Numbers 14:38

38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, ¹only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Numbers 14:38 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:38

But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh,
&c.] Here Joshua is set first, as Caleb is in ( Numbers 14:30 ) ; which shows that they were equal in dignity, and therefore are indifferently put, sometimes the one first, and sometimes the other: [which were] of the men that went to search the land;
were two of the spies, and were for the tribes of Judah and Ephraim, ( Numbers 13:6 Numbers 13:8 ) , lived [still];
were not stricken with death, when the other spies were; though perhaps upon the very spot, and in the same place, and among them, when they were struck dead; but these remained alive, and continued many years after, and entered the good land, and possessed it.

Numbers 14:38 In-Context

36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land—

37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land— died by plague before the Lord.

38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly.

40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned. ”

Cross References

• 1. 14:38 ch. 26:65; See ch. 13:16