The big picture
The camp has reached Paran, a desert region near the land God has promised Israel, his people. Moses, their leader, receives orders to send tribal representatives into Canaan, that promised land. Their task is to inspect its people, towns and crops. They return with fruit and a report of strong defences. Caleb, one of the scouts, urges action, while others turn what they saw into a reason to refuse.
In this chapter
- One Leader Goes from Each Tribe Numbers 13:1-16
One leader from every tribe must go, God tells Moses, to inspect Canaan, the land he is giving Israel.
- The Scouts Inspect Land and Towns Numbers 13:17-25
The scouting instructions cover the people, settlements, soil and trees.
- Good Fruit Comes with Strong Defences Numbers 13:26-29
The scouts return to Moses, Aaron and the assembled people at Kadesh in the desert of Paran.
- Caleb Urges Action Amid Fear Numbers 13:30-33
Caleb quiets the people and urges them to go up at once and take the land.
Central truth
The scouts agree that the land is fruitful, but fear leads most of them to reject the possibility of entering it.
Scripture beside the summary
Numbers · King James Version · 33Numbers 13:1-16
One Leader Goes from Each Tribe
One leader from every tribe must go, God tells Moses, to inspect Canaan, the land he is giving Israel. Moses sends twelve men from the desert of Paran. Each man is named with his father and tribe, so the report will come from recognised representatives of the people. Caleb goes for Judah. Oshea represents Ephraim, and Moses calls him Jehoshua. The inspection begins under God's command and within his promise, before the scouts describe either the land's riches or its dangers.
In everyday life
A rowing club captain calls one member from each crew to inspect a proposed boathouse. She writes their names beside the crews they speak for. Each will check the building and report to those waiting at the old slipway. Israel's scouts examine a land God has promised, not a club's optional purchase.
Notice
Numbers 13:2 God calls Canaan the land he is giving Israel before the inspection begins. The scouts are sent to examine a promised gift, not decide whether God has offered it.
Numbers 13:1-16
King James Version1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
3And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
4And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
5Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
6Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
7Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
9Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
10Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
11Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
12Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
14Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
15Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
Numbers 13:17-25
The Scouts Inspect Land and Towns
The scouting instructions cover the people, settlements, soil and trees. The scouts must find whether the inhabitants are strong and whether towns have walls. They also bring back fruit because grapes are beginning to ripen. The men travel through the land and visit Hebron, a town where descendants of Anak live. At Eshcol, a stream area, they cut a cluster of grapes carried by two men on a pole. They also collect figs and pomegranates before returning after forty days.
In everyday life
A vineyard buyer walks the rows with a soil specialist and checks nearby storage buildings. They take fruit samples as well as notes about access and structures. The inspection concerns both what grows there and what working there will involve. Moses' scouts must assess a land already inhabited by peoples Israel expects to confront.
Notice
Numbers 13:20 Fruit must accompany the spoken report. What the scouts carry back will give the waiting people physical evidence of the land's ability to feed them.
Numbers 13:17-25
King James Version17And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:
18And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;
19And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;
20And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
21So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
22And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
24The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.
25And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
Numbers 13:26-29
Good Fruit Comes with Strong Defences
The scouts return to Moses, Aaron and the assembled people at Kadesh in the desert of Paran. They show the fruit and confirm that the land is rich in food. They then describe strong inhabitants and large walled towns, including the descendants of Anak. They identify peoples living in the south, mountains and coastal areas. Their report holds abundance and danger together. The fruit proves the land's richness, while the towns and people make clear that entering it will involve serious opposition.
In everyday life
A produce driver lays fresh produce on a buyer's counter, then points out the difficult mountain road on her map. The crop is good, but reaching it brings real obstacles. Both facts belong in an honest report. The scouts face armed inhabitants in a promised land, not the hazards of a delivery route.
Notice
Numbers 13:27 The scouts confirm the land's richness and show its fruit. Their later refusal is not based on finding the promised land barren or unable to support life.
Numbers 13:26-29
King James Version26And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
27And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
Numbers 13:30-33
Caleb Urges Action Amid Fear
Caleb quiets the people and urges them to go up at once and take the land. The other men insist that the inhabitants are stronger and cannot be overcome. Their report grows darker: they describe a land that consumes its people and men of enormous size. They see themselves as tiny grasshoppers beside Anak's descendants. They claim the people there see them that way as well. The disagreement is no longer about fruit or walls, but about whether the people can enter at all.
In everyday life
A ski trainee points to the descent marked by her instructor and asks the group to begin. Others stare at the steep slope and insist they cannot do it. They speak as though fear has already proved failure. The training slope has managed risks; Israel faces armed foes while trusting God's promise.
Notice
Numbers 13:33 The scouts say they looked like grasshoppers both to themselves and to the inhabitants. Their report mixes their own fear with a claim about what others thought.
Numbers 13:30-33
King James Version30And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Numbers 13:1 begins with “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,”
Where the chapter turns
Numbers 13:31 forms a natural hinge: “But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”
The final note
Numbers 13:33 leaves the reader with “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words land, tribe, children, Moses, dwell, Israel help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- unto
- to
- thou
- you
- spake
- spoke
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
