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Numbers 13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Numbers 13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 13
The Twelve Scouts. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, which I am giving the Israelites. You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe, every one a leader among them. 3 (A)So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, at the direction of the Lord. All of them were leaders among the Israelites. 4 These were their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, son of Zaccur;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, son of Hori;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, son of Jephunneh;
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal;
8 for the Josephites, from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, son of Nun;
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, son of Raphu;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, son of Sodi;
11 for the Josephites, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, son of Susi;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, son of Gemalli;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur, son of Michael;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, son of Vophsi;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel, son of Machi.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to reconnoiter the land. But Hoshea, son of Nun, Moses called Joshua.[a]
17 In sending them to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, Moses said to them, “Go up there in the Negeb, up into the highlands, 18 and see what kind of land it is and whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 Is the country in which they live good or bad? Are the towns in which they dwell open or fortified? 20 Is the soil fertile or barren, wooded or clear? And do your best to get some of the fruit of the land.” It was then the season for early grapes.
21 So they went up and reconnoitered the land from the wilderness of Zin[b] as far as where Rehob adjoins Lebo-hamath. 22 (B)Going up by way of the Negeb, they reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, descendants of the Anakim,[c] were. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They also reached the Wadi Eshcol,[d] where they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes on it, which two of them carried on a pole, as well as some pomegranates and figs. 24 It was because of the cluster the Israelites cut there that they called the place Wadi Eshcol.(C)
Their Report. 25 They returned from reconnoitering the land forty days later. 26 (D)Proceeding directly to Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, they made a report to them and to the whole community, showing them the fruit of the land. 27 They told Moses: “We came to the land to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. 28 However, the people who are living in the land are powerful, and the towns are fortified and very large.(E) Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there. 29 Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites dwell in the highlands, and Canaanites along the sea and the banks of the Jordan.”
30 Caleb, however, quieted the people before Moses and said, “We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly prevail over it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.” 32 They spread discouraging reports(F) among the Israelites about the land they had reconnoitered, saying, “The land that we went through and reconnoitered is a land that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge. 33 (G)There we saw the Nephilim[e] (the Anakim are from the Nephilim); in our own eyes we seemed like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.”
Footnotes
- 13:16 Joshua: in Hebrew, “Jehoshua,” which was later modified to “Jeshua,” the Hebrew name for “Jesus.” Hoshea and Joshua are variants of one original name meaning “the Lord saves.” Cf. Mt 1:21.
- 13:21 The wilderness of Zin: north of Paran and southwest of the Dead Sea. It is quite distinct from “the wilderness of Sin” near the border of Egypt (Ex 16:1; 17:1; Nm 33:11). Lebo-hamath: a town near Riblah (Jer 39:5–6) at the southern border of Hamath, an independent kingdom in southern Syria. David’s conquests extended as far as Hamath (2 Sm 8:9–11), and Lebo-hamath thus formed the northern border of the ideal extent of Israel’s possessions (Nm 34:7–9; Ez 47:15; 48:1). This may suggest that this verse was inserted precisely to extend the scope of the reconnaissance; cf. Dt 1:24.
- 13:22, 28 Anakim: an aboriginal race in southern Palestine, largely absorbed by the Canaanites. Either because of their tall stature or because of the massive stone structures left by them, the Israelites regarded them as giants.
- 13:23 Eshcol: means “cluster.”
- 13:33 Nephilim: i.e., “fallen ones” (in the Septuagint, “giants”), a reference to fallen heroes of old. Cf. Gn 6:4.
Bamidbar 13
Orthodox Jewish Bible
Bamidbar 13
Orthodox Jewish Bible
13 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,
2 Send thou anashim, that they may spy out Eretz Kena’an, which I give unto the Bnei Yisroel: of every tribe of their avot shall ye send a man, every one a nasi among them.
3 And Moshe by the mouth of Hashem sent them from the Midbar Paran; all those men were Roshei Bnei Yisroel.
4 And these were their shmot: of the tribe of Reuven, Shammua ben Zaccur.
5 Of the tribe of Shim’on, Shaphat ben Chori.
6 Of the tribe of Yehudah, Kalev ben Yephunneh.
7 Of the tribe of Yissakhar, Yigal ben Yosef.
8 Of the tribe of Ephrayim, Hoshea ben Nun.
9 Of the tribe of Binyamin, Palti ben Raphu.
10 Of the tribe of Zevulun, Gaddiel ben Sodi.
11 Of the tribe of Yosef, namely, of the tribe of Menasheh, Gaddi ben Susi.
12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel ben Gemalli.
13 Of the tribe of Asher, Setur ben Michael.
14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nachbi ben Vophsi.
15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel ben Machi.
16 These are the shmot of the men which Moshe sent to spy out the land. And Moshe called Hoshea ben Nun Yehoshua [See Zecharyah 6:11-12 on the personal name of Moshiach in prophecy].
17 And Moshe sent them to spy out Eretz Kena’an, and said unto them, Get you up to the Negev, and go up into the mountain;
18 And see the land, what it is like, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;
19 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 strongholds;
20 And what the land is, whether it be fertile or barren, 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 first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up, and searched the land from the midbar of Tzin unto Rechov, as men come to Chamat.
22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Chevron; where Achiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anak, were. (Now Chevron was built seven shanim before Tzoan in Mitzrayim.)
23 And they came unto the Wadi Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with cluster of anavim echad, and they bore it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
24 The place was called the Wadi Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the Bnei Yisroel cut down from thence.
25 And they returned from searching of the land after arba’im days.
26 And they went and came to Moshe, and to Aharon, and to all the congregation of the Bnei Yisroel, unto the Midbar Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto Kol HaEdah, and showed them the pri ha’aretz.
27 And they told him, and said, We came unto ha’aretz where thou didst send us, and truly it floweth with cholov and devash; and this is the fruit of it.
28 Nevertheless the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and gedolot me’od; and moreover we saw the Anak there.
29 The Amalek dwell in the eretz of the Negev; and the Chitti, and the Yevusi, and the Emori, dwell in the hills; and the Kena’ani dwell by the yam, and by the bank of the Yarden.
30 And Kalev silenced HaAm before Moshe, and said, Let us go up at once, and take possession of it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the anashim that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people; for they are chazak (stronger) than we.
32 And they spread an evil report of HaAretz which they had explored unto the Bnei Yisroel, saying, HaAretz, through which we have gone to explore 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 Nephilim, the Bnei Anak, which come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Numbers 13
New International Version
Numbers 13
New International Version
Exploring Canaan
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore(A) the land of Canaan,(B) which I am giving to the Israelites.(C) From each ancestral tribe(D) send one of its leaders.”
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.(E) 4 These are their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(F)
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(G)
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore(H) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun(I) the name Joshua.)(J)
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,(K) he said, “Go up through the Negev(L) and on into the hill country.(M) 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.(N)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)(O)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin(P) as far as Rehob,(Q) toward Lebo Hamath.(R) 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,(S) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,(T) the descendants of Anak,(U) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)(V) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a](W) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates(X) and figs.(Y) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days(Z) they returned from exploring the land.(AA)
Report on the Exploration
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh(AB) in the Desert of Paran.(AC) There they reported to them(AD) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.(AE) 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!(AF) Here is its fruit.(AG) 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.(AH) We even saw descendants of Anak(AI) there.(AJ) 29 The Amalekites(AK) live in the Negev; the Hittites,(AL) Jebusites(AM) and Amorites(AN) live in the hill country;(AO) and the Canaanites(AP) live near the sea and along the Jordan.(AQ)”
30 Then Caleb(AR) silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”(AS) 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report(AT) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours(AU) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.(AV) 33 We saw the Nephilim(AW) there (the descendants of Anak(AX) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers(AY) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.
Numbers 13
International Standard Version
Numbers 13
International Standard Version
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, 26 came in to Moses and Aaron, and delivered their report to the entire congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back their report to the entire congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 “We arrived at the place where you’ve sent us,” they reported, “and it certainly does flow with milk and honey. Furthermore, this is its fruit, 28 except that the people who have settled in the land are strong, and their cities are greatly fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak. 29 Amalek lives throughout the Negev,[i] while the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live by the sea and on the bank of the Jordan.”
30 Caleb silenced the people on Moses’ behalf and responded, “Let’s go up and take control, because we can definitely conquer it.”
31 “We can’t attack those people,” the men who were with him said, “because they’re too strong compared to us.”
32 So they put out this false report to the Israelis about the land that they had explored: “The land that we’ve explored is one[j] that devours its inhabitants. All the people whom we observed were giants.[k] 33 We also saw the Nephilim,[l] the descendants of Anak. Compared to the Nephilim, as we see things, we’re like grasshoppers, and that’s their opinion of us!”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:2 Lit. them one lifted up
- Numbers 13:17 Lit. Moses
- Numbers 13:17 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Numbers 13:20 Lit. land
- Numbers 13:20 The Heb. lacks of year
- Numbers 13:22 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Numbers 13:22 The Heb. lacks had been built
- Numbers 13:23 The Heb. lacks men
- Numbers 13:29 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Numbers 13:32 Lit. is a land
- Numbers 13:32 Lit. observed are men of measurements
- Numbers 13:33 Cf. Gen 6:4
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