And Caleb said. — See Joshua 15:16. Caleb was a “Kenizzite,” which seems to imply that he was descended from Kenaz, a grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:11). In Numbers 13:6 he is mentioned as being a prince (nasi, or chief, rosh) of the tribe of Judah. He was certainly affiliated to that tribe; but if the name “Caleb” means “dog,” it would seem a very unlikely name for a pure Jew, for I cannot think that the effort to trace a sort of totem system (or naming of tribes from animals) among the ancient Jews (Journ. of Philology, June, 1880) is successful. His father’s name. Je-phunneh, is of uncertain derivation. Fürst and Meier derive Caleb from a root meaning “valiant;” but the peculiarity of the expressions used respecting him in Joshua 15:13; Joshua 14:14, together with certain marked names and features in the genealogies of his family, at least give some probability to the conjecture that he was of foreign origin.
Will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. — Comp. 1 Samuel 17:25; 1 Samuel 18:17. So the Messenian hero Aristomenes gave a peasant woman, who had saved his life, in marriage to his son. This story shows the strength and importance of this fastness of the south, which is also proved by the fact that Caleb has to refer to his unbroken strength before he gains permission to win the region by the sword (Joshua 14:11).