Numbers 13:4

4 These were their names: from Reuben: Shammua son of Zaccur

Numbers 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 13:4

And these [were] their names, of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua
the son of Zaccur.
] From ( Numbers 13:4-15 ) , there is nothing but the names of the said persons, whose sons they were, and of what tribe; and the several tribes are mentioned, not according to the order of the birth of the patriarchs, nor according to the dignity of their mothers that bore them, but, very likely, according to the order in which they were sent, two by two, to search the land; for had they gone all twelve in a body, they would have been liable to suspicion: the signification of their names is of no importance to know, and will give us no light into their characters or the reason of their choice, nor are their parents elsewhere taken notice of, nor any of them but Joshua and Caleb, of whom we shall hear more hereafter.

Numbers 13:4 In-Context

2 "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 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.
4 These were their names: from Reuben: Shammua son of Zaccur
5 from Simeon: Shaphat son of Hori
6 from Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.