Numbers 13
Wycliffe Bible
13 And there the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
2 Send thou men, that shall behold the land of Canaan, which I shall give to the sons of Israel; of each lineage send thou one man of the princes. (Send thou some men, to look over the land of Canaan, which I shall give to the Israelites; send thou one of the leaders from each tribe.)
3 Moses did that that the Lord commanded, and sent from the desert of Paran (the) princes, (the) men of which these be the names. (Moses did what the Lord commanded, and sent from the wilderness of Paran twelve of their leaders, of which these be their names.)
4 Of the lineage of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.
5 Of the lineage of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.
6 Of the lineage of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.
7 Of the lineage of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.
8 Of the lineage of Ephraim, Oshea, the son of Nun. (Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, or Joshua, the son of Nun.)
9 Of the lineage of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.
10 Of the lineage of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.
11 Of the lineage of Joseph, of the generation of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi. (Of the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.)
12 Of the lineage of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.
13 Of the lineage of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael.
14 Of the lineage of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.
15 Of the lineage of Gad, Geuel, the son of Machi.
16 These be the names of [the] men, which Moses sent to behold the land of Canaan; and Moses called Oshea, the son of Nun, Joshua. (These be the names of the men, whom Moses sent to look over the land of Canaan; and Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.)
17 Therefore Moses sent them to behold the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go ye up by the south coast; and when ye come [in]to the hills, (And so Moses sent them to look over the land of Canaan, and he said to them, Go ye up by the Negeb, or by the southern part, and when ye come into the hill country,)
18 behold ye the land, what manner land it is; and behold ye the people which is the dweller thereof, whether it is strong, either feeble, few in number, either many; (look over the land, and see what it is like; and look over the people who live there, whether they be strong, or feeble, and few in number, or many;)
19 whether that land is good, either evil (or bad); what manner cities be there, walled, either without walls;
20 whether the land is fat, either barren, whether it is full of woods, either without trees. Be ye comforted, and bring ye to us of the fruits of that land. Soothly then the time was, when [the] grapes first ripe might be eaten. (whether the land is fertile, or barren, whether it is full of woods, or without trees. Be ye strengthened, that is, be ye of good courage, and bring ye to us some of the fruits of that land. For it was then the time when the first ripe grapes could be eaten.)
21 And when they had gone up, they espied the land, from the desert of Zin till to Rehob, as men enter to Hamath. (And so when they had gone up, they spied out the land, from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as people go to Hamath.)
22 And they went up to the south coast, and came into Hebron, where Ahiman, and Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were; for Hebron was made seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt. (And they went up by the Negeb, or by the southern part, and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, and Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of the giants, were living; for Hebron was built seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.)
23 And they went to the strand of [the] cluster, and they cutted down a scion with his grapes, which two men bare with a bearing staff; also they took of [the] pomegranates, and of the figs of that place, (And they went to the Eshcol Valley, and cut down a branch with all of its grapes, which two men had to carry on a carrying bar, or a carrying pole; and they also took pomegranates and figs from that place,)
24 which is called Nahal-eshcol, that is, the strand of (the) grape(s), or the strand of (the) cluster, for the sons of Israel bare a cluster from thence. (which they called Nahal-eshcol, that is, the Eshcol Valley, or the Valley of the Cluster of Grapes, for the Israelites carried a cluster of grapes from there.)
25 And the spyers of the land [turned again], when they had compassed all the country(side), after forty days (And the spies returned, when they had gone about all the countryside, yea, after forty days)
26 they came to Moses and Aaron, and to all the company of the sons of Israel, into the desert of Paran, which is in Kadesh. And the spyers spake to them, and showed the fruits of the land to all the multitude, (they came back to Moses and Aaron, and to all the company of the Israelites, at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. And the spies spoke to them, and to all the multitude, and showed them the fruits of the land,)
27 and they told, and said (and they spoke to Moses, and said), We came to the land, to which thou sentest us, which land truly floweth with milk and honey, as it may be known by these fruits;
28 but it hath most strong dwellers, and great cities, and walled (but it hath very strong inhabitants, and great walled cities); we saw there the kindred of (the) Anakim, that is, (of the) giants;
29 Amalek dwelleth there in the south; Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the hilly places; forsooth Canaanites dwell beside the sea, and beside the floods of Jordan. (and the Amalekites live there in the south; and the Hittites, and Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea, and along the Jordan River.)
30 Among these things, or sayings, Caleb peaced the grouching of the people, that was made against Moses, and said, Go we up, and wield we the land, for we be able to get it. (Then after these words, Caleb tried to calm the grumbling of the people, and said, No matter! We shall go up, and take the land, for we be well able to get it.)
31 Soothly the other spyers, that were with him, said, We be not able to go up to this people, for it is stronger than we. (But the other spies who went with him said, We shall not be able to go up against these people, for they all be stronger than us!)
32 And they spake evil of the land which they had beheld, to the sons of Israel, and said, The land that we compassed devoureth his dwellers; the people that we beheld is of large stature; (And so, they gave a bad report about the land which they had seen, to the Israelites, and said, The land which we went about shall eat up anyone who shall go there to live; and the people, who we saw there, be of very large stature;)
33 there we saw some wonders against kind, of the sons of Anak, of the kind of giants, to which we were comparisoned, and were seen as locusts. (yea, we saw some wonders against kind there, the sons of Anak, who be giants, and compared to them, we felt as small as locusts, or like grasshoppers.)
Numbers 13
New English Translation
Spies Sent Out
13 [a] The Lord spoke[b] to Moses: 2 “Send out men to investigate[c] the land of Canaan, which I am giving[d] to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe,[e] each one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command[f] of the Lord. All of them were leaders[g] of the Israelites.
4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe[h] of Joseph, namely, the tribe of Manasseh, 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 Vopshi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to investigate the land. And Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.[i]
The Spies’ Instructions
17 When Moses sent[j] them to investigate the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev,[k] and then go up into the hill country 18 and see[l] what the land is like,[m] and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, few or many, 19 and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave,[n] and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the time of year[o] for the first ripe grapes.[p]
The Spies’ Activities
21 So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob,[q] at Lebo Hamath. 22 When they went up through the Negev, they[r] came[s] to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai,[t] descendants of Anak, were living. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan[u] in Egypt.) 23 When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff[v] between two men, as well as some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called[w] the Eshcol Valley,[x] because of the cluster[y] of grapes that the Israelites cut from there. 25 They returned from investigating the land after forty days.
The Spies’ Reports
26 They came back[z] to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh.[aa] They reported[ab] to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land. 27 They told Moses,[ac] “We went to the land where you sent us.[ad] It is indeed flowing with milk and honey,[ae] and this is its fruit. 28 But[af] the inhabitants[ag] are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks[ah] of the Jordan.”[ai]
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up[aj] and occupy it,[ak] for we are well able to conquer it.”[al] 31 But the men[am] who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!” 32 Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report[an] of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through[ao] to investigate is a land that devours[ap] its inhabitants.[aq] All the people we saw there[ar] are of great stature. 33 We even saw the Nephilim[as] there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed like grasshoppers both to ourselves[at] and to them.”[au]
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:1 sn Chapter 13 provides the names of the spies sent into the land (vv. 1-16), their instructions (vv. 17-20), their activities (vv. 21-25), and their reports (vv. 26-33). It is a chapter that serves as a good lesson on faith, for some of the spies walked by faith, and some by sight.
- Numbers 13:1 tn The verse starts with the vav (ו) consecutive on the verb: “and….”
- Numbers 13:2 tn The imperfect tense with the conjunction is here subordinated to the preceding imperative to form the purpose clause. It can thus be translated “send…to investigate.”
- Numbers 13:2 tn The participle here should be given a future interpretation, meaning “which I am about to give” or “which I am going to give.”
- Numbers 13:2 tn Heb “one man one man of the tribe of his fathers.”
- Numbers 13:3 tn Heb “mouth.”
- Numbers 13:3 tn Heb “heads.”
- Numbers 13:11 tc Some scholars emend “tribe” to “sons.” Cf. Num 1:10.
- Numbers 13:16 sn The difference in the names is slight, a change from “he saves” to “the Lord saves.” The Greek text of the OT used Iesoun for Hebrew Yeshua.
- Numbers 13:17 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb of the same formation to express a temporal clause.
- Numbers 13:17 tn The instructions had them first go up into the southern desert of the land, and after passing through that, into the hill country of the Canaanites. The text could be rendered “into the Negev” as well as “through the Negev.”
- Numbers 13:18 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; the word therefore carries the volitional mood of the preceding imperatives. It may be either another imperative, or it may be subordinated as a purpose clause.
- Numbers 13:18 tn Heb “see the land, what it is.”
- Numbers 13:20 tn The verb is the Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, from the root חָזַק (khazaq, “to be strong”). Here it could mean “strengthen yourselves” or “be courageous” or “determined.” See further uses in 2 Sam 10:12; 1 Kgs 20:22; 1 Chr 19:13.
- Numbers 13:20 tn Heb “Now the days were the days of.”
- Numbers 13:20 sn The reference to the first ripe grapes would put the time somewhere at the end of July.
- Numbers 13:21 sn Zin is on the southern edge of the land, but Rehob is far north, near Mount Hermon. The spies covered all the land.
- Numbers 13:22 tc The MT has the singular, but the ancient versions and Smr have the plural.
- Numbers 13:22 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the following clause. The first verse gave the account of their journey over the whole land; this section focuses on what happened in the area of Hebron, which would be the basis for the false report.
- Numbers 13:22 sn These names are thought to be three clans that were in the Hebron area (see Josh 15:14; Judg 1:20). To call them descendants of Anak is usually taken to mean that they were large or tall people (2 Sam 21:18-22). They were ultimately driven out by Caleb.
- Numbers 13:22 sn The text now provides a brief historical aside for the readers. Zoan was probably the city of Tanis, although that is disputed today by some scholars. It was known in Egypt in the New Kingdom as “the fields of Tanis,” which corresponded to the “fields of Zoar” in the Hebrew Bible (Ps 78:12, 43).
- Numbers 13:23 tn The word is related etymologically to the verb for “slip, slide, bend, totter.” This would fit the use very well. A pole that would not bend would be hard to use to carry things, but a pole or stave that was flexible would serve well.
- Numbers 13:24 tn The verb is rendered as a passive because there is no expressed subject.
- Numbers 13:24 tn Or “Wadi Eshcol.” The translation “brook” is too generous; the Hebrew term refers to a river bed, a ravine or valley through which torrents of rain would rush in the rainy season; at other times it might be completely dry.
- Numbers 13:24 tn The word “Eshcol” is drawn from the Hebrew expression concerning the “cluster of grapes.” The word is probably retained in the name Burj Haskeh, two miles north of Damascus.
- Numbers 13:26 tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.
- Numbers 13:26 sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh Barnea in Num 32:8.
- Numbers 13:26 tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).
- Numbers 13:27 tn Heb “told him and said.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 13:27 tn The relative clause modifies “the land.” It is constructed with the relative and the verb: “where you sent us.”
- Numbers 13:27 sn This is the common expression for the material abundance of the land (see further, F. C. Fensham, “An Ancient Tradition of the Fertility of Palestine,” PEQ 98 [1966]: 166-67).
- Numbers 13:28 tn The word (אֶפֶס, ʾefes) forms a very strong adversative. The land was indeed rich and fruitful, but….”
- Numbers 13:28 tn Heb “the people who are living in the land.”
- Numbers 13:29 tn Heb “by the side [hand] of.”
- Numbers 13:29 sn For more discussion on these people groups, see D. J. Wiseman, ed., Peoples of Old Testament Times.
- Numbers 13:30 tn The construction is emphatic, using the cohortative with the infinitive absolute to strengthen it: עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה (ʿaloh naʿaleh, “let us go up”) with the sense of certainty and immediacy.
- Numbers 13:30 tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive brings the cohortative idea forward: “and let us possess it”; it may also be subordinated to form a purpose or result idea.
- Numbers 13:30 tn Here again the confidence of Caleb is expressed with the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense: יָכוֹל נוּכַל (yakhol nukhal), “we are fully able” to do this. The verb יָכַל (yakhal) followed by the preposition lamed means “to prevail over, to conquer.”
- Numbers 13:31 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.
- Numbers 13:32 tn Or “an evil report,” i.e., one that was a defamation of the grace of God.
- Numbers 13:32 tn Heb “which we passed over in it”; the pronoun on the preposition serves as a resumptive pronoun for the relative, and need not be translated literally.
- Numbers 13:32 tn The verb is the feminine singular participle from אָכַל (ʾakhal); it modifies the land as a “devouring land,” a bold figure for the difficulty of living in the place.
- Numbers 13:32 sn The expression has been interpreted in a number of ways by commentators, such as that the land was infertile, that the Canaanites were cannibals, that it was a land filled with warlike dissensions, or that it denotes a land geared for battle. It may be that they intended the land to seem infertile and insecure.
- Numbers 13:32 tn Heb “in its midst.”
- Numbers 13:33 tc The Greek version uses γίγαντας (gigantas, “giants”) to translate “the Nephilim,” but it does not retain the clause “the sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.”sn The Nephilim are the legendary giants of antiquity. They are first discussed in Gen 6:4. This forms part of the pessimism of the spies’ report.
- Numbers 13:33 tn Heb “in our eyes.”
- Numbers 13:33 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
2001 by Terence P. Noble
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