The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 13 -

(Deuteronomy 1:19–25)

And the people set out from Hazeroth, and they pitched their tents in the desert of Paran.

And there, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“Send men, who may examine the land of Canaan, which I will give to the sons of Israel, one from the rulers of each tribe.”

Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending, from the desert of Paran, leading men, whose names are these:

from the tribe of Ruben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea the son of Nun;

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

from the tribe of Zebulon, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

from the tribe of Joseph, of the scepter of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;

from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

from the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.

These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to examine the land. And he called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua.

And so, Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan, and he said to them: “Ascend by the south side. And when you arrive at the mountains,

consider the land, as to what kind it may be, and the people, who are its inhabitants, whether they may be strong or weak, whether they may be few in number or many,

and the land itself, whether it is good or bad, what kind of cities, walled or without walls,

the soil, rich or barren, forested or without trees. Be strong, and bring us some of the fruits of the land.” Now it was the time when the first ripe grapes were ready to be eaten.

And when they had ascended, they explored the land from the desert of Sin, all the way to Rehob, as one enters into Hamath.

And they ascended by the south side. And they arrived at Hebron, where there were Ahiman and Shishai and Talmai, the sons of Anak. For Hebron was founded seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.

And continuing on as far as the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, they cut off a vine with its grapes, which two men carried on a board. Likewise, they took from the pomegranates and the figs of that place,

The Reports of the Spies

which was called Nehel Eshcol, that is, the Torrent of the Cluster of Grapes, because the sons of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes from there.

And those exploring the land returned after forty days, having circulated through the entire region.

And they went to Moses and Aaron, and to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel in the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And speaking to them, and to the entire multitude, they showed them the fruits of the land.

And they explained, saying: “We went into the land, to which you sent us, which, it is true, flows with milk and honey, as one can know by these fruits.

But it has very strong occupants, and the cities are great and also walled. We saw the race of Anak there.

Amalek lives in the south. The Hethite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the mountains. And truly, the Canaanite stays near the sea and around the streams of the Jordan.”

During these events, Caleb, to restrain the murmuring of the people who rose up against Moses, said, “Let us ascend and possess the land, for we will be able to obtain it.”

Yet truly, the others, who had been with him, were saying, “By no means are we able to ascend to this people, because they are stronger than we are.”

And before the sons of Israel they disparaged the land, which they had inspected, saying: “The land, which we viewed, devours its inhabitants. The people, upon whom we gazed, were of lofty stature.(a)

(b)

There, we saw some monsters among the sons of Anak, of the race of giants; by comparison with them, we seemed like locusts.”

Footnotes

(a)13:33 Notice the contradiction in their words. The land is so harsh that it devours its inhabitants, yet these same inhabitants are described as if they were powerful giants.(Conte)

(b)13:33 Spoke ill, etc:These men, who by their misrepresentations of the land of promise, discouraged the Israelites from attempting the conquest of it, were a figure of worldlings, who, by decrying or misrepresenting true devotion, discourage Christians from seeking in earnest and acquiring so great a good, and thereby securing to themselves a happy eternity.(Challoner)

(Deuteronomy 1:19–25)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince among them.”

Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD. All of them were men who were heads of the children of Israel.

These were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

Of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country.

See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many;

and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;

and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.

So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath.

They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs.

That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there.

The Reports of the Spies

They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land.

They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.

Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”

Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”

But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”

They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.

There we saw the Nephilim,(a) the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim.(b) We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

Footnotes

(a)13:33 or, giants

(b)13:33 or, giants