Caleb כלב בן יפונה
the faithful spy; a leader of the tribe of Yehuda
Kalev of the tribe of Yehuda was sent with the twelve spies in 2449, aged forty. Ten returned with tales of giants and fortified cities; the people wept. Kalev «silenced the people» with a single sentence: «Let us go up and possess it, for we can surely do it.»
Midrash adds that on the way he turned aside to Chevron and prayed at the graves of the patriarchs not to be swayed by his companions. Of him the Torah says: «But My servant Kalev, because another spirit was in him and he followed Me fully, him I will bring into the land.»
With Yehoshua he is the only adult of the Exodus generation to enter the Land. Forty-five years later he comes to Yehoshua: «Today I am eighty-five years old, and I am as strong now as then… give me this mountain.» He takes Chevron and drives out its giants.
By tradition he was married to Miriam. His daughter Achsah married Otniel ben Kenaz, Israel's first judge.