Numbers 13:28

28 (13-29) But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.

Numbers 13:28 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 13:28

Nevertheless the people [be] strong that dwell in the land,
&c.] Though so plentiful and fruitful and desirable to enjoy, yet this objection lay against all hopes and even attempts to possess it, as they thought; the strength of the people, its present inhabitants, both in body and mind, being persons of a large, and some of a prodigious stature, and to all appearance men of valour and courage;

and the cities [are] walled and very great;
and so inaccessible, and able to hold out a long siege, and repel what force may be brought against them; so that to attack them would be to little purpose:

and moreover we saw the children of Anak there:
whom they had heard of before, and so had the congregation of Israel, and many terrible and frightful stories were told of them, and these they now saw with their eyes, and very formidable they appeared to them; this seems to prove that others beside Caleb and Joshua were at Hebron, where the sons of Anak lived, ( Numbers 13:22 ) ; and so they might, and yet not be together with them.

Numbers 13:28 In-Context

26 (13-27) And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits of the land:

27 (13-28) And they related and said: We came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey as may be known by these fruits:

28 (13-29) But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.

29 (13-30) Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite and the Amorrhite in the mountains: but the Chanaanite abideth by the sea and near the streams of the Jordan.

30 (13-31) In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people that rose against Moses, said: Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to conquer it.