TRV
Translation
King James Version
And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
Complete Jewish Bible
The idea seemed good to me, so I took twelve of your men, one from each tribe;
Berean Standard Bible
The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.
American Standard Version
And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe:
World English Bible Messianic
The thing pleased me well. I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe.
Geneva Bible (1599)
So the saying pleased me well, and I tooke twelue men of you, of euery tribe one.
Young's Literal Translation
and the thing is good in mine eyes, and I take of you twelve men, one man for a tribe.
Study This Verse
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1 verses 19–46
19 ¶ And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.
20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.
21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:
27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30 The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
31 And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,
33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,
36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.
42 And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43 So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
45 And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
Moses here makes a large rehearsal of the fatal turn which was given to their affairs by their own sins, and God's wrath, when, from the very borders of Canaan, the honour of conquering it, and the pleasure of possessing it, the whole generation was hurried back into the wilderness, and their carcases fell there. It was a memorable story; we read it Num. 13 and 14, but divers circumstances are found here which are not related there.
I. He reminds them of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea (Deu 1:19), through that great and terrible wilderness. This he takes notice of, 1. To make them sensible of the great goodness of God to them, in guiding them through so great a wilderness, and protecting them from the mischiefs they were surrounded with in such a terrible wilderness. The remembrance of our dangers should make us thankful for our deliverances. 2. To aggravate the folly of those who, in their discontent, would have gone back to Egypt through the wilderness, though they had forfeited, and had no reason to expect, the divine guidance, in such a retrograde motion.
II. He shows them how fair they stood for Canaan at that time, Deu 1:20, Deu 1:21. He told them with triumph, the land is set before you, go up and possess it. He lets them see how near they were to a happy settlement when they put a bar in their own door, that their sin might appear the more exceedingly sinful. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites that they were not far from the kingdom of God and yet came short, Mar 12:34.
III. He lays the blame of sending the spies upon them, which did not appear in Numbers, there it is said (Deu 13:1, Deu 13:2) that the Lord directed the sending of them, but here we find that the people first desired it, and God, in permitting it, gave them up to their counsels: You said, We will send men before us, Deu 1:22. Moses had given them God's word (Deu 1:20, Deu 1:21), but they could not find in their hearts to rely upon that: human policy goes further with them than divine wisdom, and they will needs light a candle to the sun. As if it were not enough that they were sure of a God before them, they must send men before them.
IV. He repeats the report which the spies brought of the goodness of the land which they were sent to survey, Deu 1:24, Deu 1:25. The blessings which God has promised are truly valuable and desirable, even the unbelievers themselves being judges: never any looked into the holy land, but they must own it a good land. Yet they represented the difficulties of conquering it as insuperable (Deu 1:28); as if it were in vain to think of attacking them either by battle, "for the people are taller than we," or by siege, "for the cities are walled up to heaven," an hyperbole which they made use of to serve their ill purpose, which was to dishearten the people, and perhaps they intended to reflect on the God of heaven himself, as if they were able to defy him, like the Babel-builders, the top of whose tower must reach to heaven, Gen 11:4. Those places only are walled up to heaven that are compassed with God's favour as with a shield.
V. He tells them what pains he took with them to encourage them, when their brethren had said so much to discourage them (Deu 1:29): Then I said unto you, Dread not. Moses suggested enough to have stilled the tumult, and to have kept them with their faces towards Canaan. He assured them that God was present with them, and president among them, and would certainly fight for them, Deu 1:30. And for proof of his power over their enemies he refers them to what they had seen done in Egypt, where their enemies had all possible advantages against them and yet were humbled and forced to yield, Deu 1:30. And for proof of God's goodwill to them, and the real kindness which he intended them, he refers them to what they had seen in the wilderness (Deu 1:31, Deu 1:33), through which they had been guided by the eye of divine wisdom in a pillar of cloud and fire (which guided both their motions and their rests), and had been carried in the arms of divine grace with as much care and tenderness as were ever shown to any child borne in the arms of a nursing father. And was there any room left to distrust this God? Or were they not the most ungrateful people in the world, who, after such sensible proofs of the divine goodness, hardened their hearts in the day of temptation? Moses had complained once that God had charged him to carry this people as a nursing father doth the sucking child (Num 11:12); but here he owns that it was God that so carried them, and perhaps this is alluded to (Act 13:18), where he is said to bear them, or to suffer their manners.
VI. He charges them with the sin which they were guilty of upon this occasion. Though those to whom he was now speaking were a new generation, yet he lays it upon them: You rebelled, and you murmured; for many of these were then in being, though under twenty years old, and perhaps were engaged in the riot; and the rest inherited their fathers' vices, and smarted for them. Observe what he lays to their charge. 1. Disobedience and rebellion against God's law: You would not go up, but rebelled, Deu 1:26. The rejecting of God's favours is really a rebelling against his authority. 2. Invidious reflections upon God's goodness. They basely suggested: Because the Lord hated us, he brought us out of Egypt, Deu 1:27. What could have been more absurd, more disingenuous, and more reproachful to God? 3. An unbelieving heart at the bottom of all this: You did not believe the Lord your God, Deu 1:32. All your disobedience to God's laws, and distrust of his power and goodness, flow from a disbelief of his word. A sad pass it has come to with us when the God of eternal truth cannot be believed.
VII. He repeats the sentence passed upon them for this sin, which now they had seen the execution of. 1. They were all condemned to die in the wilderness, and none of them must be suffered to enter Canaan except Caleb and Joshua, Deu 1:34-38. So long they must continue in their wanderings in the wilderness that most of them would drop off of course, and the youngest of them should be cut off. Thus they could not enter in because of unbelief. It was not the breach of any of the commands of the law that shut them out of Canaan, no, not the golden calf, but their disbelief of that promise which was typical of gospel grace, to signify that no sin will ruin us but unbelief, which is a sin against the remedy. 2. Moses himself afterwards fell under God's displeasure for a hasty word which they provoked him to speak: The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, Deu 1:37. Because all the old stock must go off, Moses himself must not stay behind. Their unbelief let death into the camp, and, having entered, even Moses falls within his commission. 3. Yet here is mercy mixed with wrath. (1.) That, though Moses might not bring them into Canaan, Joshua should (v. 38): Encourage him; for he would be discouraged from taking up a government which he saw Moses himself fall under the weight of; but let him be assured that he shall accomplish that for which he is raised up: He shall cause Israel to inherit it. Thus what the law could not do, in that it was weak, Jesus, our Joshua, does by bringing in the better hope. (2.) That, though this generation should not enter into Canaan, the next should, Deu 1:39. As they had been chosen for their fathers' sakes, so their children might justly have been rejected for their sakes. But mercy rejoiceth against judgement.
VIII. He reminds them of their foolish and fruitless attempt to get this sentence reversed when it was too late. 1. They tried it by their reformation in this particular; whereas they had refused to go up against the Canaanites, now they would go up, aye, that they would, in all haste, and they girded on their weapons of war for that purpose, Deu 1:41. Thus, when the door is shut, and the day of grace is over, there will be found those that stand without and knock. But this, which looked like a reformation, proved but a further rebellion. God, by Moses, prohibited the attempt (Deu 1:42): yet they went presumptuously up to the hill (Deu 1:43), acting now in contempt of the threatening, as before in contempt of the promise, as if they were governed by a spirit of contradiction; and it sped accordingly (Deu 1:44): they were chased and destroyed; and, by this defeat which they suffered when they provoked God to leave them, they were taught what success they might have had if they had kept themselves in his love. 2. They tried by their prayers and tears to get the sentence reversed: They returned and wept before the Lord, Deu 1:45. While they were fretting and quarrelling, it is said (Num 14:1): They wept that night; those were tears of rebellion against God, these were tears of repentance and humiliation before God. Note, Tears of discontent must be wept over again; the sorrow of the world worketh death, and is to be repented of; it is not so with godly sorrow, that will end in joy. But their weeping was all to no purpose. The Lord would not harken to your voice, because you would not harken to his; the decree had gone forth, and, like Esau, they found no place of repentance, though they sought it carefully with tears.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 19–46. Public domain.
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Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Deuteronomy 1:23 records Moses's personal approval of the people's suggestion to send scouts into the Promised Land, a decision that, while seemingly prudent from a human perspective, inadvertently set the stage for a profound crisis of faith and a tragic forty-year delay in Israel's entry into their divine inheritance. This verse highlights the immediate leadership response to a collective proposal, detailing the selection of twelve representative men to undertake the reconnaissance mission.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Deuteronomy 1:23 effectively employs several literary devices. Recapitulation is a foundational element of the entire book of Deuteronomy, and this verse serves as a prime example, as Moses recounts a past event to the new generation, emphasizing its significance for their present and future. The phrase "And the saying pleased me well" functions as a form of retrospective justification or explanation of Moses's actions, offering insight into his decision-making process at a critical juncture. The selection of "twelve men... one of a tribe" serves as synecdoche, where a part (one man from each tribe) represents the whole (the entire nation of Israel), emphasizing the collective nature of the undertaking and its far-reaching implications for the entire community. Most significantly, this verse, while appearing to describe a positive and pragmatic step, functions as powerful foreshadowing. It marks the initiation of a mission that, despite its seemingly sensible origins, will tragically lead to a profound failure of faith and a forty-year delay in entering the Promised Land, as vividly detailed in the subsequent narrative of Deuteronomy and Numbers.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Deuteronomy 1:23 stands as a critical hinge point, subtly illustrating the profound tension between human prudence and divine command. While sending scouts was a militarily sound strategy, God had already given a clear, unconditional command to "go up and take possession." Moses's agreement, though not explicitly condemned, highlights how even well-intentioned human initiatives, when they precede or implicitly question a clear divine directive, can open the door to doubt and disobedience. The subsequent narrative reveals that the problem was not the act of scouting itself, but the lack of faith demonstrated by the majority of the spies and the people upon hearing the report, leading to a catastrophic failure to trust God's power and promises. This verse therefore serves as a powerful reminder of the necessity of unwavering faith and obedience, even when circumstances appear daunting or when human logic suggests an alternative approach. It underscores that true wisdom lies in trusting God's word above all human considerations.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Deuteronomy 1:23 offers a profound lesson on the interplay between human wisdom and divine will. It challenges us to examine our own decision-making processes: Do we prioritize pragmatic steps and human logic over clear divine commands or promises? While prudence and preparation are valuable, this verse cautions against allowing them to become substitutes for, or expressions of, a lack of trust in God. The tragic outcome of the spy mission underscores that even seemingly good ideas, if not rooted in unwavering faith and obedience to God's ultimate plan, can lead to deviation and delay in experiencing God's blessings. It calls us to cultivate a radical trust in God's power and faithfulness, even when the "giants in the land" seem insurmountable, remembering that God's promises are always greater than our perceived obstacles. Our reliance on God's word should always precede and inform our human strategies, ensuring that our actions are aligned with His perfect will.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Was Moses wrong to agree to send the spies, given God had already commanded them to enter the land?
Answer: The text does not explicitly condemn Moses for agreeing. From a human perspective, sending scouts was a sensible and common military strategy. However, the narrative implies that while God permitted this human initiative (as seen in Numbers 13:1-3), the reason for the people's request (fear and a desire for reassurance rather than immediate obedience) and their subsequent reaction to the report (unbelief and rebellion) were the true failures. Moses's agreement, in hindsight, facilitated a test of faith that the people tragically failed. It highlights that even good intentions or seemingly wise human plans can become problematic if they stem from or lead to a lack of trust in God's explicit commands and promises.
Why was it significant that twelve men, "one of a tribe," were chosen?
Answer: The selection of twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, was highly significant for several reasons. Firstly, it ensured comprehensive representation, meaning the report would be considered legitimate and binding for the entire nation. No tribe could claim their perspective was unheard or unrepresented. Secondly, it underscored the unity and collective responsibility of the Israelite confederation. The decision to enter or not enter the land, based on the spies' report, would be a national decision with national consequences. This representative structure also mirrored the divine organization of Israel, emphasizing its identity as God's chosen people, united under His covenant, as seen in the tribal blessings of Genesis 49.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Deuteronomy 1:23, while detailing a moment of human decision that led to tragic unbelief, ultimately points forward to the perfect leadership and unwavering faith of Jesus Christ. Unlike Moses, who, though faithful, agreed to a plan that facilitated Israel's failure, Jesus is the true and ultimate leader who perfectly fulfills God's will without deviation or doubt. The wilderness generation's failure to enter the earthly Promised Land due to their unbelief foreshadows the greater spiritual rest that believers are invited to enter through faith in Christ. As the author of Hebrews powerfully argues, Jesus is superior to Moses, and His people are called to a greater obedience, lest they fall short of the true "rest" that remains for the people of God (Hebrews 4:1-11). Where the twelve spies brought back a report that instilled fear and doubt, leading to a forty-year wandering, Jesus, the perfect "scout" into the heavenly realities, has gone before us, not to report on insurmountable giants, but to secure our inheritance and prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3). He is the faithful Son over God's house, through whom we, by faith, enter into the true and eternal Promised Land. The failure at Kadesh-barnea underscores the necessity of absolute trust in God's provision and the ultimate truth that our entry into God's blessings is not based on human prudence or strength, but on the perfect obedience and finished work of Christ, the true Joshua who leads His people into their inheritance.