Numbers 13:25-33

Report of the Spies

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.

26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at ¹Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It ²flows with milk and honey, ³and this is its fruit.

28 ⁴However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

29 ⁵The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. ⁶And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan."

30 But ⁷Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."

31 ⁸Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are."

32 So ⁹they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and ¹⁰all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

33 And there we saw the ¹¹Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the ¹²Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves ¹³like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."

Numbers 13:25-33 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 20:1, 16; Numbers 32:8; Numbers 33:36; Deuteronomy 1:19; Joshua 14:6, 7
• 2. See Exodus 3:8
• 3. Deuteronomy 1:25
• 4. Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:1, 2
• 5. Numbers 14:43; Exodus 17:8
• 6. [Numbers 14:25]
• 7. [Numbers 14:6, 24]
• 8. Numbers 32:9; Deuteronomy 1:28; Joshua 14:8
• 9. Numbers 14:36, 37
• 10. [Amos 2:9]
• 11. Genesis 6:4
• 12. Genesis 6:4
• 13. Isaiah 40:22