Who was Caleb during the Exodus?

Answer 1

AnswerThe story of the Exodus is a conflation of accounts originally written by the anonymous source now known as the Yahwist and another source now known as the Priestly Source. The Yahwist represented the traditions of the southern kingdom of Judah, and as far as he was concerned, the land promised to the Israelites comprised the south alone - he was not concerned with the kingdom to his north. His hero, Caleb, was to succeed Moses and conquer the Promised Land. The Priestly Source, writing long after the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, wanted the northern kingdom as part of the Hebrew lands promised to the Jews and therefore it had to be included in the story. He introduced another hero, Joshua, representing Ephraim in the north but apparently unknown to the Yahwist.

An example of the two different approaches is in the Book of Numbers, where Moses sent out spies to the land of Canaan. The Yahwist account states that Caleb alone tried to encourage the Israelites to proceed with the conquest (Numbers 13:30-31), but the conflated account by the Priestly Source says that Joshua and Caleb both tried to encourage the Israelites to proceed with the conquest, and were opposed by the other spies (Numbers 14:6-9).

The Book of Joshua, in its entirety, tells of the conquest by the Israelites, led by Joshua alone, of the Promised Land. But then, the Book of Judges, chapter 1 tells us that Calebconquered exactly the same cities as Joshua did.

Someone whose loyalties lay with the Priestly view could read Exodus and Numbers, then read Joshua, to learn of the very beginnings of the Israelite nation. The first chapter of Judges could be skimmed over without worrying much about the discrepancies, just as it is today.

Meanwhile, someone whose loyalties lay with the Yahwist view could read Exodus and Numbers, then read Judges chapter 1, discarding Joshua, to learn of the very beginnings of the Israelite nation. This was a remarkable achievement that bound divergent groups of believers together in a common belief, while opening up the prospect of the Jews one day claiming Samaria (the former Israel) as their own, long-lost territory.

Answer 2

In the Exodus, Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to scout the land of Canaan. He, along with Joshua, gave a positive report about the land, urging the Israelites to have faith and trust in God's promise to deliver it to them. Despite facing opposition, Caleb remained faithful and was rewarded by God for his loyalty.