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Numbers 13

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The Command to Send Spies 1–16

1
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2
Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. ​
3
And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. ​
4
And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
5
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
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Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ​
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Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
8
Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
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Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
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Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
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Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
12
Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
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Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
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Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
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Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16
These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. ​

Instructions for the Mission 17–25

17
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:
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And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;
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And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;
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And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. ​
21
So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. ​
22
And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ​
23
And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
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The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.
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And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

The Spies Return to Kadesh 26–29

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And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. ​
27
And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. ​
28
Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. ​
29
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

The Conflicting Reports 30–33

30
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. ​
31
But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. ​
33
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 13

Verse 2

Send thou men — The LORD's word to Moses (v.1). Moses later recalls that the people first asked for it: 'We will send men before us' (Deut 1:22), and 'the saying pleased me well' (Deut 1:23). Each man is a nasi, a prince or chief of his tribe, as in Num 34:18, 'one prince of every tribe'. 'Search' is tur, to spy out.

Verse 3

by the commandment of the LORD — Literally 'at the mouth of the LORD' (peh). The men are 'heads' (rosh) of Israel's tribes, and they leave from the 'wilderness of Paran', where the camp had pitched after Hazeroth (Num 12:16). Moses recalls the same sending 'from Kadeshbarnea' (Num 32:8).

Verse 6

Caleb the son of Jephunneh — Judah's man among the twelve. The LORD later says of him, 'he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully' (Num 14:24). Forty-five years later (Josh 14:10) he was given Hebron, the city these men reach in v.22, 'because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel' (Josh 14:14).

Verse 16

Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua — Hoshea means deliverer, from the root yasha', to save. Jehoshua is 'Jehovah-saved', the divine name set at the front. In the Greek of the New Testament it is 'Jesus', and the KJV so renders it of Joshua in Acts 7:45 and Heb 4:8.

Verse 20

be ye of good courage — Chazaq is to be strong, the word of the charge to Joshua, 'Be strong and of a good courage' (Deut 31:23). The questions concern the land: 'fat' (shamen) or 'lean', wooded or not. 'Firstripe' (bikkur) names the firstfruits that the LORD required to be brought to him (Ex 23:19).

Verse 21

from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob — The search runs the length of the land. Zin is the southern boundary in Num 34:3, and Hamath is the northern, 'the entrance of Hamath' (Num 34:8). The search covers the land from one boundary to the other. Zin is also the desert of Kadesh (Num 33:36).

Verse 22

unto Hebron — The city where Abram 'dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron' (Gen 13:18), and also called Kirjatharba, where Sarah died (Gen 23:2). Anak is the father of a line of tall men, 'a people great and tall' (Deut 9:2). Caleb drove out the three named here (Josh 15:14).

Verse 26

to Kadesh — The camp is at Kadesh, 'in the wilderness of Paran' here and 'the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh' in Num 33:36: one place with two wilderness names. It is the 'Kadeshbarnea' of Num 32:8 and Deut 9:23, where the LORD said 'Go up and possess the land'. 'Fruit' (peri) is the proof they carry.

Verse 27

it floweth with milk and honey — The wording the LORD first used at the bush: 'a land flowing with milk and honey' (Ex 3:8), repeated in Ex 13:5; 33:3. The report agrees with the promise before the 'Nevertheless' of v.28. 'Floweth' is zub, to run or gush.

Verse 28

Nevertheless — Ephes, 'howbeit', turns the report. The cities are 'walled' (batsar, fortified), and Moses recalls the same words in Deut 1:28, 'the cities are great and walled up to heaven', with the 'sons of the Anakims'. v.31 gives the conclusion: 'We be not able to go up against the people'.

Verse 30

Caleb stilled the people — Hasah is to hush; the KJV renders it 'Keep silence' in Judg 3:19 and has 'the Levites stilled all the people' in Neh 8:11. 'Let us go up at once' and 'well able' both double their verb, literally 'going up, we shall go up' and 'able, we are able'. Caleb later says his brethren 'made the heart of the people melt' (Josh 14:8).

Verse 32

an evil report — Dibbah is a slander or ill report, the word of Joseph's 'evil report' in Gen 37:2. Num 14:36–37 calls this report 'a slander upon the land' and says the men who brought it 'died by the plague before the LORD'. Joshua and Caleb said instead: 'an exceeding good land' (Num 14:7).

Verse 33

the giants, the sons of Anak — The Hebrew nephilim occurs only here and in Gen 6:4, 'There were giants in the earth in those days'. 'Grasshoppers' is chagab, a kind of locust (Lev 11:22); Isa 40:22 uses it of the inhabitants of the earth before the LORD, who 'sitteth upon the circle of the earth'. The men judged themselves 'in our own sight'.