The biblical books Numbers and Joshua tell us Caleb, a chief of the tribe of Judah, was the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite.
There are at least three theories of his origins.
-In Genesis 15, God defines the land of Canaan to Abraham via its peoples including one called the Kenizzites. If descended from them, possibly Caleb’s wife or mother is Judahite or he is all Kenizzite but adopted into Judah from the among the “mixed multitude” of Exodus 12:38 and Numbers 11.
-Caleb has a couple of relatives named Kenaz (Joshua 15:17, Judges 1:13, 3:9-11, 1 Chronicles 4:13-15), so some posit that the designation “Kenizzite” refers to a clan within the tribe of Judah named after a Judahite ancestor called Kenaz. In this scenario, Caleb is all Israelite, all Judahite.
-Esau’s descendants include a chief named Kenaz. It would take some chronological gymnastics to call him the father of the Kenizzite tribe above because God mentioned them to his grandfather’s grandfather years earlier, so this would be a different people group, one descended from Abraham via Esau, Canaan and the Hittites via his mother.
Why does any of this matter? Patterns. Judah, through its generations, starting with the man himself, finds salvation and continues its line through foreigners. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba all marry into Judah and play key roles in the line of promise. Each of these foreign women appear to grasp God’s vision in ways his own people do not. Tamar’s and Ruth’s stories each hinge on a marriage tradition – when a man dies childless, his relative marries his widow, so his line may continue.
If Caleb is of a Canaanite tribe, when God identifies him in Numbers 14 as an inheritor of the land, he stands for Judah and Canaanites, while Joshua stands for Ephraim. Through the two of them, Canaan, Judah, and Ephraim inherit the land.
Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah – where he and Sara, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah are buried – from a Hittite. In Numbers, God promises Hebron (which includes Machpelah) to Caleb as an inheritance. If he is Hittite, Caleb unites Abraham’s and the Hittites’ lines in his inheritance.
Caleb’s brother or uncle, depending on whose interpretation you accept, is named Kenaz, which arguably means “hunter.” Caleb means “dog.” The paired hunter and dog are ubiquitous in ancient imagery from kings to commoners. Kenaz’ son, also Caleb’s son-in-law, is named Othniel, “lion of God,” and is himself a righteous judge.
Hundreds of years later, a Calebite named Nabal, “fool,” dies. Like Tamar and Ruth, his widow Abigail marries a relative, a Judahite giant-killer who will lead from Hebron, the future king David.
edited 8/3/2023