Numbers 13:26-33

Report on the Exploration

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.

28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”

32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.

33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Numbers 13:26-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 13

In this chapter an order is given by the Lord, to send twelve men into the land of Canaan, to search and spy it, and which was accordingly executed, Nu 13:1-3; and the names of the twelve persons are given, Nu 13:4-16; the instructions they received from Moses, what part of the land they should enter into first, and what observations they should make on it, Nu 13:17-20; which they attended to, and on their return brought some of the fruit of the land with them, Nu 13:21-26; and gave an account of it, that it was a very fruitful land, but the inhabitants mighty, and their cities walled, Nu 13:27-29; which threw the people into confusion, but that they were stilled by Caleb, one of the spies, who encouraged them, Nu 13:30; but all the rest, excepting Joshua, brought an ill report of it, as not to be subdued and conquered by them, Nu 13:31-33.

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 14:7
• 2. S Genesis 14:6
• 3. Numbers 32:8
• 4. Deuteronomy 1:25
• 5. S Exodus 3:8
• 6. Deuteronomy 1:25; Jeremiah 2:7
• 7. Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:1,2
• 8. S ver 22
• 9. Joshua 14:12
• 10. S Genesis 14:7
• 11. S Genesis 10:15; Deuteronomy 7:1; Deuteronomy 20:17; 1 Kings 9:20; 1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6
• 12. S Exodus 3:8
• 13. S Genesis 10:16
• 14. ver 17
• 15. Genesis 10:18
• 16. S Genesis 13:10; Numbers 22:1; Numbers 32:5; Deuteronomy 1:1; Joshua 1:2; Judges 3:28; Psalms 42:6
• 17. S ver 6
• 18. Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:1; Joshua 14:8
• 19. Numbers 14:36,37
• 20. Ezekiel 36:13,14
• 21. Deuteronomy 1:28; Amos 2:9
• 22. Genesis 6:4
• 23. ver 28; Deuteronomy 1:28; Joshua 11:22; Joshua 14:12
• 24. Ecclesiastes 12:5; Isaiah 40:22