1Und der Ewige redete zu Mosche und sprach: 2«Entsende dir Männer, daß sie das Land Kenaan abschreiten, das ich den Kindern Jisraël gebe; je einen Mann für den Stamm seiner Väter sollt ihr entsenden, jeder ein Fürst unter ihnen.» 3Da entsandte sie Mosche von der Wüste Paran auf Befehl des Ewigen, alles Männer, die Häupter der Kinder Jisraël waren. 4Und dies waren ihre Namen: Für den Stamm Rëuben: Schammua, Sohn Sakkurs; 5für den Stamm Schim'on: Schafat, Sohn Horis; 6für den Stamm Jehuda: Kaleb, Sohn Jefunnes; 7für den Stamm Jissachar: Jig'al, Sohn Josefs; 8für den Stamm Efraim: Hoschea, Sohn Nuns; 9für den Stamm Binjamin: Palti, Sohn Rafus; 10für den Stamm Sebulun: Gaddiël, Sohn Sodis; 11für den Stamm Josef: für den Stamm Menaschsche: Gaddi, Sohn Susis; 12für den Stamm Dan: Ammiël, Sohn Gemallis; 13für den Stamm Ascher: Setur, Sohn Michaëls; 14für den Stamm Naftali: Nahbi, Sohn Wofsis; 15für den Stamm Gad: Gëuël, Sohn Machis. 16Dies sind die Namen der Männer, die Mosche entsandte, das Land abzuschreiten; da nannte Mosche Hoschea, den Sohn Nuns, Jehoschua. 17Und Mosche entsandte sie, das Land Kenaan abzuschreiten; und er sprach zu ihnen: «Zieht hier in der Südsteppe hinauf und ersteigt das Gebirge. 18Und seht, wie das Land ist, und ob das Volk, das darin wohnt, stark ist oder schwach, ob es gering an Zahl oder zahlreich, 19und wie das Land ist, in dem es wohnt, ob es gut oder schlecht, und wie die Städte sind, in denen es wohnt, ob in Lagern oder in Festungen, 20und wie der Boden ist, ob fett oder mager, ob Bäume darin sind oder nicht. Und erkühnt euch und nehmt von der Frucht des Landes!» - Es war aber die Zeit der ersten Trauben. - 21Da zogen sie hinauf und schritten das Land ab von der Wüste Zin bis Rehob, bei Lebo-Hamat. 22Und sie zogen in der Südsteppe hinauf und kamen bis Hebron; dort waren Ahiman, Scheschai und Talmai, die Kinder des Anak. Hebron aber war sieben Jahre vor Zoan in Mizraim erbaut worden. 23Als sie nun ins Tal Eschkol kamen, schnitten sie dort eine Rebe mit einer Weintraube ab und trugen sie an einer Stange zu zweien; auch von den Granaten und den Feigen. 24Jenen Ort nannte man Tal Eschkol wegen der Traube, die die Kinder Jisraël von dort abgeschnitten hatten. 25Und sie kehrten vom Abschreiten des Landes zurück nach Verlauf von vierzig Tagen. 26Da gingen sie hin und kamen zu Mosche und zu Aharon und zu der ganzen Gemeinde der Kinder Jisraël in die Wüste Paran nach Kadesch und erstatteten ihnen und der ganzen Gemeinde Bericht und zeigten ihnen die Frucht des Landes. 27Und sie erzählten ihm und sprachen: «Wir sind in das Land gekommen, dahin du uns entsendet hast, und es fließt ja auch von Milch und Honig, und dies ist seine Frucht. 28Nur daß das Volk, das im Land wohnt, stark ist, und die Städte sehr fest und groß sind; auch die Kinder des Anak haben wir dort gesehen. 29Amalek wohnt im Land der Südsteppe, und der Hitti, der Jebusi und Emori wohnen im Gebirge, und der Kenaani wohnt am Meer und am Ufer des Jardens.» 30Da beschwichtigte Kaleb das Volk vor Mosche und sprach: «Wir werden hinaufziehn und es in Besitz nehmen, denn wir können es mit ihm aufnehmen!» 31Die Männer aber, die mit ihm hinaufgezogen waren, sprachen: «Wir können nicht gegen das Volk hinaufziehn, denn es ist stärker als wir!» 32Und sie brachten ein Gerede aus unter den Kindern Jisraël über das Land, das sie abgeschritten hatten, und sprachen: «Das Land, das wir durchzogen haben, um es abzuschreiten, ist ein Land, das seine Bewohner frißt, und alles Volk, das wir darin gesehen, sind Männer von Ausmaß. 33Dort haben wir die Riesen gesehen, die Söhne des Anak von dem Geschlecht der Riesen; wir waren in unsern Augen wie Heuschrecken, und so waren wir es 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.
