journeyed through the wilderness: this day I am eighty-five years old,Il Signore adunque mi ha conceduto vita fino a questo dì, conforme promise. Sono quarantacinque anni che il Signore disse quella parola a Mosè nel tempo che Israele andava girando pel deserto: io ho oggi ottantacinque anni,Our Lord therfore hath granted me life, •s he promised vntil this present day. It is fourtie and fiue yeares, since our Lord spake this worde to Moyses, when Israel walked through the wildernes: this day am I eightie and fiue yeares oldConcessit ergo Dominus vitam mihi, sicut pollicitus est, usque in præsentem diem. Quadraginta et quinque anni sunt, ex quo locutus est Dominus verbum istud ad Moysen, quando ambulabat Israël per solitudinem: hodie octoginta quinque annorum sum, 11As strong as I was at that time when I was sent to view the land: the strength of that time continueth in me until this day, as well to fight as to march.E sono così forte, come lo era in quel tempo, quando fui mandato a prender lingua: la robustezza d'allora continua in me fino al giorno d'oggi tanto per combattere, come per viaggiare.so •ustie, as I was at that time when I was sent to view: the strength of that time contineweth in me vntil this day, as wel to fight as to goe.sic valens ut eo valebam tempore quando ad explorandum missus sum: illius in me temporis fortitudo usque hodie perseverat, tam ad bellandum quam ad gradiendum. 12Give me therefore this mountain, which the Lord promised, in thy hearing also, wherein are the Enacims, and cities great and strong: if so be the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to destroy them, as he promised me.Dà adunque a me questo monte (il quale di tua sentita fu promesso a me dal Signore), sul quale sono gli Enacimi, e delle grandi e forti città: così il Signore sia meco, e possa io distrugger coloro, come egli mi ha promesso.Geue me therfore this mountaine, which our Lord promised, thy selfe also hearing it, wherein are the Enacims, and great cities and fensed: if perhaps our Lord be with me, and I shal be able to destroy them, as he promised me.Da ergo mihi montem istum, quem pollicitus est Dominus, te quoque audiente, in quo Enacim sunt, et urbes magnæ atque munitæ: si forte sit Dominus mecum, et potuero delere eos, sicut promisit mihi. 13And Josue blessed him, and gave him Hebron in possession.E Giosuè lo benedisse, e gli diede Hebron per sua porzione:And Iosue blessed him, and deliuered to him Hebron in possession.Benedixitque ei Josue, et tradidit ei Hebron in possessionem:
14And from that time Hebron belonged to Caleb the son of Jephone the Cenezite, until this present day: because he followed the Lord the God of Israel.E da indi in poi Hebron fu di Caleb Cenezeo, figliuolo di Jephone fino al dì d'oggi: perchè egli seguì il Signore Dio d'Israele.And from thence forth Hebron belonged to Caleb the sonne of Iephone the Cenezeite, vntil this present day: because he folowed our Lord the God of Israelatque ex eo fuit Hebron Caleb filio Jephone Cenezæo usque in præsentem diem, quia secutus est Dominum Deum Israël. 15The name of Hebron before was called Cariath-Arbe: Adam the greatest among the Enacims was laid there and the land rested from wars.Hebron avea pell'avanti il nome di Cariath-Arbe: Adamo il massimo tra gli Enacimi ivi è sepolto: e la terra ebbe riposo dalle guerre.The name of Hebron before was called Cariath Arbe: Adam the greatest among the Enacims was layd there: and the Land ceased from battels.Nomen Hebron ante vocabatur Cariath Arbe: Adam maximus ibi inter Enacim situs est: et terra cessavit a præliis.
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Tribe. God regulated the lots, as he had authorized Jacob and Moses to foretell how the country should be divided. By this method, he precluded every pretence of discontent among the tribes. Each of them drew a ticket, on which a certain portion of land was described; or perhaps in one urn the names of the tribes, and in another the lands were specified, (Calmet) and the tickets were drawn by two persons of irreproachable character, probably by Eleazar and Josue. (Haydock) (Numbers 26:54.)
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Suburbs. A certain quantity of ground, which the Levites were not allowed to till or plant with vines. (Grotius) (Numbers 35:4.)
Haydock
The tribe of Manasses, which was divided, fell heir to the portion which would have been allotted to Levi, who was also scattered among his brethren. (Haydock)
Calmet
Thus Joseph obtained the birth-right of Ruben. (Calmet)
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Land: or they were making all necessary preparations for the work, when Caleb came to remind Josue of what had been promised to him. No doubt land-measurers would be sent through the country.
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Calmet
Jephone was the father of Caleb. Esron and Cenez probably some of his ancestors, 1 Paralipomenon 2:18., and Numbers 33:12. What Caleb here asserts, must have been delivered by word of mouth, in the hearing of the people, Deuteronomy 1:36. Moses declared not that Caleb was to have the whole country but that he should enter into it, and possess the environs of Hebron. (Calmet)
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March. Hebrew, "to enter and to go out." Septuagint add, "to war."
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Calmet
Me. He trusts not in his own strength, but in the assistance of God, which he modestly acknowledges is not due to him. (Calmet)
Worthington
God's promises are indeed sure on his part; but being conditional, and the will of man being free, he adds perhaps. (Worthington)
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Blessed him, wishing him all success.
Calmet
Gave him. Some think that Josue himself attacked the giants of that country with all the forces, as it is mentioned by anticipation, Josue 10:28. But there seems to be no need of this, as Caleb might attack them a second time with his own family and the assistance of the tribe of Juda, after they had seized those places again, while Josue was in the north. Hebron was granted to him without drawing lots. When he was besieging Cariath Sepher, he promised his daughter to the person who should first enter; and Othoniel, his brother, or nephew, obtained her in marriage, Josue 15:17., and Judges 1:10. It seems, therefore, that this family carried on this war, as the Fabii did at Rome, without the interference of the commonwealth, though Grotius asserts the contrary. (Calmet)
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Challoner
Hebron belonged, etc. All the country thereabouts, depending on Hebron, was given to Caleb; but the city itself, with the suburbs, was one of those that were given to the priests to dwell in. (Challoner)
Worthington
Caleb might also dwell, (Calmet) and be lord of the city, (Salien) though the profits (Haydock) or the town belonged to the priests, Josue 21:11. (Worthington)
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Cariath Arbe, "the city of Arbe," and ancient giant; or "of four," which the Jews explain of four great patriarchs, who were buried there.
Haydock
Adam, etc. St. Jerome seems to favour the opinion that Adam was one of these, whose tomb ennobled Hebron, though many of the Fathers think he was buried on Mount Calvary. Others think that his body, or skull at least, was translated thither. But we cannot depend on any of these traditions. Most commentators explain the Hebrew, "The ancient name of Hebron with Cariath Arbe; (Calmet) he was a man great among the Enacim." (Haydock)
Haydock
Septuagint, "the city of Arbo. This was the metropolis of the Enacim." (Haydock)
Calmet
Wars, for a time, particularly from such wars as engaged the attention of all Israel. The different tribes had to encounter and drive out the Chanaanites who might be left in their respective districts. (Calmet)
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The Leuites hauing their portions in other maner, yet there were twelue tribes to receiue portiōs by reason that Iacob adopted Iosephs two sonnes. Gen. 48.
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After the viewing of the land. Num. 1•. the Israelites remained in the desert. 38. yeares: so they were nere seuen yeares in warres.
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Gods promise is euer sure on his part, but because it is conditional, if we serue him sincerly, o•• wil being f•ee, he saith: •f perhaps our lord be vvith me.
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Onlie the countrie of Hebron was geuen to Caleb, for the citie it self and suburbes belonged to the Priestes. chap. 21• v. 11.
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See before. Chap. 11. v. 23.
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 10.11
… And Jesus the son of Nave was in many things a type of Him. For when he began to rule over the people, he began from Jordan , whence Christ also, after He was baptized, began to preach the gospel. And the son of Nave appoints twelve to divide the inheritance
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.1
… But why should I enumerate all the titles which your virtue, in its varied forms, has won for and applied to you as your own?
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.8
… So the bodies of those of twenty years old and upwards fell in the desert. The punishment of the rest was put aside. But they who had gone up with Joshua, and had thought fit to dissuade the people, died forthwith of a great plague. Joshua and Caleb
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.11
… And rising up from thence she went up to Hebron, that is Kirjath-Arba, or the City of the Four Men. These are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the great Adam whom the Hebrews suppose (from the book of Joshua the son of Nun) to be buried there.
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1. WHICH ELEAZAR THE PRIEST (THE HIGH PRIEST namely) AND JOSHUA THE SON OF NUN, AND THE PRINCES OF THE FAMILIES (that is, of the tribes) GAVE TO THEM BY THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, — as if to say, And twelve princes according to the twelve tribes of Israel: for each tribe had its own prince. In Hebrew, the heads of the Fathers (that is, the princes) of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Therefore three are set here as the presidents and executors of the division and casting of lots, namely first Eleazar the High Priest, second Joshua the prince of the people, third the order is made up of twelve princes of the tribes, each of whom represented his own tribe, and had care of it, lest any injury or diminution of the lot should befall them, so that with the princes of the tribes content, all the tribes would acquiesce in the division. Moreover Eleazar is placed before Joshua, because he is more worthy: for the High Priest is more worthy than a prince and king. Abulensi denies this, and thinks Joshua was more worthy than Eleazar; but the contrary is shown from the very words of Scripture Num. xxvii, 21.
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3. EXCEPT THE LEVITES, WHO RECEIVED NO LAND AMONG THEIR BRETHREN, — because the portion of the Levites was the Lord, that is the oblations; for the oblations and the part of the victims immolated to God fell to the Levites.
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4. BUT IN THEIR STEAD THE SONS OF JOSEPH SUCCEEDED, DIVIDED INTO TWO TRIBES, MANASSEH AND EPHRAIM. — Masius here censures the common interpreter, in that he adds something to the Hebrew. For in the Hebrew there is only this, that the sons of Joseph were two tribes Manasseh and Ephraim. But I answer that our version interprets it more clearly by translating: "But in their stead the sons of Joseph succeeded," as if to say, Because the tribe of Levi being set aside, only eleven tribes remained to divide Canaan, for this reason the tribe of Joseph was divided into two, so that it might fill up the number of twelve tribes of Israel, and thus receive two portions of the promised land, one for the tribe of Joseph, another for the tribe of Levi, which namely it would have received, if it had been counted among the twelve: but now that it is excluded, the other part of the tribe of Joseph succeeded to it, and constituted the twelfth tribe, and thus obtained the twelfth part of the promised land. For God willed that Canaan be distributed to twelve tribes, and therefore it be divided into twelve portions, and by this reasoning the tribe of Joseph succeeded also to the tribe of Reuben in the right of primogeniture, which was that the firstborn (such as Reuben was) should obtain a double portion of the paternal inheritance, but the other brothers a single portion. Reuben fell from this right on account of incest committed with Bala his stepmother, and therefore it was given to the chaste Joseph. Whence he himself through his two sons, namely Ephraim and Manasseh, constituted two tribes, and obtained a double lot of the holy land.
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6. TO JOSUE IN GILGAL. — For there were the camps and encampments of Josue and the Hebrews; wherefore all these things were done there, and this first division of Chanaan was made among five tribes: for the later division among the seven remaining tribes was made in Silo, cap. xviii, vers. 1. AND CALEB THE SON OF JEPHONEE THE CENEZAEAN SPOKE TO HIM. — Caleb here had explored the holy land, sent by Moses with Josue and the other ten explorers, and when they were calumniating it and stirring up the murmuring of the people, Caleb with Josue resisted, and repressed the murmuring, by praising the promised land, and showing that it could be easily conquered by the aid of God. Wherefore God commanded that Hebron and its borders be given to him as a reward, outside the lot, Num. cap. xiii and xiv; which therefore he himself here demands to be assigned to him by Josue. Wherefore this Caleb is different from Caleb, who was the ancestor of Beseleel, and the immediate son of Esron son of Phares, son of Juda, of whom I Paral. ii, 18, as I have proved against R. Solomon, Exodi xxxi, 1. Even if this Caleb also descended from Juda and perhaps from Phares and Esron, yet through intervening ancestors and great-ancestors. Caleb in Hebrew is the same as dog, and that fittingly, because he himself like a dog barked at the explorers of the holy land who were detracting from it, and repressed the murmuring of the people. Again Caleb is the same as quasi heart, because he himself with a generous and magnanimous heart defended the cause and faith of God against the other explorers and the murmuring people. SON OF JEPHONEE. — Some take Jephonee not as a proper name, but as an appellative, signifying one who sees, sagacious, from פנה pane, which signifies to see, to inspect, to perceive. But it is certain that Jephonee is the proper name of the father of Caleb, whose etymology however is most fitting for Caleb, as being most keen-sighted and most prudent. CENEZAEAN. — Why is Caleb called Cenezaean? The Cenezaeans are numbered among the other peoples of Chanaan, Genes. xv, 19. But it is certain that Caleb is not called Cenezaean from that: for he himself was by nation and race a Hebrew, not a Chanaanite. Again there was another Cenez begotten by Esau (whence according to St. Jerome in Locis Hebr., some Idumaeans were called Cenezaeans), of whom Genes. cap. xxxvi, vers. 15 and 42; but it is equally certain that Caleb is not called Cenezaean from him: for it is established that he was a Jew, not an Idumaean, and begotten from Jacob, not from Esau. I say therefore that Caleb is called Cenezaean from a grandfather or great-grandfather, who was Cenez, and was a man of distinction, and therefore communicated his name to his descendants, so that they were called Cenezaeans from him; we gather that this is so from the fact that the name Cenez was frequent and celebrated in the family of Caleb; for the brother of Caleb also, who was the father of Othoniel the judge, was called Cenez: the grandson also of Caleb from his son was named Cenez, as appears cap. seq., vers. 13; Judic. cap 1, 13; I Paral. iv, 13 and 15: and this from his grandfather or great-grandfather, an illustrious man, who was called Cenez, as it appears. Wherefore it is not probable that this Cenez was the stepfather or uncle of Caleb, as some wish. Cenez therefore begat Jephonee, Jephonee begat Caleb, hence Caleb was called Cenezaean. Whence Cenezaean in Hebrew is the same as my possession this or my nest this, says Pagninus in Nomin. Hebr., as if to say Caleb was truly the grandson and heir of his ancestor Cenez, an illustrious man, and together with the possession and inheritance he possessed and inherited his heroic virtues: wherefore he was truly, and could be called Cenezaean, as much as Israelite and son of Abraham.
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9. THE LAND WHICH THY FOOT HATH TRODDEN SHALL BE THY POSSESSION. — What this land was, Moses did not explain in Numer. cap. xiv, vers. 24; but from this it is clear that it was Hebron which Caleb visited, when he explored the land with the other explorers, since they did not dare to go to it on account of fear of the giants inhabiting it.
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10. FORTY-FIVE YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE LORD SPOKE THIS WORD TO MOSES, WHEN ISRAEL WAS WALKING THROUGH THE WILDERNESS; TODAY I AM EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS OLD. This passage sheds great light on the whole of this book; for Caleb in these words embraces the entire chronology of this time, from which it is certain that Joshua waged war with the Canaanites for six years, and after subduing them in the seventh year divided their land among the twelve tribes of Israel. This therefore is the summary and synopsis of the deeds of Joshua. Joshua in the first year of his leadership and governance, on the tenth day of the first month, led the people of Israel across the Jordan, the waters receding, into the land of Canaan, as we have heard in chapters iii and iv. He celebrated the Passover at Gilgal on the fourteenth day of the first month in the plain of Jericho; on the following day the people ate of the grain of the land, and when this was done, immediately on the next day the manna ceased, as was said in chapter v. From this it is clear that Joshua and the Hebrews, immediately after the death of Moses, namely in the year 41 from the exodus from Egypt, entered Canaan, and after destroying Jericho and waging war with the other nations, did so for six years. For in the seventh year, all being subdued, Joshua divided Canaan among the Hebrews. That this is so is evident from the comparison of the history recounted in this chapter with those things which are narrated in Numbers xiii and Deuteronomy ii. For when Joshua began this division, Caleb says to him in this verse that when he was sent among others to spy out the land of Canaan from Kadesh-barnea in Numbers xiii, he was forty years old, and from that time to the present forty-five years have passed, and he is now eighty-five years old. It is certain that he was sent with the other spies in the second year from the exodus from Egypt, Numbers x and xiii, and Joshua xiv, from which year to the year 40 from the exodus from Egypt in which Moses died and Joshua was made leader, there elapsed 38 years; now count from year 38 to 45, and you will have seven years, in the first six of which the Canaanites were subdued and slain in war, and in the seventh they divided their land, when Caleb was already eighty-five years old. This division therefore of the land was made in the year 47 from the exodus from Egypt, which was the seventh year of Joshua's leadership, or at least its beginning. Thus Theodoret here, Question xvi, Abulensis in chapter xiii, Question iii, and in chapter xxii, Question ii, where he refutes Josephus defining the time of war as five years, and Lyra as six years. So also Masius, Magalianus and others here. Finally, this is the common opinion of the Hebrews.
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11. THUS STRONG. — God preserved for Caleb in old age his former strength, both as a reward for his faithfulness, so that he might possess and enjoy the promised land, for which he had stood against the murmurers, and so that he might be an eyewitness of all things that had been done by Moses in the wilderness and relate them to the younger Hebrews: for all the murmurers were punished by God with death in the wilderness; therefore their sons, young men who had not murmured, entered the promised land. To these therefore Caleb, an old man, testified and proclaimed the wonders which God had wrought for the fathers in the wilderness. Thus soon after Christ there were long-lived men such as St. John, St. Simeon, St. Dionysius the Areopagite, St. Polycarp and many others, so that posterity might be eyewitnesses or ear-witnesses of the deeds of Christ. Similar was Paul of Concordia, whose vigorous old age St. Jerome thus describes in epistle 21 to the same man: "Behold," he says, "the hundredth circle of your age revolves, and you, always keeping the precepts of the Lord, meditate on the blessedness of future life through present examples. Your eyes are vigorous with light, your feet imprint certain steps, your hearing is penetrating, your teeth are white, your voice is sonorous, your body is solid and full of vigor, gray hairs are mixed with redness, your strength is at variance with your age: old age has not dissolved the tenacity of memory, as we see in most men; cold blood has not dulled the keenness of your clever mind; wrinkled face has not made your furrowed brow rough; finally, your trembling hand does not guide a wandering stylus through curved waxen paths: the Lord has shown in you the vigor of the future resurrection, so that we may know it is sin that others still living die beforehand in the flesh; it is righteousness that you feign youth in another's age." So as to wage war, — with the giants dwelling in Hebron given to me by God, so that I may drive them out and capture Hebron and claim it for myself. Whence it follows:
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12. GIVE ME THEREFORE THIS MOUNTAIN, WHICH THE LORD PROMISED THEE, THOU ALSO HEARING IT, IN WHICH THE ENAKIM ARE. — "This mountain," on which Hebron, Dabir and Anab are situated: for God promised these to Caleb, Num. xiv, 24. Although Scripture does not express them there by name, nevertheless Moses declared the same by word of mouth, as is evident from this place, namely that the land promised to Caleb by God in that place is the mountainous region of Hebron. The reason why God assigned these before others to Caleb was first, the invincible and lofty virtue and strength of Caleb, by which a little before he said that he was now eighty-five years old and yet so strong in mind and body as when he was forty years old. Second, because the mountainous region of Hebron was occupied by the Enakim, that is, by giants, whom the other Hebrews greatly feared, and would not have dared to attack, as Caleb attacked them. Third, because forty years before, Caleb had entered these mountains, and had explored them with the giants, and had said to the people that they could easily be conquered through God, whereas the other spies, being fearful, denied this, and deterred the people by fear of the giants from entering the promised land. God therefore wished to show that what Caleb had said was true, and through him to overcome the giants. Thus under God's leadership we overcome the strongest men and the most difficult things, if, relying on God, we undertake the matter confidently and courageously. For God provides the help which he promised, and aids those who begin, strengthens them, promotes them, so that they easily accomplish what would otherwise be difficult. Thus David with a small stone laid low that fleshy tower, as Chrysostom says, namely Goliath, because, trusting in God, he engaged him in combat with great courage. St. Antony, as St. Athanasius testifies, once saw the devil in the form of a giant raising his head among the clouds and hiding it, but recognizing his fraud, he said: "In vain dost thou attempt to tempt me with this mass of body. Come, if thou hast any power and strength against me, exercise it: 'The Lord is my illumination and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?'" When he said this, that gigantic phantom vanished. The devil presents such phantoms of difficulties to each one; but if, relying on God, we despise them and strive against them, they will turn to smoke. "In which the Enakim are," — namely giants born from Enac the giant: for although Joshua expelled these giants from Hebron, cap. xi, vers. 12, yet from this it is clear that some escaped this defeat and fled to the Philistines, and thence, having recovered their strength, returned to Hebron, and occupied it as it were the seat of their ancestors, and therefore Caleb again expelled them. "IF PERHAPS." — Not that Caleb doubts the promises of God, but that he thinks modestly of himself, and fears lest he turn away from himself the help of God promised to him through his own fault or negligence.
14:13
13. And Joshua blessed him, — that is to say, Joshua prayed for all prosperous things for Caleb, and especially for a happy outcome of the conquest of the mountainous cities which the giants occupied, as if to say, May God make thee fortunate, may God bless thee, may God subject the giants to thee. Thus Abulensis. Otherwise Arias and Vatablus: He blessed, they say, that is, he praised the courage and virtue of Caleb. But Masius, he granted (to Caleb) those things which he heard.
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14. BECAUSE HE FOLLOWED THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL. — In Hebrew, because he fulfilled (the way) after the Lord God of Israel, that is, because he fully followed God, just as he had once followed the same as Israel or Jacob his father and patriarch. The Septuagint: because he himself followed the commandment of the God of Israel. The same, moreover, in vers. 8, translate, but I adhered to the Lord my God. The sense is, that is to say, Caleb not only lived piously and holily in private, but also the glory of God and the prosperity and salvation of his neighbors, namely the Hebrews, in whatever ways he could, he diligently and constantly procured to the last moment of his life, and altogether he discharged that office to which God had placed him over, gravely, attentively and constantly. Thus Masius.
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15. THE NAME HEBRON WAS FORMERLY CALLED CARIATH-ARBE: ADAM THE GREATEST WAS SITUATED THERE AMONG THE ENACIM. — He shows that the Enacim, that is, giants, were in Hebron, as he said in verse 12, from the fact that Hebron was formerly called Cariath, that is, the city of Arbe the giant. Note first: This city was called Hebron; for concerning it, it is said in Numbers xiii, 23: "Hebron was built seven years before Tanis, a city of Egypt." Then Hebron was occupied by Arbe the giant with his descendants, and from this was named Cariath, that is, the city of Arbe, who was "Adam," that is, man, "the greatest among the Enacim;" or who was called by antonomasia Adam, because he was the greatest man among the giants, and in Hebron had chosen for himself a seat and a sepulcher. Whence from the Hebrew you should translate thus properly and clearly: Hebron was formerly called Cariath-Arbe, he was the greatest man among the Enacim. Thus the Chaldean, Masius, Cajetan, Vatable, Arias, Pagninus and others. That this is the genuine sense of this place is evident from the Hebrew, and from the fact that Arbe here was the father of Enac, as is said in chapter xv, verse 13, and chapter xxi, verse 11. Moreover, from Enac were born the Enacim giants. Hence Arbe is here called the greatest, both by the vastness of his body, and by his principality and dominion, and by the glory of his deeds, and by his dignity, in that he was the father, indeed the patriarch of the Enacim, from whom namely all this offspring of giants was propagated, and therefore his name was given to Hebron, in which these giants dwelt. The same is clear from the Septuagint, who translate: the name of Hebron was formerly the city of Arbe (some wrongly read Argob) the metropolis of these Enacim themselves. Otherwise St. Jerome interprets this in chapter xxvii of Matthew, and in Questions on Paralipomenon, and the Hebrews in Berescit Rabba, that is, in the Greater Genesis, and those following them Lyran, Hugh, Dionysius the Carthusian, Abulensis, namely, as if to say: Hebron was formerly called Cariath-Arbe, that is, the city of four, namely of illustrious men, because in it are buried four Patriarchs, namely Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with their wives. Concerning the last three it is evident from Genesis chapter xlvii, verse 30, and elsewhere; concerning Adam it is evident from this place. For this reason St. Jerome here seems to have retained the name Adam proper to the first man, so as to indicate that he was buried in Hebron, and therefore he expressed "was situated," that is, was buried, which does not exist in the Hebrew, but can be understood. Furthermore, St. Jerome, although he seems more inclined to this opinion, nevertheless does not establish it fully and completely. Hear him in the Epitaph of St. Paula: "He ascended to Hebron, this is Cariath-Arbe, that is, the town of four men, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Adam the great, whom the Hebrews believe to be buried there according to the book of Joshua; although most think Caleb is the fourth, whose memory is shown from his side." St. Jerome is followed by Isidore, Rupert, Marianus, Scotus and others already cited. The name Hebron favors this, which in Hebrew signifies society, conjunction, coupling, namely in it the four greatest Patriarchs received the society of burial. Furthermore, that John Lucidus, in book I On the Emendation of Times, chapter iv, should think Adam was a giant, from the fact that he is here called "Adam the greatest among the Enacim," is improbable: for thus he would have been a monstrous man created by God, and a monster of nature. He is therefore called "the greatest among the Enacim," not by stature, but by dignity, because he was the first man created by God, and the parent of all others, likewise endowed with great knowledge, wisdom, grace, and placed in paradise. But that phrase, "among the Enacim," merely signifies that he was buried in Hebron among the Enacim. Again, St. Jerome received his opinion from the Hebrews, who write in Berescit Rabba that the name Arba, which signifies four, was imposed on that city because in ancient times four men dwelt there, Aner, Eschol, Mamre and Abraham; these same were circumcised there; four celebrated matrons likewise were buried there, Eve, Sara, Rebecca and Leah: and four Patriarchs Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: and that from that place Abraham pursued and struck four kings. But as it is evident that many things which are in those Commentaries are fictitious, so these ought to be considered as little firm and probable. Hear now Abulensis: This is the truer and more common sense, which almost all Catholics hold. For Adam is said to have lived near the city of Hebron, and to have finished his days there, and to have been buried there with his wife Eve; they also say that he was formed by God there. For it is established that he was formed outside paradise. But Eve was formed in paradise from the rib of Adam, Genesis II; thus also testify the Gentiles, who now dwell near the city of Hebron, which by its inhabitants is called the Valley of Tears, because Adam wept there for one hundred years when Abel was killed by Cain. This is from Abulensis. The same things are handed down by Saligniacus, Bredembachius, Borchardus, and from them Adrichomius in Description of the tribe of Judah, nos. 7, 90, 91, 100 and 143. Hence also King David was inaugurated and reigned in Hebron, as in the ancestral city of his fathers and forefathers, II Kings cap. ii, vers. 3. There also was the house of Zacharias, in which St. John the Baptist was born and brought up. Hence also Masius in cap. xv, vers. 13, asserts that the cities near Hebron were called Dabir, that is, the sacred inner chamber, and as it were an oracle; Cariath Sepher, that is, the city of letters, because in it, as in an archive, the monuments of the ancient Fathers were preserved. But all these things appear to have been received from St. Jerome, whose authority later Latin writers commonly followed. For the other more ancient and learned ones assert that Adam dwelt in Judaea and in Jerusalem, and that he died and was buried there not in Hebron, but in Golgotha, or the mount of Calvary, where Christ was crucified, indeed that the mount of Calvary received its name from the calvaria of Adam. Thus Origen, hom. 35 in Matthew; St. Epiphanius, heresy 46, which is that of the Tatians; St. Athanasius, tract. On the Passion of the Lord; St. Cyprian, serm. On the Resurrection; St. Ambrose, lib. V, epist. 19, and in Luke cap. xxiii; Theophylactus and Euthymius in cap. xxvii of Matthew; indeed St. Jerome himself, epist. 17 to Marcella; St. Cyril, Moses-Ber Cepha, lib. On Paradise; St. Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople, Anastasius of Sinai, lib. VI of the Hexaemeron, and others whom Suarez cites and follows, III part. Question xlvi, art. 10; and Sixtus Senensis lib. VI of the Library, annotation 132. These ancient ones are followed by the more recent, namely Baronius, Pererius, Torniellus, Fevardentius who says this is the constant opinion of the Church, Salianus and others. Some attempt to reconcile both opinions, saying that Adam was first buried in Hebron, then in Golgotha. Thus Honorius of Autun in the Chronicle, Vilalpandus in Apparatus lib. I, cap. ix, Delrio, and Serarius favors it: and this on account of the tradition of the inhabitants of the Holy Land, which Borchardus, Adrichomius and others recount; but Genebrardus in lib. I of the Chronology says that Adam according to the Hebrews was buried in Hebron, but according to the Fathers in Golgotha. Be that as it may, it is certain to me that Hebron is not signified here. For Adam here is not a proper name, but an appellative, signifying a man; nor does it denote the first-formed, but the giant Arbe. Thus II Kings vii, 19, it is said: "This is the law of Adam (that is, of man), O Lord God." And Hosea xi, 4: "In the cords of Adam I will draw them," Adam that is man, by which cords men are accustomed to be drawn, and often elsewhere, especially in the Hebrew. For Adam is said to be from אדמה adama, which word signifies red earth, just as man from humus, Genesis ii. For it explains who Arbe was, namely Adam, that is, the greatest man, both in the bulk of his body, and in power, dignity and authority. Whence it appears that Arbe is the same as ar rab, that is, great, mighty, prince, from the root רבה raba, that is, much, that is, great was he, so that the aleph in Arbe is not radical, but hemantic or formative of the name; unless you prefer to take Arbe properly, so that it signifies four, and the fourth or square, as if Arbe here were the fourth of the first giants and princes, or he himself stood equal and equivalent to four others. Furthermore, God, on account of Caleb, to whom he gave Hebron, so directed the lots in the division of the tribes, that the lot of the tribe of Judah fell near Hebron, lest Caleb, possessing it, be separated from his tribe of Judah. Finally, the sepulchre of Caleb near Hebron is assigned by St. Jerome, Adrichomius and others. AND THE LAND RESTED FROM WARS. — This clause is to be referred in the Hebrew manner to the preceding matters, not immediately, but remotely, namely to the wars completed by Joshua, of which account was made in the preceding chapters, as if to say: Wars being completed, and the Canaanites suppressed, when their land was to be divided by lot to the twelve tribes of Israel, and when Caleb had sought and obtained his portion in it from Joshua, this land rested from wars, being now subdued to the victorious Hebrews.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
14:6
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. …
14:12
Hebron (Hebrew: Hebrōn «Union, league»; Septuagint: Χέβρων)
10:3, 36-39; 12:10) and then repopulated with Calebites (Josh. 14:12). It later became a city of refuge, and David, who had found shelter there while persecuted by Saul, chose it as his capital, remaining there seven and a half years (II Sam. 2:1-3:11; …
14:15
… The Byzantine Church honors him with public worship (feast of Sts. Adam and Eve, Dec. 19). He died at the age of 930 (Gen. 5:5). According to ancient legends he was buried near the earthly paradise; it has seemed that St. Jerome, in his translation of Jos. 14:15 (Vulgate), speaks of Hebron; many Fathers held that A.'s body was buried beneath the rock of Calvary (Origen, In Matth., 126; PG 13, 1777; St. Athanasius, De passione et cruce Domini, …
… To achieve this latter goal and to respect certain rabbinic legends (cf. Josh. 14, 15; Neh. 9, 7), he sometimes neglected accuracy somewhat: but in general even the critics most prejudiced against the great biblical scholar today agree in noting the perfection of the work. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.