The Twelve Explorers^(A)

13 Later, the Lord told Moses, ² “Send men to explore the land of Canaan that I’m about to give to the Israelis. Send one man to represent each of his ancestor’s tribes, every one of them a distinguished leader^[a] among them.”

³ So that’s just what Moses did, sending them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the Lord’s instructions. All of the men were Israeli leaders. ⁴ These were their names: From Reuben’s tribe, Zaccur’s son Shammua; ⁵ From Simeon’s tribe, Hori’s son Shaphat; ⁶ From Judah’s tribe, Jephunneh’s son Caleb; ⁷ from Issachar’s tribe, Joseph’s son Igal; ⁸ From Ephraim’s tribe, Nun’s son Hoshea; ⁹ From Benjamin’s tribe, Raphu’s son Palti; ¹⁰ from Zebulun’s tribe, Sodi’s son Gaddiel; ¹¹ from Joseph’s tribe of Manasseh, Susi’s son Gaddi; ¹² From Dan’s tribe, Gemalli’s son Ammiel; ¹³ from Asher’s tribe, Michael’s son Sethur; ¹⁴ from Naphtali’s tribe, Vophsi’s son Nahbi; ¹⁵ and from Gad’s tribe, Machi’s son Geuel. ¹⁶ These are the names of the men sent by Moses to explore the land.

Moses Issues Orders to the Explorers

Moses renamed Nun’s son Hoshea to Joshua. ¹⁷ Then he^[b] sent them out to explore the land of Canaan. He instructed them, “Go up from here through the Negev,^[c] then ascend to the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like. Observe whether the people who live there are strong or weak, or whether they’re few or numerous. ¹⁹ Look to see whether the land where they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are merely tents or if they’re fortified. ²⁰ Examine the farmland,^[d] whether it’s fertile or barren, and see if there are fruit-bearing trees in it or not. Be very courageous, and bring back some samples of the fruit of the land.”

As it was, that time of year^[e] was the season for the first fruits of the grape harvest. ²¹ So they went to explore the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob, and as far as the outskirts of Hamath. ²² They went through the Negev^[f] and reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak lived. (Hebron had been constructed seven years before Zoan in Egypt had been built).^{[g] 23} Soon they arrived in the valley of Eshcol, where they cut a single branch of grapes and carried it on a pole between two men,^[h] along with some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ The entire place was called the Eshcol Valley on account of the cluster of grapes that the men of Israel had taken from there.

The Explorers Return

²⁵ At the end of 40 days, they all returned from exploring the land,