Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 14:7
(7) Forty years old was I . . . and (10) I am this day fourscore and five years old.—In this speech we have the only direct evidence as to the duration of the wars of Canaan under Joshua. The spies were sent from Kadesh-barnea in the second year of the Exodus, about 38½ years before the passage of Jordan (see Deuteronomy 2:14). Thus Caleb would be 40+38=78 years old when they crossed the Jordan. He was 85 when they began to divide the country. Therefore the conquest itself must have extended... read more
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 14:6
INHERITANCE OF JUDAH (Joshua 14:6 to Joshua 15:63).(6) Caleb the son of Jephunneh—Caleb was the commissioner appointed from the tribe of Judah to divide the land (Numbers 34:19). His coming forward on this occasion to ask for his own inheritance first of all might appear to savour of self-interest, if the post of honour for which he applied had not been also the most dangerous and difficult position in the inheritance of his tribe. He applied for the territory of the gigantic sons of Anak, whom... read more