Numbers 13:31

31 But the men who had gone with Caleb said, "No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are."

Numbers 13:31 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 13:31

But the men that went up with him
With Caleb, all but Joshua: the other ten

said, we be not able to go up against the people;
this they had not said before, though they plainly suggested it, and, to make the people believe this, had represented the inhabitants of the land of Canaan in the light they did; but now, in direct opposition to Caleb, fully expressed it, giving this reason for it:

for they [are] stronger than we;
being both of a larger size and more numerous.

Numbers 13:31 In-Context

29 Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River."

30 Caleb silenced the people who were complaining against Moses, and said, "We should attack now and take the land; we are strong enough to conquer it."

31 But the men who had gone with Caleb said, "No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are."

32 So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, "That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall,

33 and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them."