Joshua 19:49 When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:
In Joshua 19, the discussion of who got which chunk of land but when it comes to Joshua, it is worded this way.. almost indicating that Israel out of its inheritance gave a portion to this Gentile...
Nun, in the Hebrew Bible, was a man from the Tribe of Ephraim since Joseph's wife is Egyptian where the tribe of Ephraim sprang from..
It is interesting to consider that Joshua was a Gentile when studying how --and if believing in Two-House theory, it's not really an issue since Jacob had proclaimed Joseph's son would be one out of whom many nations would come (interpreted as Gentile nations, in honor of how Joseph himself went to Egypt/became apart of the Gentile nation via having his beard shaved, marrying an Egyptian Wife/daughter of one of the priests and other things within the realm of cultural contexualization--shared in#
4 and #
17 ).
Genesis 48:17-20
"And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh."
With Joseph's identification with Gentile culture, his children would have the same legacy in many ways...
Nonetheless, I'd go with the traditional interpretation that at best Joshua was mixed since the children of Joseph were still considered Hebrews....abeit mixed/biracial Hebrews with dual heritage (i.e. aspects of Gentile culture apart of their background as well as the Hebraic)...
similar to those who are Egyptian Jews. ( as discussed
here and here in #
12 ). Nun was apart of the tribe from Joseph's children (
Exodus 33:10-12,
Numbers 11:27-29 ,
Numbers 13:15-17 ,
Numbers 14:29-31 ,
Numbers 26:64-65 ,
Numbers 27:17-19 ,
Numbers 32:11-13 , etc).
I Chronicles 7:20-26
Ephraim
20 The descendants of Ephraim:
Shuthelah, Bered his son,
Tahath his son, Eleadah his son,
Tahath his son, 21 Zabad his son
and Shuthelah his son.
Ezer and Elead were killed by the native-born men of Gath, when they went down to seize their livestock. 22 Their father Ephraim mourned for them many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. 23 Then he made love to his wife again, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. He named him Beriah,[
c] because there had been misfortune in his family. 24 His daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth Horon as well as Uzzen Sheerah.
25 Rephah was his son, Resheph his son,[
d]
Telah his son, Tahan his son,
26 Ladan his son, Ammihud his son,
Elishama his son, 27 Nun his son
and
Joshua his son.
To me, it always made more sense contexually to see Joshua as Hebrew--and it's very interesting when considering how Joshua was a Hebrew by birth while his partner in crime, Caleb, was a Gentile who also recieved land.
As
Messianic Rabbi Eric Carlson said best:
Two very famous spies of the twelve, Joshua (also known as Efraiym Hosea, son of Nun) and Caleb made a very different report. Caleb said in Numbers 13:30 "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." God’s anger flared at those who balked at taking possession of the land and the entire generation would perish in the wilderness and never enter the land. Caleb and Joshua however found favor with the Lord for their faith, belief, and their representation of the Lord. These two men of God were allowed to enter the Promised Land and receive their inheritance!
Now, here’s the “One New Man” scriptural revelation! Caleb was not Jewish! He was a Kenizzite (Numbers 32:12), a group of people from the area North and East of the land of Israel in what is now present day Syria. Caleb was a proselytite, a convert to Judaism and the Jewish People. Caleb was integrated into the tribe of Judah and was selected as one of the twelve spies. Caleb and Joshua were the first “One New Man” in the Bible, a Jew and Gentile who came together as one to inherit the promises given to Abraham. Not only were Joshua and Caleb the first “One New Man”, they were the only two of the twelve spies who said the land could be taken. The promises, fullness, and completeness of the Kingdom of God are for the Jew and Gentile, together as “One New Man”. It is the “One New Man” who will enter God’s rest in Hebrews 4:6-11. Yeshua’s plan for us is to stand together as the One New Man!
Joshua and Caleb set a mighty example for us! Our report should be “The Harvest is ripe and it is ours!
There's more than enough evidence of Caleb being Gentile---from the line of Easu-- as discussed here in#
23 and#
24 (with alot of the accusations about him not being so based heavily in a lot of avoidance of the text/semantics). His acceptance despite being Gentile would not be the first occurrence of such happening in the scriptures since there were many from Gentiles cultures who were grafted in. As said best
in one resource:
Caleb was "head" (Numbers 13:3) of the Hezronite family in Judah; while Nahshon son of Amminadab was head or prince of the whole tribe (Numbers 1:7). He and Oshea or Joshua, alone of the twelve, on returning from Canaan to Kadesh Barnea, encouraged the people when dispirited by the other spies: "Let us go up at once, and possess the land (he does not for a moment doubt Israel's ability; not Let us try; success is certain, the Lord being on our side), for we are well able to overcome it" (Numbers 13:30). His character answers to his name, all heart. His reward was according to his faith (Numbers 14:24). "My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land where unto he went, and his seed shall possess it."
Forty-five years afterward Caleb reminded Moses of God's promise, adding that now at 85 he was as strong as then. "Hebron therefore (the land he had trodden upon in faith as a spy, Deuteronomy 1:36) became the inheritance of Caleb, ... because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel" (Joshua 14:8-9; Joshua 14:14). He dislodged the three sons of Anak , Joshua 15:14, and gave Achsah his daughter to Othniel, son of Kenaz his brother, for taking Debir. (See ANAK; ACHSAH; DEBIR . In Joshua 15:13, "unto Caleb Joshua gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord, ... even the city of Arba, father of Anak-Hebron," it is implied that he was not by birth of Judah, but was given his portion in that tribe by the special command of the" God of Israel."
By marriage and submission to the bond of Jehovah's covenant with Israel he became a true Israelite by adoption; a specimen of God's mercy to the Gentiles even in Old Testament times, and a pledge of the opening of the door of faith to them widely in the New Testament So Jethro, Rahab, Ruth, Naaman. Kenaz his ancestor was a duke of Edom (Genesis 36:11; Genesis 36:15). The names Shobal and Manahath are other Edomite (Genesis 36:20-23) names which appear among the sons of the Caleb in 1 Chronicles 2:50; 1 Chronicles 2:52.
Jephunneh, his father's name, is probably the same as Pinon (1 Chronicles 1:52; Genesis 36:41). Termanites too are among the children of Ashur, Hezron's son (1 Chronicles 4:6). This consideration helps to account for the large numbers of Israelites at the Exodus; proselytes and marriage connections from other races swelled the number of Israelites of pure blood. Hebron was afterward a priests' city, belonging to the Kohathites; but the territory about continued in Caleb's family (from which sprang the churl Nabal, for faith does not always come by blood descent)at the time of David (1 Samuel 25:3; 1 Samuel 30:14).
Other things to consider are Num. 32: 10-12 and Gen. 15: 18-19. For many have felt that Caleb, rather than being a descendant of Easu, was really from the other cultures around the time of Abraham...
Numbers 32:10-12 NIV
The LORD's anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: "Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.'
Genesis 15:18-19 NLT
So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
Caleb (a Gentile whose name means dog in Hebrew and who wholly followed the Lord God of Israel) had to fight the sons of Anak in Hebron for his inheritance. The Anakims are a type of the enemy in heavenly places.
Joshua 14:12 states"Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims
were there, and
that the cities
were great
and fenced: if so be the LORD
will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance."
Caleb's inheritance was
among the tribe of Judah and close to the children of Aaron who inherited the city of Hebron.
Joshua 21:12 states "But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession." (Ezekiel 47:22-23). Not all that came out of Egypt, but Joshua and Caleb, were able to conquer all of their enemies. .....and thankfully, we can defeat them as well just like Paul noted in :
2 Corinthians 6:7
For other good reads:
