Numbers 13:30

30 Then Caleb[a] quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, "We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!"

Numbers 13:30 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 13:30

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses
In his presence, they standing before him; or "unto Moses" F14, as they were coming to him with open mouth against him; for upon the above report of the spies they began to murmur and mutiny, and to speak against Moses for bringing them out of Egypt into a wilderness, feeding them with vain hopes of a country which they were never likely to enjoy; and in their wrath they might be making up to him, threatening to pull him to pieces, but were restrained by Caleb, who signified he had something to say to them, to which they attended, he being one of the spies, and for their principal tribe, the tribe of Judah, that went foremost; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``Caleb silenced the people, and they attended to Moses;''

or hearkened to him, to what he said, which though not here related, is in ( Deuteronomy 1:29 Deuteronomy 1:30 ) ; which yet they did not give credit to, though they heard what he had to say:

and said, let us go up at once and possess it;
without any delay, there is nothing more to be done than to enter and take possession; this he said, trusting to the promise of God, who is faithful, and to his power who is able to perform:

for we are well able to overcome it;
especially having God on their side, who had promised to bring them into it, and put them in the possession of it; and indeed, humanly speaking, they seemed quite sufficient for such an undertaking, being upwards of six hundred thousand men fit for war, ( Numbers 1:46 ) , marshalled under their proper standards, with captains over each tribe, and having such brave, wise, and courageous commanders and generals, Moses and Joshua, who had given signal instances of their prudence and bravery already. What is it such an army, under proper directions, might not undertake? One would think, in all human probability, they were able to conquer a much greater country than the land of Canaan.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (hvm la) "ad Moseh", Montanus; "venientem ad Mosem", Junius & Tremellius, Drusius.

Numbers 13:30 In-Context

28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan."
30 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, "We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!"
31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, "We can't go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!"
32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: "The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Nm 14:6,24,30,38; 26:65
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.