Numbers 13

Scouting Out Canaan

1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 "Send men to scout out the land of Canaan  * 13:2 Dt 1:22–26 I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man who is a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes." 3 Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran at the Lord’s command. All the men were leaders in Israel.  * 13:3 Ex 18:25–26; Dt 1:13–184 These were their names:

Shammua son of Zaccur from the tribe of Reuben;

5 Shaphat son of Hori from the tribe of Simeon;

6 Caleb  * 13:6 Nm 14:6,24,30,38; 26:65 son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;

7 Igal son of Joseph from the tribe of Issachar;

8 Hoshea son of Nun  * 13:8 Ex 33:11; Nm 14:30,38; 27:18–23 from the tribe of Ephraim;

9 Palti son of Raphu from the tribe of Benjamin;

10 Gaddiel son of Sodi from the tribe of Zebulun;

11 Gaddi son of Susi from the tribe of Manasseh (from the tribe of Joseph);

12 Ammiel son of Gemalli from the tribe of Dan;

13 Sethur son of Michael from the tribe of Asher;

14 Nahbi son of Vophsi from the tribe of Naphtali;

15 Geuel son of Machi from the tribe of Gad.

16 These were the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.

17 When Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, he told them, "Go up this way to the Negev, then go up into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like, and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 Is the land they live in good  * 13:19 Nm 14:7; Dt 1:25 or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications?  * 13:19 Dt 1:28; 3:5; 9:1; Jos 14:1220 Is the land fertile or unproductive?  * 13:20 Neh 9:25,35; Is 30:23; Ezk 34:14,20 Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous. Bring back some fruit from the land." It was the season for the first ripe grapes.  * 13:20 Nm 13:23

21 So they went up and scouted out the land from the Wilderness of Zin  * 13:21 Southern border of the promised land as far as Rehob near the entrance to Hamath.  * 13:21 Or near Lebo-hamath22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak,  * 13:22 Nm 13:28,33; Dt 1:28; 2:10–11,21 were living. Hebron was built seven years before Zoan  * 13:22 Ps 78:12; Is 19:11; 30:4; Ezk 30:14 in Egypt. 23 When they came to Eshcol  * 13:23 Nm 32:9; Dt 1:24 Valley, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which was carried on a pole by two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.  * 13:23 Nm 20:5; Dt 8:824 That place was called Eshcol  * 13:24 = Cluster Valley because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there. 25 At the end of forty days  * 13:25 Nm 14:33–34; 32:13; Ps 95:10 they returned from scouting out the land.

Report about Canaan

26 The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land.  * 13:26 Nm 32:9; Dt 1:24–2527 They reported to Moses, "We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey,  * 13:27 Ex 3:8; Lv 20:24; Nm 14:8; 16:13–14 and here is some of its fruit. 28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified.  * 13:28 Dt 1:28; 3:5; 9:1; Jos 14:12 We also saw the descendants of Anak  * 13:28 Nm 13:22,33; Dt 1:28; 2:10–11,21 there. 29 The Amalekites  * 13:29 Ex 17:8–16; Nm 14:25,43,45; Dt 25:17–19 are living in the land of the Negev; the Hethites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan."

30 Then Caleb  * 13:30 Nm 14:6,24,30,38; 26:65 quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, "Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it! "

31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, "We can’t attack the people because they are stronger than we are! " 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: "The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim  * 13:33 Gn 6:4 there — the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim!  * 13:33 Dt 2:10–11,20–21 To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them."