Numbers 13

Chapter context

What is happening in Numbers 13?

pilgrimagerebellionjudgmentmercy

Numbers 13 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as departure, complaint, and rebellion in the wilderness. Numbers combines census lists, camp order, priestly concerns, wilderness rebellion, judgment, mercy, and renewed preparation for entering the promised land. Read this chapter with the wider themes of pilgrimage, rebellion, and judgment in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ² Send 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. ³ And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. ⁴ And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. ⁵ Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. ⁶ Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ⁷ Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. ⁸ Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. ⁹ Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. ¹⁰ Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. ¹¹ Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. ¹² Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. ¹³ Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. ¹⁴ Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. ¹⁵ Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. ¹⁶ These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. ¹⁷ And 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: ¹⁸ And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; ¹⁹ And 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; ²⁰ And 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. ²¹ So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. ²² And 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.) ²³ And 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. ²⁴ The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. ²⁵ And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. ²⁶ And 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. ²⁷ And 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. ²⁸ Nevertheless 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. ²⁹ The 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. ³⁰ And 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. ³¹ 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. ³² And 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. ³³ 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.

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Glossary

Canaan Place v. 2, 17: Biblical region. Modern identification: Canaan.
Paran Place v. 3, 26: Abounding in foliage, or abounding in caverns, ( Gen. 21:21 ), a desert tract forming the north-eastern division of the peninsula of Sinai, lying between the ‘Arabah on the east and the wilderness of Shur on the west. Modern identification: Paran.
Reuben Person v. 4: Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 29:32 ). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22 , brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4).
Shammua Tribe v. 4: Heard. (1. ) One of the spies sent out by Moses to search the land ( Num. 13:4 ). He represented the tribe of Reuben. (2. ) One of David’s sons ( 1 Chr. 14:4 ; 3:5 , “Shimea;” 2 Sam. 5:14 ).
Zaccur Person v. 4: Mindful. (1. ) Father of Shammua, who was one of the spies sent out by Moses ( Num. 13:4 ). (2. ) A Merarite Levite ( 1 Chr. 24:27 ).
Shaphat Tribe v. 5: Judge. (1. ) One of the spies. He represented the tribe of Simeon ( Num. 13:5 ). (2. ) The father of Elisha ( 1 Kings 19:16-19 ). (3. ) One of David’s chief herdsmen ( 1 Chr. 27:29 ).
Simeon Person v. 5: Hearing. (1. ) The second son of Jacob by Leah ( Gen. 29:33 ). He was associated with Levi in the terrible act of vengeance against Hamor and the Shechemites (34:25, 26).
Caleb Tribe v. 6, 30: A dog. (1. ) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. He is also called Chelubai ( 1 Chr. 2:9 ). His descendants are enumerated (18-20, 42-49). (2. ) A “son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah” ( 1 Chr. 2:50 ).
Jephunneh Person v. 6: Nimble, or a beholder. (1. ) The father of Caleb, who was Joshua’s companion in exploring Canaan ( Num. 13:6 ), a Kenezite ( Josh. 14:14 ). (2. ) One of the descendants of Asher ( 1 Chr. 7:38 ).
Igal Tribe v. 7: Avengers. (1. ) Num. 13:7 , one of the spies of the tribe of Issachar. (2. ) Son of Nathan of Zobah, and one of David’s warriors ( 2 Sam. 23:36 ). (3. ) 1 Chr. 3:22 .
Nun Person v. 8, 16: Beyond the fact that he was the father of Joshua nothing more is known of him ( Ex. 33:11 ).
Benjamin Person v. 9: Son of my right hand. (1. ) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 35:18 ). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.
Palti Tribe v. 9: Deliverance from the Lord, one of the spies representing the tribe of Benjamin ( Num. 13:9 ).
Gaddiel Tribe v. 10: Fortune (i. e., sent) of God, the representative of the tribe of Zebulum among the twelve spies ( Num. 13:10 ).
Zebulun Person v. 10: Dwelling, the sixth and youngest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 30:20 ). Little is known of his personal history. He had three sons (46:14).
Gaddi Tribe v. 11: Fortunate, the representative of the tribe of Manasseh among the twelve “spies” sent by Moses to spy the land ( Num. 13:11 ).
Susi Person v. 11: The father of Gaddi, who was one of the twelve spies ( Num. 13:11 ).
Ammiel Person v. 12: People of God. (1. ) One of the twelve spies sent by Moses to search the land of Canaan ( Num. 13:12 ). He was one of the ten who perished by the plague for their unfavourable report ( Num. 14:37 ).
Sethur Tribe v. 13: Hidden, one of the spies sent to search the Promised Land. He was of the tribe of Asher ( Num. 13:13 ).
Naphtali Person v. 14: My wrestling, the fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid ( Gen. 30:8 ). When Jacob went down into Egypt, Naphtali had four sons ( Gen. 46:24 ). Little is known of him as an individual.
Gad Person v. 15: Fortune; luck. (1. ) Jacob’s seventh son, by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, and the brother of Asher ( Gen. 30:11-13 ; 46:16 , 18). In the Authorized Version of 30:11 the words, “A troop cometh: and she called,” etc.
Negeb Place v. 17, 22, 29: Biblical region. Modern identification: Tel Beer Sheva.
Lebo-hamath Place v. 21: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Labweh.
Rehob Place v. 21: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Beqaa Valley.
Zin Place v. 21: Biblical region. Modern identification: Zin Desert.
Ahiman Person v. 22: Brother of a gift = liberal. (1. ) One of the three giant Anakim brothers whom Caleb and the spies saw in Mount Hebron ( Num. 13:22 ) when they went in to explore the land. They were afterwards driven out and slain.
Anak Person v. 22, 28, 33: Long-necked, the son of Arba, father of the Anakim ( Josh. 15:13 ; 21:11 , Heb. Anok ).
Egypt Place v. 22: The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. Modern identification: Ain Shams.
Hebron Place v. 22: A community; alliance. (1. ) A city in the south end of the valley of Eshcol, about midway between Jerusalem and Beersheba, from which it is distant about 20 miles in a straight line. Modern identification: Tel Rumeida.
Talmai Person v. 22: Abounding in furrows. (1. ) One of the Anakim of Hebron, who were slain by the men of Judah under Caleb ( Num. 13:22 ; Josh. 15:14 ; Judg. 1:10 ).
Zoan Place v. 22: (Old Egypt. Sant= “stronghold,” the modern San). A city on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, called by the Greeks Tanis. It was built seven years after Hebron in Palestine ( Num. 13:22 ).
Valley of Eshcol Place v. 23-24: Bunch; brave. (1. ) A young Amoritish chief who joined Abraham in the recovery of Lot from the hands of Chedorlaomer ( Gen. 14:13 , 24). (2. ) A valley in which the spies obtained a fine cluster of grapes. Modern identification: Tel Rumeida.
Kadesh-barnea Place v. 26: Holy, or Kadesh-Barnea, sacred desert of wandering, a place on the south-eastern border of Palestine, about 165 miles from Horeb. It lay in the “wilderness” or “desert of Zin”. Modern identification: Ain el Qudeirat.
Amalek Place v. 29: Biblical region. Modern identification: Ain el Qudeirat.
Amorites People v. 29: Highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan ( Gen. 14:7 ), called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions.
Great Sea Place v. 29: (Heb. yam), signifies (1) “the gathering together of the waters,” the ocean ( Gen. 1:10 ); (2) a river, as the Nile ( Isa. 19:5 ), the Euphrates ( Isa. 21:1 ; Jer. 51:36 ); (3) the Red Sea. Modern identification: Mediterranean Sea.
Jordan Place v. 29: Biblical river. Modern identification: Jordan River.