What Does Numbers 13:6 Mean?

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Numbers 13:6 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

THE KEY

Before Caleb acts, the verse places him within Judah, a name rooted in praise.

THE MEANING

This line places you within a people, rather than leaving you as an isolated name. Judah carries praise in its name, while Caleb’s response is still ahead; belonging and action remain distinct.

THE ROOT

יְהוּדָה

Yehudah

GROWS FROM

ידה

y-d-h

To praise or give thanks.

English presents Judah as a name that simply identifies a tribe. Genesis 29:35 links it to “I will praise,” so praise is already carried into this roster before Caleb’s story unfolds.

ALSO GROWS

yādâ: To praise or give thanks.

יָדָה

This verb supplies the praise that Leah connects with Judah’s name.

tôdâ: Thanksgiving or praise.

תּוֹדָה

This noun grows from the same root, showing that Judah’s name belongs to a family of words for voiced gratitude.

THE PATTERN

A name can carry a living meaning into a story before its bearer acts.

And she conceived again, and bore a son, and she said, Now I will extend my hands to the LORD. Therefore she called his name Judah, Praise, and she stood from bearing.

Genesis 29:35 · SDVThe verse directly joins Judah’s name to praise, the meaning carried into the name in Numbers.

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but Abraham, father of multitudes, for I have set you as a father of many nations.

Genesis 17:5 · SDVAbraham’s changed name carries his coming place among many nations before the promise unfolds.

And she will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus, the LORD's deliverance, for he will deliver his people from their missing.

Matthew 1:21 · SDVJesus’ name is tied to his work of deliverance, so the name carries the action into the story.

THE THREAD

And she conceived again, and bore a son, and she said, Now I will extend my hands to the LORD. Therefore she called his name Judah, Praise, and she stood from bearing.

Genesis 29:35 · SDV

Genesis binds Judah’s name to “I will praise.” Numbers gives only the name, but its root carries that praise into the list.

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