Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Slings and Arrows
- 2 Flesh and Stone
- 3 King of Judah
- 4 Tales of Loyalty and Betrayal
- 5 The Bones of Saul
- 6 Uriah the Hittite
- 7 Ittai the Gittite
- 8 David in Exile
- 9 Territorial Transitions
- 10 Chronicles
- 11 Caleb and the Conquest
- 12 Caleb the Warrior
- 13 Caleb the Judahite
- 14 War-Torn David
- Notes
- Index of Modern Authors
- Index of Biblical Passages and Related Texts
- Index of Historical Figures
13 - Caleb the Judahite
An Iconic Figure
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Slings and Arrows
- 2 Flesh and Stone
- 3 King of Judah
- 4 Tales of Loyalty and Betrayal
- 5 The Bones of Saul
- 6 Uriah the Hittite
- 7 Ittai the Gittite
- 8 David in Exile
- 9 Territorial Transitions
- 10 Chronicles
- 11 Caleb and the Conquest
- 12 Caleb the Warrior
- 13 Caleb the Judahite
- 14 War-Torn David
- Notes
- Index of Modern Authors
- Index of Biblical Passages and Related Texts
- Index of Historical Figures
Summary
When [the Muslims] came to Hebron, they were amazed to see the strong and handsome structures of the walls. Yet they could not find an opening through which to enter. Then the Jews happened to come who lived in the area, and they said to the Muslims: give us [a letter of security] that we may continue to live amongst you and permit us to build a synagogue in front of the city’s entrance. If you will do this, we shall show you where you can break in. And it was so.
In this penultimate chapter I turn to the political history of Judah. My objective will be to discern more precisely what might have provoked this war commemoration on the behalf of the Calebites’ eponymous ancestor. Why did biblical authors celebrate Caleb’s valor? In order to answer this question, I will begin by examining evidence from the independent history of King David that I isolated in the first chapters of this book. From there I will consider other factors that shed light on the historiographical contexts in which the figure of Caleb assumed shape and color.
Abigail, David, and Calebite Territories
The earliest biblical passage to mention Caleb refers not to a person but to a place, namely “the Negeb of Caleb.” The passage belongs to the account of David’s time in the employ of the Philistine ruler at Gath. In Chapter 3 I situated that passage in relation to the independent history of David’s reign over Judah (HDR). A lengthy excerpt from the HDR has often served as the point of departure for previous treatments of David’s relationship to the Calebites. Depicting an event from David’s time as a warlord prior to his mercenary service at Gath, the excerpt portrays the fate of a wealthy Calebite landowner named Nabal. While this “churlish fellow” refuses to pay for the “protection” afforded by David and his warriors, his brave wife goes out of her way to provision the troops with a generous array of fine foods.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- David, King of Israel, and Caleb in Biblical Memory , pp. 203 - 220Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014