Joshua 14:12

12 `And now, give to me this hill-country, of which Jehovah spake in that day, for thou didst hear in that day, for Anakim [are] there, and cities, great, fenced; if so be Jehovah [is] with me, then I have dispossessed them, as Jehovah hath spoken.'

Joshua 14:12 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 14:12

Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake
in that day
The mountainous part of the country, the hill country of Judea, in which Hebron, Debir, and other cities were; for it was not one particular city only that Caleb requested, but a large tract of ground;

for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims [were] there, and [that]
the cities [were] great and fenced;
that the giants, called Anakims, dwelt in the mountainous country, and their cities, Hebron, Debir, and Anab, were very large, and well fortified; this Joshua heard at the time the spies were sent into the land, he being one of them; and this he heard, not from the report of the spies, but from the people of the country, and therefore must know that to conquer these men, and subdue their cities, was an arduous undertaking; but since he had strength and courage, he hoped his request would be granted:

if so be the Lord [will be] with me;
which he spake not as doubting of his presence and power to be with him, and assist him, but as placing his confidence therein, and, distrusting his own power and ability, having no dependence or that, but believing that the Lord, or, as the Targum, the Word of the Lord, would be with him for his help:

then,
says Caleb,

I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said;
that is, to drive the Anakims out of their cities, or out of the mountains, the caves and dens there, to which they betook themselves, since the taking of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, by Joshua, ( Joshua 11:22 ) ; and he relied upon the promise of God to enable him to do this, and not upon his natural strength and courage, or the number and prowess of the warlike tribe of Judah, of which he was prince.

Joshua 14:12 In-Context

10 `And, now, lo, Jehovah hath kept me alive, as He hath spoken, these forty and five years, since Jehovah spake this word unto Moses, when Israel went in the wilderness; and now, lo, I [am] to-day a son of five and eighty years;

11 yet [am] I to-day strong as in the day of Moses' sending me; as my power then, so [is] my power now, for battle, and to go out, and to come in.

12 `And now, give to me this hill-country, of which Jehovah spake in that day, for thou didst hear in that day, for Anakim [are] there, and cities, great, fenced; if so be Jehovah [is] with me, then I have dispossessed them, as Jehovah hath spoken.'

13 And Joshua blesseth him, and giveth Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh for an inheritance,

14 therefore hath Hebron been to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezzite for an inheritance unto this day, because that he was fully after Jehovah, God of Israel;