Numbers13

The LORD commanded Moses to send twelve leaders, one from each tribe, to spy out the land of Canaan. After forty days, they returned with fruit, confirming the land's fertility, but ten of the spies reported that the inhabitants were strong giants and the cities were greatly fortified. Caleb, however, urged the people to go up and possess the land, believing they were well able to overcome it.

The Command to Send Spies

1
ADONAI said to Moshe,
2
"Send men on your behalf to reconnoiter the land of Kena'an, which I am giving to the people of Isra'el. From each ancestral tribe send someone who is a leader in his tribe." ​
3
Moshe dispatched them from the Pa'ran Desert as ADONAI had ordered; all of them were leading men among the people of Isra'el. ​
4
Here are their names: from the tribe of Re'uven, Shamua the son of Zakur;
5
from the tribe of Shim'on, Shafat the son of Hori;
6
from the tribe of Y'hudah, Kalev the son of Y'funeh; ​
7
from the tribe of Yissakhar, Yig'al the son of Yosef;
8
from the tribe of Efrayim, Hoshea the son of Nun;
9
from the tribe of Binyamin, Palti the son of Rafu;
10
from the tribe of Z'vulun, Gadi'el the son of Sodi;
11
from the tribe of Yosef, that is, from the tribe of M'nasheh, Gadi the son of Susi;
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from the tribe of Dan, 'Ammi'el the son of G'malli;
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from the tribe of Asher, S'tur the son of Mikha'el;
14
from the tribe of Naftali, Nachbi the son of Vofsi; and
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from the tribe of Gad, Ge'u'el the son of Makhi.
16
These are the names of the men Moshe sent out to reconnoiter the land. Moshe gave to Hoshea the son of Nun the name Y'hoshua. ​

Instructions for the Mission

17
Moshe sent them to reconnoiter the land of Kena'an, instructing them, "Go on up to the Negev and into the hills,
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and see what the land is like. Notice the people living there, whether they are strong or weak, few or many;
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and what kind of country they live in, whether it is good or bad; and what kind of cities they live in, open or fortified.
20
See whether the land is fertile or unproductive and whether there is wood in it or not. Finally, be bold enough to bring back some of the fruit of the land." When they left it was the season for the first grapes to ripen. ​
21
They went up and reconnoitered the land from the Tzin Desert to Rechov near the entrance to Hamat. ​
22
They went up into the Negev and arrived at Hevron; Achiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the 'Anakim, lived there. (Hevron was built seven years before Tzo'an in Egypt.) ​
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They came to the Eshkol Valley; and there they cut off a branch bearing one cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two of them; they also took pomegranates and figs.
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That place was called the Valley of Eshkol [cluster], because of the cluster which the people of Isra'el cut down there.
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Forty days later, they returned from reconnoitering the land

The Spies Return to Kadesh

26
and went to Moshe, Aharon and the entire community of the people of Isra'el at Kadesh in the Pa'ran Desert, where they brought back word to them and to the entire community and showed them the fruit of the land. ​
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What they told him was this: "We entered the land where you sent us, and indeed it does flow with milk and honey - here is its fruit! ​
28
However the people living in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the 'Anakim there. ​
29
'Amalek lives in the area of the Negev; the Hitti, the Y'vusi and the Emori live in the hills; and the Kena'ani live by the sea and alongside the Yarden."

The Conflicting Reports

30
Kalev silenced the people around Moshe and said, "We ought to go up immediately and take possession of it; there is no question that we can conquer it." ​
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But the men who had gone with him said, "We can't attack those people, because they are stronger than we are";
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and they spread a negative report about the land they had reconnoitered for the people of Isra'el by saying, "The land we passed through in order to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there were giant! ​
33
We saw the N'filim, the descendants of 'Anak, who was from the N'filim; to ourselves we looked like grasshoppers by comparison, and we looked that way to them too!" ​

Study Notes for Numbers 13

Verse 2

While presented here as a divine command, Deuteronomy 1:22 indicates the people themselves requested this reconnaissance mission. God permitted the mission, but it was not strictly necessary for possession, as the land was already promised.

Verse 3

The wilderness of Paran served as the primary staging area for Israel following their departure from Mount Sinai. Sending these 'heads' (rulers) emphasized the importance and official nature of the mission.

Verse 6

Caleb, representing the powerful tribe of Judah, is one of only two spies (along with Joshua) who maintained faith and survived the forty years of wandering to enter the Promised Land (Num 14:24).

Verse 16

Moses changes Oshea (meaning 'salvation') to Jehoshua or Joshua (meaning 'The LORD is salvation'). This renaming emphasizes that Israel’s success in conquest depends entirely on divine intervention, not merely human effort or military strategy.

Verse 20

The instruction to bring back fruit served as tangible proof of the land's fertility, confirming the promise that it 'flowed with milk and honey.' The timing corresponds to the season of the first ripe grapes, highlighting the abundance.

Verse 21

The spies covered the entire length of Canaan, from the southern wilderness of Zin all the way north to Rehob near Hamath, confirming the vastness of the territory God promised.

Verse 22

Hebron was an ancient and historically significant city, later becoming the site of the patriarchal burial cave (Machpelah). The mention of the Anakim (giants) immediately introduces the formidable threat that would paralyze the Israelites with fear.

Verse 26

The return to Kadesh marks a critical turning point in Israel's history; the decisions made here determine the fate of that generation.

Verse 27

The spies confirm the physical blessing of the land, using the traditional covenant phrase 'floweth with milk and honey.' This affirms God’s faithfulness in providing a rich inheritance, even before noting the difficulties.

Verse 28

This verse marks the shift from objective report to fearful assessment. The focus moves from the goodness of the land to the size and strength of the inhabitants, particularly the Anakim (descendants of giants).

Verse 30

Caleb’s immediate, faithful interjection attempts to counter the rising panic. His response, 'We are well able to overcome it,' emphasizes reliance on God’s power rather than a purely human military calculation.

Verse 32

The 'evil report' exaggerates the danger; the description of the land 'eating up the inhabitants' is hyperbolic rhetoric designed to spread terror and justify their refusal to obey God’s command.

Verse 33

The comparison of themselves to 'grasshoppers' reveals a complete failure of faith and a loss of identity. By focusing on the enemy's size, they forget the immense power of the God who delivered them from Egypt.

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