Numbers 13

1 And afterwards the people set forth from Aseroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Pharan.

2 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

3 Send for thee men, and let them spy the land of the Chananites, which I give to the sons of Israel for a possession; one man for a tribe, thou shalt send them away according to their families, every one of them a prince.

4 And Moses sent them out of the wilderness of Pharan by the word of the Lord; all these the princes of the sons of Israel.

5 And these their names: of the tribe of Ruben, Samuel the son of Zachur.

6 Of the tribe of Symeon, Saphat the son of Suri.

7 Of the tribe of Judah, Chaleb the son of Jephonne.

8 Of the tribe of Issachar, Ilaal the son of Joseph.

9 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Ause the son of Naue.

10 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.

11 Of the tribe of Zabulon, Gudiel the son of Sudi.

12 Of the tribe of Joseph of the sons of Manasse, Gaddi the son of Susi.

13 Of the tribe of Dan, Amiel the son of Gamali.

14 Of the tribe of Aser, Sathur the son of Michael.

15 Of the tribe of Nephthali, Nabi the son of Sabi.

16 Of the tribe of Gad, Gudiel the son of Macchi.

17 These the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses called Ause the son of Naue, Joshua.

18 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Chanaan, and said to them, Go up by this wilderness; and ye shall go up to the mountain,

19 and ye shall see the land, what it is, and the people that dwells on it, whether it is strong or weak, or they are few or many.

20 And what the land is on which they dwell, it is good or bad; and what the cities are wherein these dwell, whether they dwell in walled or unwalled.

21 And what the land is, whether rich or poor; whether there are trees in it or no: and ye shall persevere and take of the fruits of the land: and the days the days of spring, the forerunners of the grape.

22 And they went up and surveyed the land from the wilderness of Sin to Rhoob, as men go in to Aemath.

23 And they went up by the wilderness, and departed as far as Chebron; and there Achiman, and Sessi, and Thelami, the progeny of Enach. Now Chebron was built seven years before Tanin of Egypt.

24 And they came to the valley of the cluster and surveyed it; and they cut down thence a bough and one cluster of grapes upon it, and bore it on staves, and of the pomegranates and the figs.

25 And they called that place, The valley of the cluster, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

26 And they returned from thence, having surveyed the land, after forty days.

27 And they proceeded and came to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Pharan Cades; and they brought word to them and to all the congregation, and they shewed the fruit of the land:

28 and they reported to him, and said, We came into the land into which thou sentest us, a land flowing with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

29 Only the nation that dwells upon it is bold, and they have very great and strong walled towns, and we saw there the children of Enach.

30 And Amalec dwells in the land toward the south: and the Chettite and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwells in the hill country: and the Chananite dwells by the sea, and by the river Jordan.

31 And Chaleb stayed the people from speaking before Moses, and said to him, Nay, but we will go up by all means, and will inherit it, for we shall surely prevail against them.

32 But the men that went up together with him said, We will not go up, for we shall not by any means be able to go up against the nation, for it is much stronger than we.

33 And they brought a horror of that land which they surveyed upon the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed by to survey it, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of extraordinary stature.

34 And there we saw the giants; and we were before them as locusts, yea even so were we before them.

Numbers 13 Commentary

Chapter 13

Twelve men sent to search the land of Canaan, Their instructions. (1-20) Their proceedings. (21-25) Their account of the land. (26-33)

Verses 1-20 A memorable and melancholy history is related in this and the following chapter, of the turning back of Israel from the borders of Canaan, and the sentencing them to wander and perish in the wilderness, for their unbelief and murmuring. It appears, ( Deuteronomy 1:22 ) , that the motion to search out the land came from the people. They had a better opinion of their own policy than of God's wisdom. Thus we ruin ourselves by believing the reports and representations of sense rather than Divine revelation. We walk by sight not by faith. Moses gave the spies this charge, Be of good courage. It was not only a great undertaking they were put upon, which required good management and resolution; but a great trust was reposed in them, which required that they should be faithful. Courage in such circumstances can only spring from strong faith, which Caleb and Joshua alone possessed.

Verses 21-25 The searchers of the land brought a bunch of grapes with them, and other fruits, as proofs of the goodness of the country; which was to Israel both the earnest and the specimen of all the fruits of Canaan. Such are the present comforts we have in communion with God, foretastes of the fulness of joy we expect in the heavenly Canaan. We may see by them what heaven is.

Verses 26-33 We may wonder that the people of Israel staid forty days for the return of their spies, when they were ready to enter Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from the Divine power, and the miracles that had hitherto attended them. But they distrusted God's power and promise. How much we stand in our own light by our unbelief! At length the messengers returned; but the greater part discouraged the people from going forward to Canaan. Justly are the Israelites left to this temptation, for putting confidence in the judgment of men, when they had the word of God to trust in. Though they had found the land as good as God had said, yet they would not believe it to be as sure as he had said, but despaired of having it, though Eternal Truth had engaged it to them. This was the representation of the evil spies. Caleb, however, encouraged them to go forward, though seconded by Joshua only. He does not say, Let us go up and conquer it; but, Let us go and possess it. Difficulties that are in the way of salvation, dwindle and vanish before a lively, active faith in the power and promise of God. All things are possible, if they are promised, to him that believes; but carnal sense and carnal professors are not to be trusted. Unbelief overlooks the promises and power of God, magnifies every danger and difficulty, and fills the heart with discouragement. May the Lord help us to believe! we shall then find all things possible.

Footnotes

• [a]. neglected
• [b]. to.
• [c]. do not.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 13

In this chapter an order is given by the Lord, to send twelve men into the land of Canaan, to search and spy it, and which was accordingly executed, Nu 13:1-3; and the names of the twelve persons are given, Nu 13:4-16; the instructions they received from Moses, what part of the land they should enter into first, and what observations they should make on it, Nu 13:17-20; which they attended to, and on their return brought some of the fruit of the land with them, Nu 13:21-26; and gave an account of it, that it was a very fruitful land, but the inhabitants mighty, and their cities walled, Nu 13:27-29; which threw the people into confusion, but that they were stilled by Caleb, one of the spies, who encouraged them, Nu 13:30; but all the rest, excepting Joshua, brought an ill report of it, as not to be subdued and conquered by them, Nu 13:31-33.