Or HaChaim on Numbers 14:24/אור החיים על במדבר י״ד:כ״ד

1 ועבדי כלב, "and My servant Caleb, etc." Why did the Torah not mention Joshua also at this juncture? The word היתה requires analysis as do the words וימלא אחרי as well as the letter ו in והביאותיו.

2The Torah wanted to explain why G'd decided to refer to Caleb as "My servant," an exceptional compliment. Although also Joshua did not spurn G'd, Caleb was possessed of a totally different spirit. He had not needed the prayer of Moses to enable him to resist the influence of the other ten spies. Caleb had at one time during the mission experienced the רוח אחרת, i.e. the evil spirit which filled the other spies. He had gone to the graves of the patriarchs in order to recharge his spiritual batteries before he would succumb to the wiles of the evil urge. וימלא אחרי, "He decided to follow Me." The Torah describes how Caleb decided to follow his good urge rather than his evil urge. Man is subject to two advisors. One advises him to follow G'd's wishes, the other advises him to assert his independence. If one decides to resist the urge to commit a sin it is accounted as if one had fulfilled one of G'd's commandments (Kidushin 39). Joshua had not been in a similar dilemma as he had never been tempted to be disloyal to G'd and to act illogically, due to Moses' prayer on his behalf. We have a verse in the Book of Samuel which describes a mystical dimension concerning the prayer of a צדיק such as Moses. It suggests that such a prayer may exert influence on a person's moral tendencies. This is based on Samuel II 23,3 צדיק מושל יראת השם, "the righteous exercises some control concerning matters of reverence for the Lord." Seeing that Caleb's resistance to the evil urge under circumstances of great provocation was unaided by external factors, he is described similarly to Moses, i.e. that he was G'd's servant.

3The Torah adds that G'd would bring him to the land he had already come to (once). The Torah hints here at the inner struggle that had preceded Caleb's deciding to remain loyal to G'd. This struggle may be described as Caleb praying on his own behalf. G'd promises that although Caleb was already 40 years old at the time and conquest of the land of Canaan would now be delayed by at least 40 years, Caleb would live long enough to be among those who would take part in that conquest. This is the only time in recorded history that G'd promised someone that he would live for at least another 40 years.

4Perhaps G'd had to describe Caleb as "My servant" in order to justify this extraordinary promise. This was a promise by G'd that Caleb would not forfeit his status as a צדיק during the 40 years the Israelites would wander in the desert. I was asked once how one can reconcile the statement in Shabbat 30 that when David asked G'd to know when he would die and G'd's reply that He does not reveal such information to any living human being nor does He tell him how many years he will live, with the fact that He told King Chiskiyahu that he would have another 15 years to live. Why then had G'd revealed to Chiskiyahu that he had another 15 years to live? I answered that the only date that G'd refuses to reveal is the original lifespan allocated to man at birth. This is based on Job 14,5 אם חרוצים ימיו, "his days are numbered." If and when G'd decides to grant someone a lifespan beyond that which had been originally decreed, the addition is not subject to the decree that its length will not be revealed. It may be G'd's wish to reveal such information as we know from Shabbat 10 where the meaning of לדעת כי אני ה׳ מקדשכם, "to make known that it is I the Lord who sanctify you" (Exodus 31,13), is being discussed. The Talmud derives from that verse that if someone gives a second party a gift he has to inform him of that gift beforehand. This is the reason that G'd informs recipients of an extension of a person's lifespan at the time He grants that gift. You will find something similar in Joshua 14,10 where Caleb asked to conquer Chevron and the mountain it is situated on and to inherit it. At that time Caleb referred to the fact that though aged 85 he was every bit as fit as when he was forty years old and G'd had granted him the additional lifespan. In fact, the Torah added in our verse that G'd's blessing to Caleb would also extend to his descendants.

5There is another way of explaining our verse. Caleb had performed two meritorious deeds and as a result he qualified for two rewards. 1) He had a different spirit, i.e. he resisted the temptation to make common cause with the ten spies. 2) He proved his loyalty to G'd by not only not merely keeping silent but by trying to persuade the people to have faith and not to believe the conclusions drawn by the other ten spies. G'd repaid him by 1) bringing him to the Holy Land, 2) letting him take possession of it. Joshua was not mentioned seeing he did not have to overcome the evil urge as he had been the recipient of Moses' prayer on his behalf.