Person Old Testament
Jephunneh
Jephunneh, a Kenizzite, was the father of Caleb, one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore Canaan. Mentioned in 15 verses across 4 books, first at Numbers 13:6.
Why it matters. The Kenizzite, father of Caleb the spy.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Jephunneh
Jephunneh, a Kenizzite, was the father of Caleb, a prominent figure in the Old Testament. Caleb was chosen as one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. Along with Joshua, Caleb was one of the two spies who brought back a positive report and encouraged the Israelites to trust in God and take possession of the land. As a result, Caleb and Joshua were the only two adults from their generation permitted to enter Canaan. Jephunneh's Kenizzite background suggests that he may have been a descendant of the Kenizzites, a non-Israelite tribe that was later absorbed into the tribe of Judah. Caleb's inheritance in the Promised Land, including Hebron and its surrounding areas, is mentioned multiple times in connection with Jephunneh, emphasizing the faithfulness and obedience of this father-son duo.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 15 verses across 4 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.