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		Always Beign Ready     D'varim   (Deut 1:1 - 3:22)

D'varim/Deuteronomy 1:36   Caleb the son of Yephunneh, he will see her ... because he was fully after the L-rd.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Our text jumps into the middle of Moshe recounting for the entry generation the momentous events that sealed the lives of their fathers, the exit generation. Forty years have passed and only three men remain alive of the people who refused to enter and possess the Promised Land from Kadesh Barnea: Moshe, who will shortly die; Joshua, who will take Moshe's place as the leader of the people; and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, a Kenizzite. Caleb, scholars and historians tell us, is not an Israelite by birth but a proselyte - that is, a convert - who has become so thoroughly integrated into the tribe of Judah that he is recognised as one of its leaders. Joshua and Caleb were the two of the twelve explorers sent to reconnoitre the Land that returned with a positive report and urged - in vain - the people to go up and possess the Land: "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it" (B'Midbar 13:30, NJPS) ... "If the L-RD delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey" (14:8, NJPS). Patrick Miller writes: "Only Caleb and Joshua, who believed in the possibilities of G-d and the people and the land, shall be allowed to see promise fulfilled and possibility become reality."¹

Verses 35 and 36 set up a contrast between "the men of this evil generation" (D'varim 1:35), who have now perished in the wilderness, and the faithful witness of Joshua and Caleb: "this serves now to contrast Caleb's faithfulness with the lack of it from the wider community."²Jeffrey Tigay explains that "G-d's decree fits the people's offense: since they refused to enter the land, they shall be banned from it. The correspondences between the offence and the punishment are stated explicitly in B'Midbar 14: the people complained, 'if only we might die in this wilderness' and G-d swore 'I will do to you just as you have urged me: In this very wilderness shall your carcasses drop' (vv. 2, 28-29)." The punishment was measure for measure; The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem fulfilled their very words. Does that mean that HaShem abrogated His covenant with the people? Has He stepped away from His promise? Writing in a later context, Rav Sha'ul is clear that "it is not as though the word of G-d has failed" (Romans 9:6, ESV). As Christopher Wright puts it: "The covenant as such was not revoked, but this generation would not see its fulfillment. Their eyes were sealed in unbelief. With such eyes they would never see the promised land.³

Caleb, on the other hand, would see the land that he had explored forty years before. Moseh's word choice makes that clear: הוּא יִרְאֶנָּה, the extra stand-alone pronoun emphasises the contrast, "he himself will see her". The account of the exploration tells us that "they went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron" (B'Midbar 13:22, NJPS and later on the conquest narrative will relate that "Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and assigned Hebron to him as his portion" (Joshua 14:13, NJPS). Robert Alter suggests that Caleb's visit to Hebron was a prescient move: "walking through territory was also an act of taking legal possession of a sale."⁴ The next verse in Joshua contains familiar words: "Thus Hebron became the portion of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, as it still is, יַעַן אֲשֶׁר מִלֵּא אַחֲרֵי יהוה  because he was loyal to the L-RD, the G-d of Israel" (v. 14, NJPS). These are the same words that end our text above. Who Is ...

Chizkuni: Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoah (13^th century), French rabbi and exegete; his commentary on the Torah was written about 1240 in memory of his father, based principally on Rashi, but using about 20 other sources
Chizkuni says that "Caleb fulfilled all that Moshe had said in G-d's name", which is all very well but - I think - misses the point.

What do those last few words our of text mean? The verb מִלֵּא is the Pi'el 3ms affix form of the root מלא, where the Qal meaning is usually some variation of "to be full, to be fulfilled". However, in Pi'el it takes a more active stance: to fill, complete, fulfil, accomplish.⁵ The Pi'el form is also used in idioms: with the noun יָד, hand, "to fill the hand" it describes the ordination of the priests; with the preposition אַחֲרֵי, after, it means to follow after someone wholeheartedly. Moshe Weinfeld reports that "this expression is especially characteristic of the Caleb traditions and equals 'to be whole/perfect' 'with wholeheartedness', found in connection with gifts obtained by virtue of loyalty.⁶ He points to a number of other verse that convey the same sense although they don't use the same wording. For example, Solomon reminds HaShem about his father, David, who "walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and in integrity of heart" (1 Kings 3:6, NJPS). After Solomon had finished building the Temple and his palace, HaShem appeared to him and called him to "walk before Me as your father David walked before Me, wholeheartedly and with uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping My laws and My rules" (9:4, NJPS). Despite his moments of sin, David was a completely wholehearted follower of HaShem. Solomon is called to follow his father's example and be the same.

Caleb will see the good land, the land flowing with milk and honey, the land that HaShem has promised to the fathers, because - like Avraham, "And he believed the L-RD, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness" (B'resheet 15:6) - he believed HaShem, was prepared to take Him at His word and because he was ready to take the risk, believing that HaShem was both capable and faithful. Caleb was a completely wholehearted follower of HaShem. This is a life contrast with the other people of the exit generation who were not prepared to trust HaShem and were not ready to take the risk of going up and possessing the Land. Both positions had consequences: Caleb entered the Land, saw the battles HaShem won for His people and gained his inheritance; that generation of the people died, every one of them, circling Mount Horeb in the wilderness with no inheritance.

Yeshua wanted to stress the importance of being ready to engage with G-d, to be ready for His return, to be ready for the kingdom of heaven. He told three parables to illustrate these points. Perhaps the most well-known is the story of the ten young bridal attendants: five wish and five foolish. Called to be ready to greet the bridegroom, they all took their lamps but only five took spare oil. After several hours delay, while the lamp were burning down, the bridegroom arrived and only the girls who had taken spare oil could refill their lamps and go out to join in the festivities; the others had to go and buy more oil. By the time they returned, the wedding feast had already started and the door was closed before them. Only five of the girls were ready and had taken the necessary steps to make sure that their oil would not run out. "Therefore keep awake and watch," Yeshua warned, "because you know neither the day nor the hour" (Matthew 25:13). We get ready for the kingdom of heaven by being alert and prepared.

Looking more at the idea of being ready by doing the work already assigned in the kingdom - engaging with G-d in the here and now - Yeshua taught (in Luke 12:35-48) about the servant who was faithful and wise. Starting with the need for servants to stay awake and be ready for their master's return, He switched to the position of a steward or household manager, responsible for running the household and providing food for all the servants. "Who is the faithful and wise manager who does his job and takes care of his responsibilities," Yeshua asks "so that his master can return at any time?" (Luke 12:42-43, paraphrase), "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes" (v. 43, ESV), whereas by contrast the manager who just sits around and abuses his position, not really expecting the master to come at all "who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating" (v. 47, ESV). We get ready for the kingdom of heaven by fully engaging in the work of the kingdom and carrying out our roles well.

Finally, in another well-known parable, the Parable of the Talents, Yeshua challenges the whole question of investing our capital and time, taking risks and seizing opportunities in order to be ready when He returns. Three servants are each given a slice of their master's wealth to use and invest while he is away. Upon his return, they each have to give an account of their activity: the one entrusted with five talents "went at once and traded with them" (Matthew 25:16) so doubling his holding to ten; the one given two talents doubled them to four; the one with only one talent did nothing with it and returns it without even interest from the bank - he was afraid of taking the slightest risk. It is better, Yeshua seems to be saying, to be prepared to take risks, making investments and pursuing 'trade' in the kingdom of G-d, even if that results in a loss on some individual transactions, than to play it safe and return G-d's investment to Him untouched, with no yield or gain. We get ready for the kingdom of heaven, ready to be given authority and responsibility, by using what we have already been given and using every opportunity - even if that sometimes looks somewhat speculative - to grow the kingdom around us: "For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance" (v. 29, ESV).

Summing up, Yeshua underlines the need for disciples to be ready: "stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming ... you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24:42,44). Stay awake and be ready! Caleb was fully awake and more than ready to go up and take possession of the Land; he took HaShem at His word and was prepared to trust Him: that He knew what He was doing and would keep His promises. The question for us is, are we ready to take the risk on trusting Yeshua? Will we go up and take possession of the Land as Yeshua gives it to us? Are we confident that Yeshua knows what He is doing - particularly in these challenging days - and will keep His promises to us?

1. - Patrick D. Miller, Deuteronomy Interpretation (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), page 33.

2. - Ronald E. Clements, "Deuteronomy" in The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary Vol I, edited by Leander E. Keck, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2015), page 872.

3. - Christopher J. H. Wright, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012), page 31.

4. - Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses, (New York, Norton, 2004), page 621.

5. - David J. A. Clines (ed.) The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009), pages 220-221.

6. - Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1-11, The Anchor Bible Vol. 5, (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1991), page 150.

Further Study: Luke 16:1-9; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:7-11

Application: Are you ready today to meet Yeshua and settle accounts with Him - whether if He returns this afternoon or He calls you home at lunchtime? What do you need to do to get ready? Ask Yeshua now to help you conduct an inventory and get the ground clear so that you will be ready, whatever happens!

Comment - 01:31 14Jul26 Tamara Battice: I was overwhelmed by how powerful this drash is! It caused me to examine myself and see where I'm not following Yeshua wholeheartedly and start doing what HE is calling me to do! This drash was, as a friend of mine used to say, “an ouch HalleluYAH moment”!

Buy your own copy of the Drash Book for Deuteronomy/D'varim now at Amazon US or Amazon UK.

© Jonathan Allen, 2026

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