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13 And there the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

Send thou men, that shall behold the land of Canaan, which I shall give to the sons of Israel; of each lineage send thou one man of the princes. (Send thou some men, to look over the land of Canaan, which I shall give to the Israelites; send thou one of the leaders from each tribe.)

Moses did that that the Lord commanded, and sent from the desert of Paran (the) princes, (the) men of which these be the names. (Moses did what the Lord commanded, and sent from the wilderness of Paran twelve of their leaders, of which these be their names.)

Of the lineage of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.

Of the lineage of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.

Of the lineage of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

Of the lineage of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.

Of the lineage of Ephraim, Oshea, the son of Nun. (Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, or Joshua, the son of Nun.)

Of the lineage of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.

10 Of the lineage of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.

11 Of the lineage of Joseph, of the generation of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi. (Of the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.)

12 Of the lineage of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.

13 Of the lineage of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael.

14 Of the lineage of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.

15 Of the lineage of Gad, Geuel, the son of Machi.

16 These be the names of [the] men, which Moses sent to behold the land of Canaan; and Moses called Oshea, the son of Nun, Joshua. (These be the names of the men, whom Moses sent to look over the land of Canaan; and Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.)

17 Therefore Moses sent them to behold the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go ye up by the south coast; and when ye come [in]to the hills, (And so Moses sent them to look over the land of Canaan, and he said to them, Go ye up by the Negeb, or by the southern part, and when ye come into the hill country,)

18 behold ye the land, what manner land it is; and behold ye the people which is the dweller thereof, whether it is strong, either feeble, few in number, either many; (look over the land, and see what it is like; and look over the people who live there, whether they be strong, or feeble, and few in number, or many;)

19 whether that land is good, either evil (or bad); what manner cities be there, walled, either without walls;

20 whether the land is fat, either barren, whether it is full of woods, either without trees. Be ye comforted, and bring ye to us of the fruits of that land. Soothly then the time was, when [the] grapes first ripe might be eaten. (whether the land is fertile, or barren, whether it is full of woods, or without trees. Be ye strengthened, that is, be ye of good courage, and bring ye to us some of the fruits of that land. For it was then the time when the first ripe grapes could be eaten.)

21 And when they had gone up, they espied the land, from the desert of Zin till to Rehob, as men enter to Hamath. (And so when they had gone up, they spied out the land, from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as people go to Hamath.)

22 And they went up to the south coast, and came into Hebron, where Ahiman, and Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were; for Hebron was made seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt. (And they went up by the Negeb, or by the southern part, and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, and Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of the giants, were living; for Hebron was built seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.)

23 And they went to the strand of [the] cluster, and they cutted down a scion with his grapes, which two men bare with a bearing staff; also they took of [the] pomegranates, and of the figs of that place, (And they went to the Eshcol Valley, and cut down a branch with all of its grapes, which two men had to carry on a carrying bar, or a carrying pole; and they also took pomegranates and figs from that place,)

24 which is called Nahal-eshcol, that is, the strand of (the) grape(s), or the strand of (the) cluster, for the sons of Israel bare a cluster from thence. (which they called Nahal-eshcol, that is, the Eshcol Valley, or the Valley of the Cluster of Grapes, for the Israelites carried a cluster of grapes from there.)

25 And the spyers of the land [turned again], when they had compassed all the country(side), after forty days (And the spies returned, when they had gone about all the countryside, yea, after forty days)

26 they came to Moses and Aaron, and to all the company of the sons of Israel, into the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And the spyers spake to them, and showed the fruits of the land to all the multitude, (they came back to Moses and Aaron, and to all the company of the Israelites, at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. And the spies spoke to them, and to all the multitude, and showed them the fruits of the land,)

27 and they told, and said (and they spoke to Moses, and said), We came to the land, to which thou sentest us, which land truly floweth with milk and honey, as it may be known by these fruits;

28 but it hath most strong dwellers, and great cities, and walled (but it hath very strong inhabitants, and great walled cities); we saw there the kindred of (the) Anakim, that is, (of the) giants;

29 Amalek dwelleth there in the south; Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the hilly places; forsooth Canaanites dwell beside the sea, and beside the floods of Jordan. (and the Amalekites live there in the south; and the Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea, and along the Jordan River.)

30 Among these things, or sayings, Caleb peaced the grouching of the people, that was made against Moses, and said, Go we up, and wield we the land, for we be able to get it. (Then after these words, Caleb tried to calm the grumbling of the people, and said, No matter! We shall go up, and take the land, for we be well able to get it.)

31 Soothly the other spyers, that were with him, said, We be not able to go up to this people, for it is stronger than we. (But the other spies who went with him said, We shall not be able to go up against these people, for they all be stronger than us!)

32 And they spake evil of the land which they had beheld, to the sons of Israel, and said, The land that we compassed devoureth his dwellers; the people that we beheld is of large stature; (And so, they gave a bad report about the land which they had seen, to the Israelites, and said, The land which we went about shall eat up anyone who shall go there to live; and the people, who we saw there, be of very large stature;)

33 there we saw some wonders against kind, of the sons of Anak, of the kind of giants, to which we were comparisoned, and were seen as locusts. (yea, we saw some wonders against kind there, the sons of Anak, who be giants, and compared to them, we felt as small as locusts, or like grasshoppers.)

13 And the Lord said to Moses,

Send men to explore and scout out [for yourselves] the land of Canaan, which I give to the Israelites. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader or head among them.

So Moses by the command of the Lord sent scouts from the Wilderness of Paran, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites.

These were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;

Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] son of Nun;

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

11 Of the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi;

12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to explore and scout out the land. And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.

17 Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get up this way by the South (the Negeb) and go up into the hill country,

18 And see what the land is and whether the people who dwell there are strong or weak, few or many,

19 And whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds,

20 And what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. And be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and scouted through the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath.

22 And then went up into the South (the Negeb) and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai [probably three tribes of] the sons of Anak were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two [of them]; they brought also some pomegranates and figs.

24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol [cluster] because of the cluster which the Israelites cut down there.

25 And they returned from scouting out the land after forty days.

26 They came to Moses and Aaron and to all the Israelite congregation in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought them word, and showed them the land’s fruit.

27 They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit.

28 But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are [a]fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of great stature and courage].

29 Amalek dwells in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan [River].

30 Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.

31 But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are stronger than we are.

32 So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

33 There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:28 The scouts probably had not seen walled cities before, having lived their childhood in Goshen in Egypt. Those who forgot God’s power to help them naturally found the situation formidable, as happens in the lives of most people. “ ‘But God’ makes all the difference between cowards and Calebs.”

Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, “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.”

So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.(E) These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(F)

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(G)

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

  1. Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.