1Und Jehova redete zu Mose und sprach: 2Sende dir Männer aus, daß sie das Land Kanaan auskundschaften, welches ich den Kindern Israel gebe; je einen Mann für den Stamm seiner Väter sollt ihr aussenden, jeder ein Fürst unter ihnen. 3Und Mose sandte sie aus der Wüste Paran nach dem Befehl Jehovas, allesamt Männer, welche Häupter der Kinder Israel waren. 4Und dies sind ihre Namen: für den Stamm Ruben, Schammua, der Sohn Sakkurs; 5für den Stamm Simeon, Schaphath, der Sohn Choris; 6für den Stamm Juda, Kaleb, der Sohn Jephunnes; 7für den Stamm Issaschar, Jigal, der Sohn Josephs; 8für den Stamm Ephraim, Hosea, der Sohn Nuns; 9für den Stamm Benjamin, Palti, der Sohn Raphus; 10für den Stamm Sebulon, Gaddiel, der Sohn Sodis; 11für den Stamm Joseph, für den Stamm Manasse, Gaddi, der Sohn Susis; 12für den Stamm Dan, Ammiel, der Sohn Gemallis; 13für den Stamm Aser, Sethur, der Sohn Michaels; 14für den Stamm Naphtali, Nachbi, der Sohn Waphsis; 15für den Stamm Gad, Geuel, der Sohn Makis. 16Das sind die Namen der Männer, welche Mose aussandte, um das Land auszukundschaften. Und Mose nannte Hosea, den Sohn Nuns, Josua. 17Und Mose sandte sie, um das Land Kanaan auszukundschaften, und sprach zu ihnen: Ziehet hier hinauf an der Südseite, und steiget auf das Gebirge, 18und besehet das Land, wie es ist; und das Volk, das darin wohnt, ob es stark oder schwach, ob es gering oder zahlreich ist; 19und wie das Land ist, in welchem es wohnt, ob es gut oder schlecht ist; und wie die Städte sind, in denen es wohnt, ob es in Lagern oder in Festungen wohnt; 20und wie das Land ist, ob es fett oder mager ist, ob Bäume darin sind oder nicht. Und fasset Mut und nehmet von der Frucht des Landes. Die Tage aber waren die Tage der ersten Trauben. 21Und sie zogen hinauf und kundschafteten das Land aus, von der Wüste Zin bis Rechob, wenn man nach Hamath geht. 22Und sie zogen an der Südseite hinauf und kamen bis Hebron, und daselbst waren Achiman, Scheschai und Talmai, die Kinder Enaks. Hebron aber war sieben Jahre vor Zoan in Ägypten erbaut worden. 23Und sie kamen bis in das Tal Eskol und schnitten daselbst eine Rebe mit einer Weintraube ab und trugen sie zu zweien an einer Stange, auch Granatäpfel und Feigen. 24Jenen Ort nannte man Tal Eskol wegen der Traube, welche die Kinder Israel daselbst abgeschnitten hatten. 25Und sie kehrten nach Verlauf von vierzig Tagen vom Auskundschaften des Landes zurück. 26Und sie gingen und kamen zu Mose und zu Aaron und zu der ganzen Gemeinde der Kinder Israel in die Wüste Paran nach Kades; und sie brachten ihnen und der ganzen Gemeinde Bescheid und zeigten ihnen die Frucht des Landes. 27Und sie erzählten ihm und sprachen: Wir sind in das Land gekommen, wohin du uns gesandt hast; und wirklich, es fließt von Milch und Honig, und dies ist seine Frucht. 28Nur daß das Volk stark ist, welches in dem Lande wohnt, und die Städte befestigt, sehr groß; und auch die Kinder Enaks haben wir dort gesehen. 29Amalek wohnt im Lande des Südens, und die Hethiter und die Jebusiter und die Amoriter wohnen auf dem Gebirge, und die Kanaaniter wohnen am Meere und an der Seite des Jordan. 30Und Kaleb beschwichtigte das Volk gegen Mose und sprach: Laßt uns nur hinaufziehen und es in Besitz nehmen, denn wir werden es gewißlich überwältigen. 31Aber die Männer, die mit ihm hinaufgezogen waren, sprachen: Wir vermögen nicht gegen das Volk hinaufzuziehen, denn es ist stärker als wir. 32Und sie brachten unter die Kinder Israel ein böses Gerücht über das Land aus, das sie ausgekundschaftet hatten, und sprachen: Das Land, welches wir durchzogen haben, um es auszukundschaften, ist ein Land, das seine Bewohner frißt; und alles Volk, das wir darin gesehen haben, sind Leute von hohem Wuchse; 33auch haben wir dort die Riesen gesehen, die Kinder Enaks, von den Riesen; und wir waren in unseren Augen wie Heuschrecken, und also waren wir auch in ihren Augen.
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.