Joshua 14:10

Jos 14:10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while [the children of] Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I [am] this day fourscore and five years old.

Ver. 10. And now, behold, the Lord both kept me alive.] Which mercy was therefore the greater, because of these many thousands of others whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness. How oft have the arrows of death come whisking by us, and yet we are alive!

Wandered in the wilderness.] By God’s command to and fro, backward and forward, as if they had been treading a maze.

I am this day fourscore and five years old.] Whereby it appeareth that they were near upon seven years in conquering of Canaan. Difficilia quae pulchra.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jos 14:10-11. The Lord hath kept me alive these forty and five years — Whereof thirty-eight were spent in the wilderness, and seven since they came into Canaan. The longer we live the more sensible we should be of God’s goodness to us in keeping us alive! Of his care in prolonging our frail lives, his patience in prolonging our forfeited lives! And shall not the life thus kept by his providence, be devoted to his praise? I am as strong this day, &c. — Though eighty-five years of age, he was as lively and strong as when he was forty. As my strength was then so it is now — This was the fruit of the promise, and was beyond what God had expressed; for God not only gives what he promises, but more. If he promises life, he will add health and strength, and all that which will make the life promised a blessing and comfort. This Caleb mentions here to the glory of God, and as a reason for his asking a portion which he must rescue out of the hands of the giants. For war — Not only for counsel, but for action; for marching and fighting. And therefore this gift will not be cast away upon an unprofitable and an unserviceable person. To go out, and to come in — To perform all the duties belonging to my place. Moses had said, that at eighty years old, even our strength was labour and sorrow. But Caleb was an exception to this rule: at eighty-five years old, his strength was still ease and joy. This he got by following the Lord fully.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 10. These forty and five years] See Clarke on Jos 13:1.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. And now behold] God had fulfilled His promise, and not only prolonged his life forty-five years, but had preserved his strength in such full vigour, that, though now in his eighty-fifth year, he felt as strong, and as well able to engage in war, as when he was forty years old.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said,.... Had upheld him in life, and preserved him from many dangers in the wilderness; and had continued him not only in life, but in health to that day, according to his promise to him, that he would bring him into the land of Canaan, and that he should see and possess it, Num 14:24 Deu 1:36,

these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, and while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness; not that the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness forty five years, but it was while they were in the wilderness this word or promise, concerning Caleb, was spoken by the Lord to Moses; and it was in the second year of their coming out of Egypt, after which they wandered in the wilderness thirty eight years, so that they had now been in the land of Canaan seven years; and from hence the Jewish chronologers (s) gather, that the land was seven years in subduing, and which their commentators in general take notice of. Maimonides (t) seems to be displeased with the Arabs for calling the wilderness, through which the Israelites travelled, "the desert of wandering"; but it appears from hence to be a very proper epithet of it; and Kadesh the place where they were first threatened, that they should be wanderers in the wilderness for such a time, had the additional name of Barnea, which signifies the son of a wanderer:

and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old; being forty years of age when sent a spy into the land, Jos 14:7; thirty eight years he was with Israel in the wilderness, and seven years more since they entered into the land, in all eighty five; there is no necessity of understanding it that this was his precise birth day, but that about this time, or that he was now completely of such an age, which was more by fifteen years than the age of man in common at that time, see Psa 90:10.

(s) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31. (t) Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 50. p. 512.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Forty and five years - The word of God to Moses was spoken after the return of the spies in the autumn of the second year after the Exodus Num 13:25; subsequently, 38 years elapsed before the people reached the Jordan Num 20:1; after the passage of the Jordan seven more years had passed, when Caleb claimed Hebron, before the partition of the land among the nine tribes and a half. These seven years then correspond to the “long time” Jos 11:18 during which Joshua was making war with the Canaanites. They are in the sequel of this verse added by Caleb to the years of wandering, since during them the people had no settled abodes.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

These forty and five years, whereof thirty-eight years were spent in the wilderness, and seven since they came into Canaan.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Kept me alive — Not only excepted me from the immediate plague inflicted on the rebellions, and from the death-sentence that laid the nation as corpses in the desert, but from all the decay of years, and the perils of this war of conquest.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Forty and five years. This marks the date of the present conversation as occurring seven years after the invasion. Caleb was forty years of age when be went to spy the land of Canaan. For thirty-eight years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. And Caleb was now eighty-five years old. This remark has been made as far back as the time of Theedoret. Doubtless the apportionment of the land, and its occupation by the Israelites, was a long and tedious business. (see also Jos_13:1) Even since. Literally, from the time when.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Forty-five years - Whereof thirty- eight years were spent in the wilderness, and seven since they came into Canaan. The longer we live the more sensible we should be, of God's goodness to us in keeping us alive! Of his care in prolonging our frail lives, his patience in prolonging our forfeited lives! And shall not the life thus kept by his providence, be devoted to his praise?

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

look

"pay attention, because what I am about to say is both true and important"

while Israel walked in the wilderness

"while the people of Israel traveled in the wilderness"

My strength is now as my strength was then

"I am still as strong now as I was then"

for going and coming

This is an idiom that refers to daily activities. AT: "for the things I do every day" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

Yahweh

walk

desert

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

It is now forty five years. From this we learn that it took seven years to conquer the land, for it was in the second year that Moshe sent the spies. After that, there remained thirty eight years during which they traveled through the wilderness, and seven years to conquer the land, which add up to forty five years.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.