It’s not usually considered “good form” to explain yourself as an author, but the nature of the subject matter I write about demands it.
Caleb is mentioned only a few times in the Bible. The first time we see him is when he goes on a mission with Joshua and ten other men to search the land of Canaan for strategic information that Moses would use to consider his approach.
Before that dramatic entrance on the scene, absolutely nothing is known about his life.
I have fictionalized those early years in the extreme. My purpose is not to invent an elaborate backstory because I felt the Bible was insufficient; it is to create a way for the reader to encounter the events of Exodus as the Egyptians themselves might have known them. I wanted to help the reader be there in the halls of the palace at Memphis when Moses and Aaron stood before the king, and also after they left. What terrors did the Egyptians undergo as the Lord held out his arm? What would it have been like to be in darkness so complete that you could feel it?
There is mystery surrounding Caleb’s origins as a Kenazzite. That term is used to describe several potential clan and tribal areas. I have chosen to portray him as the foreigner his name implies, hoping the picture of God’s grace toward a non-Hebrew would be all the more potent for it.
The Bible is always more interested in the meaning of the narrative than the details of the narrative itself. My attempt to fill in the gaps is in honor of the Word that I believe is sacred.
Perhaps by the end of this series, you will come to the same conclusion that I have: our modern focus on a comfortable retirement needs to change. May we still be planning the assault on walled cities filled with giants when we are in our eighty-fifth year.