But my servant Caleb
Who was one of the spies, and brought a good and true report of
the land; and so in that, as well as in other things, approved
himself to be a faithful servant of the Lord, and who had stilled
the people at the beginning of their murmur, and with Joshua had
attempted to quiet them afterwards; and though Joshua is not here
mentioned, because, as some say, he had no children, and
therefore it could not be said of him that his seed should
possess the land, as is said of Caleb; or rather, because he was
to be the general and commander of the people, who was to
introduce them into the land of Canaan, and therefore there was
no necessity of expressing him by name, yet he is afterwards
mentioned, ( Numbers
14:30 Numbers
14:38 ) ;
because he had another spirit with him;
different from that of the rest of the spies, excepting Joshua; a
spirit of faith, and of the fear of the Lord, of might and
courage, of truth and faithfulness; believing in the promise of
God, which the spies distrusted, being persuaded the land might
easily be conquered, which they feared; and bringing a true
report of the land, the reverse of the ill and false one they
brought. For this is to be understood not of the Holy Spirit of
God, nor of his work upon the hearts of good men, which is
different from the spirit of the world, though Caleb was
possessed of that also:
and hath followed me fully;
with full purpose of heart whithersoever he led him, or directed
him, in every path of duty, and in the exercise of every grace;
or "hath fulfilled after me" F25; obeyed his word of command,
fulfilled his mind and will, by going after him, and acting
according to the rules and directions he gave him:
him will I bring into the land whereinto he
went;
the land of Canaan he went into to spy and search:
and his seed shall possess it;
not the whole land, but Hebron, and the parts about it, where he
particularly went, and which he and his posterity afterwards
enjoyed, see ( Numbers
13:22 ) ( Joshua
14:13-15 ) . The Targum of Onkelos is, "shall expel it"; the
inhabitants of it; for the word signifies both to inherit and
disinherit; and so Jarchi interprets it, shall disinherit the
Anakim, and the people that are in it, that is, drive them out of
it, as Caleb did, ( Joshua 15:13
Joshua
15:14 ) .