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Numbers 13

KJV · Chapter 13/36

1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2Send 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.

3And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.

4And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

5Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

6Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

7Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.

9Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

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

11Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

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

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

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

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

16These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

17And 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:

18And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

19And 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;

20And 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.

21So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

22And 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.)

23And 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.

24The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

25And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

26And 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.

27And 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.

28Nevertheless 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.

29The 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.

30And 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.

31But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

32And 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.

33And 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Twelve spies, one from each tribe, are sent to scout the land of Canaan. After 40 days, they return confirming that the land is fertile, but ten of them spread fear about the strong inhabitants and walled cities, while Caleb insists that the people can conquer it.

Explanation

This is a decisive moment in Israel's history: the spies had the same factual information (a good land, but strong peoples), yet radically different interpretations — ten saw only obstacles, while Caleb and later Joshua saw the same reality through the lens of God's promise and power. This illustrates a central spiritual truth: faith does not mean ignoring hard facts, but trusting that God is greater than them. The spies' exaggerated comparison, feeling 'like grasshoppers' before the inhabitants, reveals how fear distorts both self-perception and perception of the situation. The application for today: facing real challenges, the difference between giving up and moving forward often lies in the perspective of faith, not in the absence of genuine difficulties.

Fun facts

  • It was in this chapter that Moses changed the name of Hoshea, son of Nun, to Joshua (Yehoshua, 'the LORD saves') — the same name that, in Greek, becomes 'Jesus' (Iesous), a connection noted by many Christian commentators.
  • The mention of the 'sons of Anak' (descendants of giants) in Hebron is archaeologically confirmed as a very ancient and fortified city, continuously occupied since at least 3000 BC, which explains the spies' genuine fear before its walls.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Numbers 13:1The Lord speaks to Moses to begin one of the most decisive missions in the book: sending spies to explore the promised land.
  2. Numbers 13:2The command is clear: send one man from each tribe, all recognized leaders, to spy out the land of Canaan before the people enter it.
  3. Numbers 13:3Moses sends the twelve men from the wilderness of Paran, following the Lord’s command; all of them were recognized chiefs among the tribes of Israel.
  4. Numbers 13:4For Reuben goes Shammua son of Zaccur, opening the list of the twelve chosen spies.
  5. Numbers 13:5Shaphat is one of the twelve spies sent to Canaan, one per tribe. He and nine others would return with a discouraging report, unlike Caleb and Joshua’s — and that would cost the people forty years in the wilderness.
  6. Numbers 13:6For Judah goes Caleb son of Jephunneh — a name that will become central to the chapter’s outcome.
  7. Numbers 13:7This “son of Joseph” is not the patriarch from Egypt — it is simply the name of Igal’s father. He is one of the twelve spies, and would be among the ten who brought back the report that frightened the people.
  8. Numbers 13:8For Ephraim goes Oshea son of Nun — another name that will carry special weight later on.
  9. Numbers 13:9Palti represents Benjamin among the twelve spies sent to Canaan. Like most of them, his report would reinforce the people’s fear, unlike the optimism of Caleb and Joshua.
  10. Numbers 13:10Gaddiel is the spy chosen by Zebulun. Along with nine colleagues, he would see the good land and still recommend not entering it — a decision that cost an entire generation.
  11. Numbers 13:11For the tribe of Manasseh, a descendant of Joseph, goes Gaddi son of Susi.
  12. Numbers 13:12Ammiel represents the tribe of Dan among the twelve spies sent by Moses to Canaan, each one a head of his tribe — but that would not be enough to give the group courage.
  13. Numbers 13:13Sethur is the spy from Asher. Of the twelve sent to Canaan, only Caleb and Joshua would return confident; Sethur would be among the ten who spread fear through the camp.
  14. Numbers 13:14Nahbi represents Naphtali among the twelve spies — only one is left on the list, the one from Gad, to complete the twelve tribes sent to spy out Canaan.
  15. Numbers 13:15For Gad goes Geuel son of Machi, closing out the list of the twelve representatives.
  16. Numbers 13:16The text closes the list by noting that Moses changes Oshea’s name to Joshua — a name change that will follow this man for the rest of the Bible.
  17. Numbers 13:17Moses gives the spies precise instructions: go up first through the Negev, in the south, and then continue into the hill country.
  18. Numbers 13:18They were to observe what the land and the people living in it were like: whether they were strong or weak, few or many.
  19. Numbers 13:19They were also to note whether the land was good or bad, and what the cities were like: open like camps or fortified like strongholds.
  20. Numbers 13:20Moses also asks them to bring back samples of the land’s fruit, and the text notes that it happened to be the season of the first ripe grapes.
  21. Numbers 13:21The spies carry out the mission, traveling the length of the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath.
  22. Numbers 13:22Going up through the south, they reach Hebron, where descendants of giants lived; the text also notes, in passing, that Hebron was older than a famous Egyptian city.
  23. Numbers 13:23The spies bring back a cluster of grapes so large it had to be carried by two men on a pole, along with pomegranates and figs. This concrete sample proved the land really was fertile, exactly as God had promised — the problem would not be the quality of the land, but the people’s fear in the face of it.
  24. Numbers 13:24That place came to be called the valley of Eshcol precisely because of the cluster of grapes the spies cut there.
  25. Numbers 13:25After forty days traveling through the land, the spies finally return from the mission.
  26. Numbers 13:26They return to Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, and present the report to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation, showing the fruit they had brought.
  27. Numbers 13:27The report confirms the promise: the land really is fertile, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the very fruit brought back proves.
  28. Numbers 13:28But the report already comes with a troubling qualification: the people living there are strong, the cities are large and fortified, and there are giants among them.
  29. Numbers 13:29The spies go on to detail who occupied each region of the land: Amalekites in the south, Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites in the hill country, and Canaanites near the sea and along the Jordan.
  30. Numbers 13:30Caleb tries to calm the people before Moses, insisting they should go up and take the land, confident they would be able to conquer it.
  31. Numbers 13:31But the other spies openly disagree, saying they would not be able to face that people, who were too strong for them.
  32. Numbers 13:32These same spies spread a bad report about the land, saying it devours those who live in it and that all its inhabitants were of enormous size.
  33. Numbers 13:33The spies describe the inhabitants of Canaan as giants, descendants of Anak, and say they felt like grasshoppers next to them. It is an exaggerated account born of fear, not an objective fact — ten of the twelve spies use this exaggeration to convince the people to give up on the land, while Joshua and Caleb disagree.

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