Numbers 32:9

9 and when they came to the valley of Cluster, when all the country was compassed, they turned into fear the heart of the sons of Israel, that they entered not into the coasts, which the Lord had given to them. (and they went as far as the Eshcol Valley, and then when all the land was surveyed, they came back, and turned the hearts of the Israelites to fear, so that they would not enter into the land, which the Lord had given them.)

Numbers 32:9 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 32:9

For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol
That is, when they went up the hill, for they were bid to go up into the mountain, and proceeded on into the country, until they came to the valley or brook, of Eshcol, so called from the cluster of grapes they there cut down, and brought along with them, ( Numbers 13:17 Numbers 13:23 Numbers 13:24 )

and saw the land;
searching it for the space of forty days:

they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel;
by telling them that there were giants in the land, and that the people in common were strong, and their cities walled, and that they were not able to go up against them and overcome them; and by this means they disheartened the people:

that they should not go, into the land which the Lord had given them;
and this Moses feared, and suggests would be the consequence of the request the two tribes now made.

Numbers 32:9 In-Context

7 Why mis-turn ye the thoughts of the sons of Israel, that they dare not pass (over) into the place, which the Lord shall give to them? (Why would ye want to discourage the Israelites, so that they dare not cross over to the place, which the Lord shall give them?)
8 Whether your fathers did not so, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to espy the land, (This is just what your fathers did, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to spy out the land,)
9 and when they came to the valley of Cluster, when all the country was compassed, they turned into fear the heart of the sons of Israel, that they entered not into the coasts, which the Lord had given to them. (and they went as far as the Eshcol Valley, and then when all the land was surveyed, they came back, and turned the hearts of the Israelites to fear, so that they would not enter into the land, which the Lord had given them.)
10 And the Lord therefore was wroth (And so the Lord was angry), and he swore, saying,
11 These men that went up from Egypt, from twenty years of age and above, shall not see the land which I promised under an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and [they] would not follow me, (These men who went up from Egypt, from twenty years of age and older, shall not see the land which I promised under an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they would not follow me,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.