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13 And the people marched from Haseroth, and pitched their tents in the desert of Pharan.

And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I will give to the children of Israel, one of every tribe, of the rulers.

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

Of the tribe of Ruben, Sammua the son of Zechur.

Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the son of Hurl.

Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.

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

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

10 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.

11 Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the son of Sodi.

12 Of the tribe of Joseph, of the sceptre of Manasses, Gaddi the son of Susi.

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

14 Of the tribe of Aser, Sthur the son of Michael.

15 Of the tribe of Nephtali, Nahabi the son of Vapsi.

16 Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.

17 These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to view the land: and he called Osee the son of Nun, Josue.

18 And Moses sent them to view the land of Chanaan, and said to them: Go you up by the south side. And when you shall come to the mountains,

19 View the land, of what sort it is: and the people that are the inhabitants thereof, whether they be strong or weak: few in number or many:

20 The land itself, whether it be good or bad: what manner of cities, walled or without walls:

21 The ground, fat or barren, woody or without trees. Be of good courage, and bring us of the fruits of the land. Now it was the time when the first ripe grapes are fit to be eaten.

22 And when they were gone up, they viewed the land from the desert of Sin, unto Rohob as you enter into Emath.

23 And they went up at the south side, and came to Hebron, where were Achiman and Sisai and Tholmai the sons of Enac. For Hebron was built seven years before Tanis the city of Egypt.

24 And going forward as far as the torrent of the cluster of grapes, they cut off a branch with its cluster of grapes, which two men carried upon a lever. They took also of the pomegranates and of the figs of that place:

25 Which was called Nehelescol, that is to say, the torrent of the cluster of grapes, because from thence the children of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes.

26 And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty days, having gone round all the country,

27 And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits of the land:

28 And they related and said: We came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey as may be known by these fruits:

29 But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.

30 Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite and the Amorrhite in the mountains: but the Chanaanite abideth by the sea and near the streams of the Jordan.

31 In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people that rose against Moses, said: Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to conquer it.

32 But the others, that had been with him, said: No, we are not able to go up to this people, because they are stronger than we.

33 And they spoke ill of the land, which they had viewed, before the children of Israel, saying: The land which we have viewed, devoureth its inhabitants: the people, that we beheld, are of a tall stature.

34 There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind: in comparison of whom, we seemed like locusts.

Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore(A) the land of Canaan,(B) which I am giving to the Israelites.(C) From each ancestral tribe(D) send one of its leaders.”

So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.(E) These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(F)

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(G)

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

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

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

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

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

15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore(H) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun(I) the name Joshua.)(J)

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,(K) he said, “Go up through the Negev(L) and on into the hill country.(M) 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.(N)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)(O)

21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin(P) as far as Rehob,(Q) toward Lebo Hamath.(R) 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,(S) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,(T) the descendants of Anak,(U) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)(V) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a](W) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates(X) and figs.(Y) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days(Z) they returned from exploring the land.(AA)

Report on the Exploration

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh(AB) in the Desert of Paran.(AC) There they reported to them(AD) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.(AE) 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!(AF) Here is its fruit.(AG) 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.(AH) We even saw descendants of Anak(AI) there.(AJ) 29 The Amalekites(AK) live in the Negev; the Hittites,(AL) Jebusites(AM) and Amorites(AN) live in the hill country;(AO) and the Canaanites(AP) live near the sea and along the Jordan.(AQ)

30 Then Caleb(AR) 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.”(AS) 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report(AT) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours(AU) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.(AV) 33 We saw the Nephilim(AW) there (the descendants of Anak(AX) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers(AY) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.