C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on Joshua 14:8

Jos 14:8

Whereas the other spies discouraged the people by exaggerated reports concerning the inhabitants of Canaan, he had followed the Lord with perfect fidelity (Num 13:31-33). He had not been made to waver in his faithfulness to the Lord and His promises either by the evil reports which the other spies had brought of the land, or by the murmuring and threats of the excited crowd (see Num 14:6-10). “My brethren” (Jos 14:8) are the rest of the spies, of course with the exception of Joshua, to whom Caleb was speaking.That Joshua was not included was evident from this circumstance alone, and consequently it is a complete perversion on the part of Knobel to argue, that because the expression is a general one, i.e., because Joshua is not expressly excepted by name, therefore he cannot have been one of the spies, not to mention the fact that the words “concerning me and thee,” in v. 6, are sufficient to show to any one acquainted with the account in Num 13-14, that Joshua was really one of them. המסין for המסוּ (see Ges. §75, anm. 17, and Ewald, §142, a.), from מסה = מסס (see Jos 2:11).