1Hospodin promluvil k Mojžíšovi: 2Pošli muže, aby prozkoumali kenaanskou zemi, kterou dávám synům Izraele. Pošlete vždy jednoho muže za otcovské pokolení, samé předáky mezi vámi. 3Mojžíš je poslal z Páranské pustiny podle Hospodinova příkazu. Všichni tito muži byli předáci synů Izraele. 4Toto jsou jejich jména: Za pokolení Rúbenovo Šamúa, syn Zakúrův; 5za pokolení Šimeónovo Šafat, syn Chóríův; 6za pokolení Judovo Káleb, syn Jefunův; 7za pokolení Isacharovo Jigál, syn Josefův; 8za pokolení Efrajimovo Hóšea, syn Núnův; 9za pokolení Benjamínovo Paltí, syn Rafúův; 10za pokolení Zabulónovo Gadíel, syn Sódíův; 11za pokolení Josefovo, za pokolení Manasesovo Gadí, syn Súsíův; 12za pokolení Danovo Amíel, syn Gemalíův; 13za pokolení Ašerovo Setúr, syn Michaelův; 14za pokolení Neftalího Nachbí, syn Vofsíův; 15za pokolení Gádovo Geúel, syn Makíův. 16Toto jsou jména mužů, které poslal Mojžíš, aby prozkoumali zemi. Hóšeu, syna Núnova, nazval Mojžíš Jozue. 17Když je Mojžíš posílal, aby prozkoumali kenaanskou zemi, řekl jim: Jděte vzhůru Negebem a vyjděte do pohoří. 18Prohlédněte zemi, jaká je, i lid, který v ní bydlí, zdali je silný či malátný, je-li ho málo či mnoho; 19a jaká je země, ve které bydlí, — je-li dobrá či zlá; a jaká jsou města, ve kterých bydlí, jsou-li jako tábor či opevněná; 20a jaká je země — úrodná či neúrodná; jsou-li v ní stromy či ne. Počínejte si zmužile a vezměte z plodů té země. Byl právě čas raných hroznů. 21Vyšli a prozkoumali zemi od pustiny Sinu až k Rechóbu a Lebo-Chamátu. 22Šli vzhůru Negebem a přišli až do Chebrónu. Tam byli Achíman, Šéšaj a Talmaj, potomci Anákovi. (Chebrón byl vybudován sedm let před egyptským Sóanem.) 23Když přišli až do údolí Eškólu, uřízli tam ratolest s jedním vinným hroznem — dva ho museli nést na sochoru, a několik granátových jablek a fíků. 24To místo se nazývá údolí Eškólu právě kvůli hroznu, který tam synové Izraele uřízli. 25Po čtyřiceti dnech se vrátili z průzkumu země. 26Šli, až přišli k Mojžíšovi, Áronovi a celé pospolitosti synů Izraele do Kádeše v Páranské pustině. Přinesli zprávu jim a celé pospolitosti a ukázali jim ovoce té země. 27Vyprávěli mu: Přišli jsme do země, do níž jsi nás poslal. Ano, oplývá mlékem a medem a toto je její ovoce. 28Nicméně lid, který sídlí v zemi, je silný a města jsou opevněná a velmi velká. A také jsme tam viděli potomky Anákovy. 29Na území Negebu sídlí Amálekovci, v pohoří sídlí Chetejci, Jebúsejci a Emorejci a u moře a podél Jordánu sídlí Kenaanci. 30Káleb uklidňoval lid před Mojžíšem slovy: Směle pojďte vzhůru, obsadíme ji, jistě přemůžeme její obyvatele. 31Muži, kteří šli s ním, však říkali: Nedokážeme táhnout proti tomu lidu, neboť je silnější nežli my. 32Pomluvili zemi, kterou prozkoumali, když říkali synům Izraele: Země, kterou jsme procházeli, abychom ji prozkoumali, je země požírající své obyvatele a všechen lid, který jsme v ní viděli, jsou obrovití muži. 33Viděli jsme tam obry — synové Anákovi totiž pocházejí z obrů — a připadali jsme si jako kobylky a takoví jsme byli i v jejich očích.
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
5.Mo 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 (
4.Mo 10:14-
4.Mo 10:16,
4.Mo 10:18-
4.Mo 10:20,
4.Mo 10:22-
4.Mo 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 [
Mt 1:21, Margin].
17 Get you up this way . . . , and go up into the mountain--Mount Seir (
5.Mo 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" (
2.Kön 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,
1.Mo 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 (
1.Mo 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 (
Jos 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 (
Jos 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
1.Mo 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.