Deuteronomy 1:22

22 Then all of you came to me and said, "Let's send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and tell us about the way we should go and the cities we will find."

Deuteronomy 1:22 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 1:22

And ye came near unto me everyone of you
Not every individual of them, but the heads of their tribes, that represented them; this is not to be understood of the present generation personally, but of their fathers, who all died in the wilderness, save a very few of them; but they being the same people and nation, it is so expressed:

and said, we will send men before us;
that is, they thought it was proper and prudent so to do, and came to Moses to consult him about it; for we are not to suppose that they had determined upon it, whether he approved of it or not:

and they shall search us out the land:
that they might know what sort of land it was, whether good or bad, fruitful or not, and whether woody or not: see ( Numbers 13:19 Numbers 13:20 )

and bring us word again by what way we must go up;
or, "concerning the way ^F13 in which we must go"; which is the best way of entering it, most easy and accessible, where the passes are most open and least dangerous:

and into what cities we shall come;
which it would be the most proper to attack and subdue first.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (Krdh ta) , "de via", Noldius, p. 117. No. 594. so the Arabic version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Deuteronomy 1:22 In-Context

20 I said to you, "You have now come to the mountain country of the Amorites, to the land the Lord our God will give us.

21 Look, here it is! Go up and take it. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this, so don't be afraid and don't worry."

22 Then all of you came to me and said, "Let's send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and tell us about the way we should go and the cities we will find."

23 I thought that was a good idea, so I chose twelve of your men, one for each tribe.

24 They left and went up to the mountains, and when they came to the Valley of Eshcol they explored it.