Add parallel Print Page Options

13 Then afterward, the people set out from Hazeroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Send men out to search the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. You shall send a man from every tribe of their fathers, all rulers among them.”

Then Moses sent them out of the wilderness of Paran at the Commandment of the LORD. All those men were heads of the children of Israel.

Now their names are these: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;

10 of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

11 of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

12 of the tribe of Joseph (of the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi;

13 of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

14 of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

15 of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

16 of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

17 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called the name of Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.

18 So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way toward the south; and go up into the mountains.

19 “And consider the land, what it is. And the people who dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many.

20 “Also, the land that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad and what cities that they dwell in, whether they dwell in tents or in walled towns.

21 “And the land, whether it is fat or lean, whether there are trees in it or not. And be of good courage. And bring from the fruit of the land.” For then was the time of the first ripe grapes.

22 So they went up and searched out the land, from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to go to Hamath.

23 And they ascended toward the south and came to Hebron, where were Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak. And Hebron was built seven years before Zoan, in Egypt.

24 Then they came to the river of Eshcol. And there they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes. And they bore it upon a bar between two of them, and brought some pomegranates and some figs.

25 That place was called the River Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down there.

26 Then, after forty days, they turned away from searching out the land.

27 And they came to Moses and to Aaron, and to all the Congregation of the children of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they brought tidings to them and to all the Congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

28 And they told him, and said, “We came to the land where you have sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey. And here is some of its fruit.

29 “Nevertheless, the people are strong who dwell in the land and the cities are walled and exceedingly great. And moreover, we saw the sons of Anak there.

30 “The Amalekites dwell in the south country. And the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coasts of Jordan.”

31 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and possess it, for undoubtedly we shall overcome it.”

32 But the men who went up with him, said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than us.”

33 So they brought back a bad report of the land which they had searched for the children of Israel, saying, “The land which we have gone through to search is a land that eats up its inhabitants. For all the people we saw in it were men of great stature.

34 “For there we saw giants (the sons of Anak, who come from giants), so that we seemed in our own sight like grasshoppers. And so we were in their sight.”

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.