Numbers 13:4

4 These were the tribes and the names of their leaders: Tribe Leader 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 out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.”
3 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.
4 These were the tribes and the names of their leaders: Tribe Leader Reuben Shammua son of Zaccur
5 Simeon Shaphat son of Hori
6 Judah Caleb son of Jephunneh
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