1Y JEHOVÁ habló a Moisés, diciendo: 2Envíate hombres que reconozcan la tierra de Canaán que yo doy a los hijos de Israel; de cada tribu de sus padres enviaréis un varón, cada uno príncipe entre ellos. 3Y Moisés los envió desde el desierto de Farán conforme a la palabra de Jehová: y todos aquellos varones eran príncipes de los hijos de Israel. 4Los nombres de los cuales son estos: De la tribu de Rubén, Sammua hijo de Zecur. 5De la tribu de Simeón, Safar hijo de Huri. 6De la tribu de Judá, Caleb hijo de Jefone. 7De la tribu de Isacar, Igal hijo de José. 8De la tribu de Efraim, Oséas hijo de Nun. 9De la tribu de Benjamín, Palti hijo de Rafín. 10De la tribu de Zabulón, Geddiel hijo de Sodi. 11De la tribu de José, de la tribu de Manasés, Gaddi hijo de Susi. 12De la tribu de Dan, Ammiel hijo de Gemalli. 13De la tribu de Aser, Setur hijo de Micael. 14De la tribu de Neftalí, Nahabi hijo de Vapsi. 15De la tribu de Gad, Guel hijo de Maqui. 16Estos son los nombres de los varones, que Moisés envió a reconocer la tierra; y a Oséas hijo de Nun, Moisés le puso nombre Josué. 17Y enviólos Moisés a reconocer la tierra de Canaán, diciéndoles: Subíd por aquí, por el mediodía, y subíd al monte. 18Y considerád la tierra, que tal es: y el pueblo que la habita, si es fuerte, o flaco; si es poco, o mucho: 19Que tal es la tierra habitada, si es buena, o mala; y que tales son las ciudades habitadas; si son de tiendas, o de fortalezas: 20Ítem, cual sea la tierra, si es gruesa, o magra; si hay en ella árboles, o no. Y esforzáos, y cogéd del fruto de la tierra. Y el tiempo era el tiempo de las primeras uvas. 21Y ellos subieron, y reconocieron la tierra desde el desierto de Sin, hasta Rohob entrando en Emat. 22Y subieron por el mediodía, y vinieron hasta Hebron: y allí estaba Aquimán, y Sisai, y Tolmai, hijos de Enac. Y Hebrón fué edificada siete años ántes de Soán la de Egipto. 23Y llegaron hasta el arroyo de Escol, y de allí cortaron un sarmiento con un racimo de uvas, el cual trajeron dos en una barra; y de las granadas, y de los higos. 24Y llamó a aquel lugar, Nahalescol por el racimo, que cortaron de allí los hijos de Israel. 25Y volvieron de reconocer la tierra al cabo de cuarenta dias. 26Y anduvieron, y vinieron a Moisés y a Aarón, y a toda la congregación de los hijos de Israel en el desierto de Farán, en Cades; y diéronles la respuesta, y a toda la congregación, y mostráronles el fruto de la tierra. 27Y contáronle, y dijeron: Nosotros llegamos a la tierra a la cual nos enviaste; la cual ciertamente corre leche y miel, y este es el fruto de ella: 28Mas el pueblo que habita aquella tierra, es fuerte, y las ciudades muy grandes y fuertes: y también vimos allí los hijos de Enac. 29Amalec habita la tierra del mediodía, y el Jetteo, y el Jebuseo, y el Amorreo habitan en el monte: y el Cananeo habita junto a la mar, y a la ribera del Jordán. 30Entónces Caleb hizo callar el pueblo delante de Moisés, y dijo: Subamos subiendo, y poseámosla; que más podremos que ella. 31Mas los varones que subieron con él, dijeron: No podremos subir contra aquel pueblo; porque es más fuerte que nosotros: 32Y infamaron la tierra, que habían reconocido, con los hijos de Israel, diciendo: La tierra por donde pasamos para reconocerla, es tierra que traga a sus moradores; y todo el pueblo, que vimos en medio de ella, son hombres de grande estatura. 33También vimos allí gigantes, hijos de Enac, de los gigantes: y éramos nosotros, a nuestro parecer, como langostas: y así les parecíamos también a ellos.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE NAMES OF THE MEN WHO WERE SENT TO SEARCH THE LAND. (Num. 13:1-33)
The Lord spake unto Moses, Send thou men, that they may search the land, of Canaan--Compare
Deut 1:22, whence it appears, that while the proposal of delegating confidential men from each tribe to explore the land of Canaan emanated from the people who petitioned for it, the measure received the special sanction of God, who granted their request at once as a trial, and a punishment of their distrust.
3 those men were heads of the children of Israel--Not the princes who are named (
Num 10:14-
Num 10:16,
Num 10:18-
Num 10:20,
Num 10:22-
Num 10:27), but chiefs, leading men though not of the first rank.
16 Oshea--that is, "a desire of salvation." Jehoshua, by prefixing the name of God, means "divinely appointed," "head of salvation," "Saviour," the same as Jesus [
Matt 1:21, Margin].
17 Get you up this way . . . , and go up into the mountain--Mount Seir (
Deut 1:2), which lay directly from Sinai across the wilderness of Paran, in a northeasterly direction into the southern parts of the promised land.
20 Now the time was the time of the first grapes--This was in August, when the first clusters are gathered. The second are gathered in September, and the third in October. The spies' absence for a period of forty days determines the grapes they brought from Eshcol to have been of the second period.
21 So they . . . searched the land--They advanced from south to north, reconnoitering the whole land.
the wilderness of Zin--a long level plain, or deep valley of sand, the monotony of which is relieved by a few tamarisk and rethem trees. Under the names of El Ghor and El Araba, it forms the continuation of the Jordan valley, extending from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba.
Rehob--or, Beth-rehob, was a city and district situated, according to some, eastward of Sidon; and, according to others, it is the same as El Hule, an extensive and fertile champaign country, at the foot of Anti-libanus, a few leagues below Paneas.
as men come to Hamath--or, "the entering in of Hamath" (
2Kgs 14:25), now the valley of Balbeck, a mountain pass or opening in the northern frontier, which formed the extreme limit in that direction of the inheritance of Israel. From the mention of these places, the route of the scouts appears to have been along the course of the Jordan in their advance; and their return was by the western border through the territories of the Sidonians and Philistines.
22 unto Hebron--situated in the heart of the mountains of Judah, in the southern extremity of Palestine. The town or "cities of Hebron," as it is expressed in the Hebrew, consists of a number of sheikdoms distinct from each other, standing at the foot of one of those hills that form a bowl round and enclose it. "The children of Anak" mentioned in this verse seem to have been also chiefs of townships; and this coincidence of polity, existing in ages so distant from each other, is remarkable [VERE MONRO]. Hebron (Kirjath Arba,
Gen 23:2) was one of the oldest cities in the world.
Zoan--(the Tanis of the Greeks) was situated on one of the eastern branches of the Nile, near the lake Menzala, and was the early royal residence of the Pharaohs. It boasted a higher antiquity than any other city in Egypt. Its name, which signifies flat and level, is descriptive of its situation in the low grounds of the Delta.
23 they came unto the brook of Eshcol--that is, "the torrent of the cluster." Its location was a little to the southwest of Hebron. The valley and its sloping hills are still covered with vineyards, the character of whose fruit corresponds to its ancient celebrity.
and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes--The grapes reared in this locality are still as magnificent as formerly--they are said by one to be equal in size to prunes, and compared by another to a man's thumb. One cluster sometimes weighs ten or twelve pounds. The mode of carrying the cluster cut down by the spies, though not necessary from its weight, was evidently adopted to preserve it entire as a specimen of the productions of the promised land; and the impression made by the sight of it would be all the greater because the Israelites were familiar only with the scanty vines and small grapes of Egypt.
26 they came . . . to Kadesh--an important encampment of the Israelites. But its exact situation is not definitely known, nor is it determined whether it is the same or a different place from Kadesh-barnea. It is supposed to be identical with Ain-el-Weibeh, a famous spring on the eastern side of the desert [ROBINSON], or also with Petra [STANLEY].
27 they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey--The report was given publicly in the audience of the people, and it was artfully arranged to begin their narrative with commendations of the natural fertility of the country in order that their subsequent slanders might the more readily receive credit.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south--Their territory lay between the Dead and the Red Seas, skirting the borders of Canaan.
Hittites . . . dwell in the mountains--Their settlements were in the southern and mountainous part of Palestine (
Gen 23:7).
the Canaanites dwell by the sea--The remnant of the original inhabitants, who had been dispossessed by the Philistines, were divided into two nomadic hordes--one settled eastward near the Jordan; the other westward, by the Mediterranean.
32 a land that eateth up the inhabitants--that is, an unhealthy climate and country. Jewish writers say that in the course of their travels they saw a great many funerals, vast numbers of the Canaanites being cut off at that time, in the providence of God, by a plague or the hornet (
Josh 24:12).
men of a great stature--This was evidently a false and exaggerated report, representing, from timidity or malicious artifice, what was true of a few as descriptive of the people generally.
33 there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak--The name is derived from the son of Arba, a great man among the Arabians (
Josh 15:14), who probably obtained his appellation from wearing a splendid collar or chain round his neck, as the word imports. The epithet "giant" evidently refers here to stature. (See on
Gen 6:4). And it is probable the Anakims were a distinguished family, or perhaps a select body of warriors, chosen for their extraordinary size.
we were in our own sight as grasshoppers--a strong Orientalism, by which the treacherous spies gave an exaggerated report of the physical strength of the people of Canaan.