Numbers 13:28

28 Yet the people who are inhabiting [it are] strong and the cities [are] fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of the Anakites there.

Numbers 13:28 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 13:28

Nevertheless the people [be] strong that dwell in the land,
&c.] Though so plentiful and fruitful and desirable to enjoy, yet this objection lay against all hopes and even attempts to possess it, as they thought; the strength of the people, its present inhabitants, both in body and mind, being persons of a large, and some of a prodigious stature, and to all appearance men of valour and courage;

and the cities [are] walled and very great;
and so inaccessible, and able to hold out a long siege, and repel what force may be brought against them; so that to attack them would be to little purpose:

and moreover we saw the children of Anak there:
whom they had heard of before, and so had the congregation of Israel, and many terrible and frightful stories were told of them, and these they now saw with their eyes, and very formidable they appeared to them; this seems to prove that others beside Caleb and Joshua were at Hebron, where the sons of Anak lived, ( Numbers 13:22 ) ; and so they might, and yet not be together with them.

Numbers 13:28 In-Context

26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to the entire community of the {Israelites} in the desert of Paran at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and [to] all the community, and they showed them the fruit of the land.

27 And they told him, "We came to the land that you sent us, and it [is] flowing of milk and honey; this [is] its fruit.

28 Yet the people who are inhabiting [it are] strong and the cities [are] fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of the Anakites there.

29 [The] Amalekites [are] living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and the Amorites [are] living in the hill country; and the Canaanites [are] living at the sea and on the banks of the Jordan."

30 And Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "Surely, let us go up and let us take possession of it because surely we will be able to prevail over it."