Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 1:32-36
‘ Yet in this thing you did not believe Yahweh your God, who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.'
But they (in their fathers) had not believed Yahweh their covenant God. God had constantly gone before them in the cloud by day and the fire by night, showing them the way in which they should go and selecting the best camps sites at night, and guiding them to the essential water that was so needed, and feeding them with manna. But they still would not accept that He was capable of defeating these fearsome enemies, by now as large as giants in their imagination. They had refused to believe.
‘ And Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.” '
The result was, that after waiting and giving them opportunity to make up their minds fully, which they did in terms of a refusal to go forward, Yahweh was ‘angry'. That is, in His moral righteousness He held their attitude in aversion and determined to punish them.
Thus He swore that not one of the mature men would see or enter the land, with the exception of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who had urged them to go forward, (literally ‘he was completely full after Yahweh'). He alone of all who had received the command to go forward would see it, (apart also from the leadership itself who had given the command), and what was more, he would receive at God's hand the very land that he had trodden on, because he, and he alone, had fully followed Yahweh in the infighting among the eleven scouts. Joshua is not mentioned because, having taken his place at Moses' side, and having had discussions with him as his deputy, he would not be in the argument. It is clear from the narrative in Numbers 13:30 that Caleb had stood firm and alone in the case of the ‘people versus Moses and Joshua', for Joshua was not seen as ‘of the people' but as ‘on the other side'. He was known to be Moses' right hand man. Thus he had wisely kept quiet, and was not standing among them, although later adding his witness. This description tells us that Moses clearly remembers the sight of Caleb standing there on one side with the others baying on the other, a sign of authenticity. he is remembering what he saw.
But it may be asked, ‘What about Joshua?' The answer is simple. Neither Moses nor Joshua were under examination. Moses was God's chosen one, and Joshua was his right hand man, ‘standing before him'. They were the ones who had conveyed Yahweh's commands. At this stage it was fully acknowledged that both of them would enter the land. So the fate of Joshua had not been in question.