Deuteronomy 1:22

22 And ye all came to me, and said, Let us send men before us, and let them go up to the land for us; and let them bring back to us a report of the way by which we shall go up, and of the cities into which we shall enter.

Deuteronomy 1:22 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 1:22

And ye came near unto me everyone of you
Not every individual of them, but the heads of their tribes, that represented them; this is not to be understood of the present generation personally, but of their fathers, who all died in the wilderness, save a very few of them; but they being the same people and nation, it is so expressed:

and said, we will send men before us;
that is, they thought it was proper and prudent so to do, and came to Moses to consult him about it; for we are not to suppose that they had determined upon it, whether he approved of it or not:

and they shall search us out the land:
that they might know what sort of land it was, whether good or bad, fruitful or not, and whether woody or not: see ( Numbers 13:19 Numbers 13:20 )

and bring us word again by what way we must go up;
or, "concerning the way ^F13 in which we must go"; which is the best way of entering it, most easy and accessible, where the passes are most open and least dangerous:

and into what cities we shall come;
which it would be the most proper to attack and subdue first.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (Krdh ta) , "de via", Noldius, p. 117. No. 594. so the Arabic version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Deuteronomy 1:22 In-Context

20 And I said to you, Ye have come as far as the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God gives to you:

21 behold, the Lord your God has delivered to us the land before you: go up and inherit it as the Lord God of your fathers said to you; fear not, neither be afraid.

22 And ye all came to me, and said, Let us send men before us, and let them go up to the land for us; and let them bring back to us a report of the way by which we shall go up, and of the cities into which we shall enter.

23 And the saying pleased me: and I took of you twelve men, one man of a tribe.

24 And they turned and went up to the mountain, and they came as far as the valley of the cluster, and surveyed it.