Caleb: A Different Spirit

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one man from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them.” (3) So Moses, by the LORD’s command, sent them out from the wilderness of Paran, all the men being leaders of the Israelites. (4) And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur. (5) From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori. (6) From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. (7) From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph. (8) From the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea son of Nun. (9) From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Rafu. (10) From the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi. (11) From the tribe of Joseph, namely, the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi. (12) From the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli. (13) From the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael. (14) From the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi. (15) From the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. (16) Those were the names of the men whom Moses sent to scout the land; but Moses changed the name of Hosea son of Nun to Joshua.

(22) They went up into the Negeb and he came to Hebron, where lived Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites.—Now Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan of Egypt.

(1) ויבא עד חברון [AND THEY WENT UP INTO THE NEGEB] AND HE CAME TO HEBRON — Caleb alone went there and prostrated himself on the graves of the Patriarchs, offering prayer that he might be helped not to give way to the enticement of his colleagues and join them in their counsel. You may see that it was Caleb who went there, for so indeed it (Scripture) states, (Deuteronomy 1:36) “[Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it] and unto him will I give the land upon which he hath trodden!” and it is written, (Judges 1:20) “And they gave Hebron unto Caleb” (Sotah 34b)

(1) ויהס כלב AND CALEB HUSHED [THE PEOPLE] — he caused all of them to be silent. (2) אל משה means he silenced them that they should hear what he was going to say about Moses. He cried aloud saying: “Is this the only thing the son of Amram has done to us?!" — One who heard him thus speaking believed that he was about to speak to his disparagement, and because they had something in their mind against Moses through the spies’ statements, all of them kept silent to hear his disparagement. He, however, said: “Did he not divide the Red Sea for us, and bring down the Manna for us, and collect the quails for us?!” (Sotah 35a). (3) עלה נעלה WE CAN INDEED GO UP — even to heaven, if he were to say “Make ladders and go up there”, we should listen to him because we would be successful in all his words (in all he bids us do) (Sotah 35a). (4) ויהס is an expression denoting silence. Similar is, (Zechariah 2:17) “Be silent, (הס) O all flesh”; (Amos 6:10) “Be silent (הס): for we may not mention [the name of the Lord]”. So is the manner of people: he who wishes to silence a group of men says “sst” (This sibilant sound is therefore used to command silence).

(1) רוח אחרת [BUT MY SERVANT CALEB, BECAUSE HE HAD] ANOTHER SPIRIT [WITH HIM] — Two spirits — one in his mouth (to which he gave voice) and one in his heart (his inner intention). To the spies he said, “I am with you in your counsel”, while in his heart he had the intention to tell the truth, and it was only on this account that he possessed the power to silence them (the people), as it is said, (Numbers 13:30) “And Caleb silenced [the people concerning Moses]” (cf. Rashi on that verse), for they thought that he would say the same as themselves (as the spies). It is this that is alluded to in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 14:7) where it states that Caleb said “And I brought him (Moses) word again as it was in my heart” — but not as it was in my mouth (i.e. not what I had said to the spies) (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 10). (2) וימלא אחרי AND HE HAS FOLLOWED ME FULLY (lit., he hath filled to go after Me) — i.e. he has filled his heart with the intention to follow Me; — this is an elliptical sentence (the word “his heart” is omitted).