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Caleb (ˈkeɪləb), sometimes transliterated as Kaleb (כָּלֵב, Kalev, kaˈlev; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev), is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land. A reference to him is also found in the Quran, although his name is not mentioned (Al-Ma'idah: 20–26). According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, "since 'Caleb' signifies dog, it has been thought that the dog was the totem of a clan". The New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance states that the name Kaleb (Caleb) is related to the word for "dog" (keleb). The Bible was written down centuries before Hebrew diacritics were introduced, and there is no certain knowledge of how the name was pronounced when the biblical text was written. In Modern Hebrew, the name is pronounced kaˈlev; the modern English pronunciation ˈkeɪləb is a result of the Great Vowel Shift. An alternate Hebrew meaning offered for Caleb is "faithful, zealous, ruthless, bold, brave". This is on the basis of its being actually a compound word, a phenomenon quite common in ancient Hebrew. Col (, Kaf + Lamed) = "all" or "whole"; Lev (, Lamed + Bet) means "heart". Therefore, Caleb (or Calev as pronounced in Hebrew) would actually mean "whole-hearted" or "single-minded" or perhaps "fanatical". This might be due to the personal qualities of the Biblical Caleb, a companion of Moses and Joshua. Caleb, son of Jephunneh (Book of Numbers, ) is not to be confused with Caleb, great-grandson of Judah through Tamar (). This other Caleb was the son of Hezron, and his wife was Azubah (). According to , Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses into Canaan. Their task, over a period of 40 days, was to explore the Negev and surrounding area, and to make an assessment of the geographical features of the land, the strength and numbers of the population, the agricultural potential and actual performance of the land, settlement patterns (whether their cities were like camps or strongholds), and forestry conditions.

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List of minor Hebrew Bible figures, A–K

This article contains persons named in the Bible, specifically in the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, of minor notability, about whom little or nothing is known, aside from some family connections. Abdeel (Ab'dē el) (Hebrew עַבְדְּאֵל "servant of God"; akin to Arabic عبد الله Abdullah) is mentioned in Jeremiah 36:26 as the father of Shelemiah, one of three men who were commanded by King Jehoiakim to seize the prophet Jeremiah and his secretary Baruch. The Septuagint omits the phrase "and Shelemiah son of Abdeel", probably a scribal error due to homoioteleuton.