Of special interest in this context is the connection between the Calebites and the town of Hebron, which, notwithstanding the somewhat corrupt reading of v. 42b (cf. below), is firmly established. Hebron is the ‘son’ of Caleb’s (grand)son, Mareshah, and the father of four other ‘sons’, of whom two (Tapuah and Shema) may also indicate place names. This could mean that the Calebites expanded to Hebron, and from there to farther areas in the territory of Judah. It was probably the weight of this tradition which also caused the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets to adopt and emphasize the
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