Numbers 13
The Message
Scouting Out Canaan
13 1-2 God spoke to Moses: “Send men to scout out the country of Canaan that I am giving to the People of Israel. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a tried-and-true leader in the tribe.”
3-15 So Moses sent them off from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of God. All of them were leaders in Israel, one from each tribe. These were their names:
from Reuben: Shammua son of Zaccur
from Simeon: Shaphat son of Hori
from Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh
from Issachar: Igal son of Joseph
from Ephraim: Hoshea son of Nun
from Benjamin: Palti son of Raphu
from Zebulun: Gaddiel son of Sodi
from Manasseh (a Joseph tribe): Gaddi son of Susi
from Dan: Ammiel son of Gemalli
from Asher: Sethur son of Michael
from Naphtali: Nahbi son of Vophsi
from Gad: Geuel son of Maki.
16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land. Moses gave Hoshea (Salvation) son of Nun a new name—Joshua (God-Saves).
17-20 When Moses sent them off to scout out Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and then into the hill country. Look the land over, see what it is like. Assess the people: Are they strong or weak? Are there few or many? Observe the land: Is it pleasant or harsh? Describe the towns where they live: Are they open camps or fortified with walls? And the soil: Is it fertile or barren? Are there forests? And try to bring back a sample of the produce that grows there—this is the season for the first ripe grapes.”
21-25 With that they were on their way. They scouted out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob toward Lebo Hamath. Their route went through the Negev Desert to the town of Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, descendants of the giant Anak, lived there. Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. When they arrived at the Eshcol Valley they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes—it took two men to carry it—slung on a pole. They also picked some pomegranates and figs. They named the place Eshcol Valley (Grape-Cluster-Valley) because of the huge cluster of grapes they had cut down there. After forty days of scouting out the land, they returned home.
26-27 They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the People of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told the story of their trip:
27-29 “We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, “Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it.”
31-33 But the others said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.”
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Numbers 13
Living Bible
13 Jehovah now instructed Moses, 2 “Send spies into the land of Canaan—the land I am giving to Israel; send one leader from each tribe.”
3-15 (The Israelis were camped in the wilderness of Paran at the time.) Moses did as the Lord had commanded and sent these twelve tribal leaders:
Shammua, son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben;
Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon;
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah;
Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar;
Hoshea,[a] son of Nun, from the half-tribe of Ephraim;
Palti, son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin;
Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun;
Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Joseph (actually, the half-tribe of Manasseh);
Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan;
Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher;
Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali;
Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
16 It was at this time that Moses changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua.[b]
17 Moses sent them out with these instructions: “Go northward into the hill country of the Negeb, 18 and see what the land is like; see also what the people are like who live there, whether they are strong or weak, many or few; 19 and whether the land is fertile or not; and what cities there are, and whether they are villages or are fortified; 20 whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are many trees. Don’t be afraid, and bring back some samples of the crops you see.” (The first of the grapes were being harvested at that time.)
21 So they spied out the land all the way from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob near Hamath. 22 Going northward, they passed first through the Negeb and arrived at Hebron. There they saw the Ahimanites, Sheshites, and Talmites, all families descended from Anak. (By the way, Hebron was very ancient, having been founded seven years before Tanis[c] in Egypt.) 23 Then they came to what is now known as the valley of Eshcol where they cut down a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also took some samples of the pomegranates and figs. 24 The Israelis named the valley “Eshcol” at that time (meaning “Cluster”) because of the cluster of grapes they found!
25 After forty days of exploration they returned from their tour. 26 They made their report to Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and they showed the fruit they had brought with them.
27 This was their report: “We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country—a land ‘flowing with milk and honey.’ Here is some fruit we have brought as proof. 28 But the people living there are powerful, and their cities are fortified and very large; and what’s more, we saw Anakim giants there! 29 The Amalekites live in the south, while in the hill country there are the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites; down along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Jordan River Valley are the Canaanites.”
30 But Caleb reassured the people as they stood before Moses. “Let us go up at once and possess it,” he said, “for we are well able to conquer it!”
31 “Not against people as strong as they are!” the other spies said. “They would crush us!”
32 So the majority report of the spies was negative: “The land is full of warriors, the people are powerfully built, 33 and we saw some of the Anakim there, descendants of the ancient race of giants. We felt like grasshoppers before them, they were so tall!”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:3 Hoshea, or “Joshua.” See v. 16.
- Numbers 13:16 Moses changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua. Hoshea means “salvation”; Joshua means “Jehovah is salvation.” Joshua is the same name in Hebrew as the Greek name “Jesus.”
- Numbers 13:22 Tanis, or “Zoan,” also known as “Avaris,” was built ca. 1700 B.C.
Numbers 13
New King James Version
Spies Sent into Canaan(A)
13 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 (B)“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
3 So Moses sent them (C)from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 (D)from the tribe of Judah, (E)Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, [a]Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to [b]spy out the land. And Moses called (F)Hoshea[c] the son of Nun, Joshua.
17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to (G)the mountains, 18 and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 whether the land is [d]rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. (H)Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land (I)from the Wilderness of Zin as far as (J)Rehob, near the entrance of (K)Hamath. 22 And they went up through the South and came to (L)Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of (M)Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 (N)Then they came to the [e]Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 The place was called the Valley of [f]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. 25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.
26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at (O)Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly [g]flows with (P)milk and honey, (Q)and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the (R)people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of (S)Anak there. 29 (T)The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”
30 Then (U)Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
31 (V)But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they (W)gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and (X)all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the [h]giants ((Y)the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were (Z)like[i] grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were (AA)in their sight.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:8 LXX, Vg. Oshea
- Numbers 13:16 secretly search
- Numbers 13:16 LXX, Vg. Oshea
- Numbers 13:20 fertile or barren
- Numbers 13:23 Wadi
- Numbers 13:24 Lit. Cluster
- Numbers 13:27 Has an abundance of food
- Numbers 13:33 Heb. nephilim
- Numbers 13:33 As mere insects
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
