17When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. 18“See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19“How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? 20“How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

      21So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath. 22When they had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

      23Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

The Spies’ Reports

      25When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28“Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29“Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

      30Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” 31But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” 32So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33“There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah;

King James Bible
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.

Darby Bible Translation
for the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

English Revised Version
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Webster's Bible Translation
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

World English Bible
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Young's Literal Translation
For the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.

Cross References

Numbers 13:5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

Numbers 13:7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

Numbers 14:6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;

Numbers 14:30 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Numbers 34:19 "These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Joshua 14:6 Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know the word which the LORD spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea.

Joshua 15:13 Now he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah, according to the command of the LORD to Joshua, namely, Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron).

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 13

It is a memorable and very melancholy story which is related in this and the following chapter, of the turning back of Israel from the borders of Canaan, when they were just ready to set foot in it, and the sentencing of them to wander and perish in the wilderness for their unbelief and murmuring. It is referred to Ps. 95:7, etc., and improved for warning to Christians, Heb. 3:7, etc. In this chapter we have, I. The sending of twelve spies before them into Canaan (v. 1-16). II. The instructions given to these spies (v. 17-20). III. Their executing their commission according to their instructions, and their return from the search (v. 21-25). IV. The report they brought back to the camp of Israel (v. 26, etc.).

Verses 1-20

Here we have, I. Orders given to send spies to search out the land of Canaan. It is here said, God directed Moses to send them (v. 1, 2), but it appears by the repetition of the story afterwards (Deu. 1:22) that the motion came originally from the people; they came to Moses, and said, We will send men before us; and it was the fruit of their unbelief. They would not take God's word that it was a good land, and that he would, without fail, put them in possession of it. They could not trust the pillar of cloud and fire to show them the way to it, but had a better opinion of their own politics than of God's wisdom. How absurd was it for them to send to spy out a land which God himself had spied out for them, to enquire the way into it when God himself had undertaken to show them the way! But thus we ruin ourselves by giving more credit to the reports and representations of sense than to divine revelation; we walk by sight, not by faith; whereas, if we will receive the witness of men, without doubt the witness of God is greater. The people making this motion to Moses, he (perhaps not aware of the unbelief at the bottom of it) consulted God in the case, who bade him gratify the people in this matter, and send spies before them: "Let them walk in their own counsels." Yet God was no way accessory to the sin that followed, for the sending of these spies was so far from being the cause of the sin that if the spies had done their duty, and the people theirs, it might have been the confirmation of their faith, and of good service to them.

II. The persons nominated that were to be employed in this service (v. 4, etc.), one of each tribe, that it might appear to be the act of the people in general; and rulers, person of figure in their respective tribes, some of the rulers of thousands or hundreds, to put the greater credit upon their embassy. This was designed for the best, but it proved to have this ill effect that the quality of the persons occasioned the evil report they brought up to be the more credited and the people to be the more influenced by it. Some think that they are all named for the sake of two good ones that were among them, Caleb and Joshua. Notice is taken of the change of Joshua's name upon this occasion, v. 16. He was Moses's minister, but had been employed, though of the tribe of Ephraim, as general of the forces that were sent out against Amalek. The name by which he was generally called and known in his own tribe was Oshea, but Moses called him Joshua, in token of his affection to him and power over him; and now, it should seem, he ordered others to call him so, and fixed that to be his name henceforward. Oshea signifies a prayer for salvation, Save thou; Joshua signifies a promise of salvation, He will save, in answer to that prayer: so near is the relation between prayers and promises. Prayers prevail for promises, and promises direct and encourage prayers. Some think that Moses designed, by taking the first syllable of the name Jehovah and prefixing it to his name, which turned Hoshea into Jehoshua, to put an honour upon him, and to encourage him in this and all his future services with the assurances of God's presence. Yet after this he is called Hoshea, Deu. 32:44. Jesus is the same name with Joshua, and it is the name of our Lord Christ, of whom Joshua was a type as successor to Moses, Israel's captain, and conqueror of Canaan. There was another of the same name, who was also a type of Christ, Zec. 6:11. Joshua was the saviour of God's people from the powers of Canaan, but Christ is their Saviour from the powers of hell.

III. The instructions given to those spies. They were sent into the land of Canaan the nearest way, to traverse the country, and to take account of its present state, v. 17. Two heads of enquiry were given them in charge, 1. Concerning the land itself: See what that is (v. 18, and again, v. 19), see whether it be good or bad, and (v. 20) whether it be fat or lean. All parts of the earth do not share alike in the blessing of fruitfulness; some countries are blessed with a richer soil than others. Moses himself was well satisfied that Canaan was a very good land, but he sent these spies to bring an account of it for the satisfaction of the people; as John Baptist sent to Jesus, to ask whether he was the Christ, not to inform himself, but to inform those he sent. They must take notice whether the air was healthful or no, what the soil was, and what the productions; and, for the better satisfaction of the people, they must bring with them some of the fruits. 2. Concerning the inhabitants-their number, few or many-their size and stature, whether strong able-bodied men or weak,-their habitations, whether they lived in tents or houses, whether in open villages or in walled towns,-whether the woods were standing as in those countries that are uncultivated, through the unskillfulness and slothfulness of the inhabitants, or whether the woods were cut down, and the country made champaign, for the convenience of tillage. These were the things they were to enquire about. Perhaps there had not been of late years such commerce between Egypt and Canaan as there was in Jacob's time, else they might have informed themselves of these things without sending men on purpose to search. See the advantage we may derive from books and learning, which acquaint those that are curious and inquisitive with the state of foreign countries, at a much greater distance than Canaan was now from Israel, without this trouble and expense.

IV. Moses dismisses the spies with this charge, Be of good courage, intimating, not only that they should be themselves encouraged against the difficulties of this expedition, but that they should bring an encouraging account to the people and make the best of every thing. It was not only a great undertaking they were put upon, which required good management and resolution, but it was a great trust that was reposed in them, which required that they should be faithful.

Calvin's Commentary

1. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:

2. Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

2. Mitte tibi viros qui explorent terram Chanaan, quam ego daturus sum filiis Israel, singulos viros de singulis tribubus patrum suorum mittetis, unumquenque principem inter eos.

3 And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord, sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.

3. Misit ergo illos Moses e deserto Paran, juxta sermonem Jehovae: et universi ipsi viri principes filiorum Israel erant.

4. And these were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben: Shammua the son of Zaccur.

4. Haec autem sunt nomina eorum. De tribu Ruben, Sammua filius Zachur.

5. Of the tribe of Simeon; Shaphat the son of Hori.

5. De tribu Simeon, Saphat filius Hori.

6. Of the tribe of Judah; Caleb the son of Jephunneh

6. De tribu Jehuda, Caleb filius Jephuneh.

7. Of the tribe of Issachar; Igal the son of Joseph.

7. De tribu Issachar, Igal, filius Joseph.

8. Of the tribe of Ephraim; Oshea the son of Nun.

8. De tribu Ephraim, Hosea filius Nun.

9. Of the tribe of Benjanfin; Palti the son of Raphu.

9. De tribu Benjamin, Palti filius Raphu.

10. Of the tribe of Zehulun; Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

10. De tribu Zebulon, Gaddiel filius Sodi.

11. Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh; Gaddi the son of Susi.

11. De tribu Joseph, de tribu Menasseh, Gaddi filius Susi.

12. Of the tribe of Dan; Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

12. De tribu Dan, Ammiel filius Gemalli.

13. Of the tribe of Asher; Sether the son of Michael.

13. De tribu Aser, Sethur filius Michael.

14. Of the tribe of Naphtali; Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

14. De tribu Nephthali, Nahbi filius Vophsi.

15. Of the tribe of Gad; Geuel the son of Machi.

15. De tribu Gad, Guel filius Machi.

16. These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun, Jehoshua.

16. Haec sunt nomina virorum quos misit Moses ad explorandam terram: et appellavit Moses Hosea filium Nun, Jehosua.

17. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain;

17. Misit igitur eos Moses ad explorandam terram Chanaan, dicens illis, Ascendite hac per meridiem, et conscendatis montes;

18. And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

18. Et consideretis terram ipsam qualis sit, et populum qui habitat in ea, utrum fortis sit an debilis, utrum paucus sit an multus.

19. And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;

19. Qualis, inquam, sit terra in qua sit habitator, utrum bona sit an mala: et quales urbes in quibus sit habitator, utrum in castris an in munitionibus.

20. And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not: and be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. (Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.)

20. Qualis rursum terra, utrum pinguis sit an macra: utrum sint in ea arbores an non: et estote forti animo, atque decerpite e fructu terrae. (Dies autem illi erant dies primitiarum uvarum.)

21. So they went up, and searched the land, from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

21. Ascenderunt igitur, et exploraverunt terram, a deserto Sin usque ad Rehob, ingrediendo Hamath.

22. And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

22. Et ascenderunt per meridiem, et venerunt usque ad Hebron, ibi autem erat Ahiman, Sesai, et Thalmai, filii Anac. Hebron vero septem annis aedificata fuit ante Soan AEgypti.

23. And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

23. Perverterunt itaque usque ad vallem Eschol, et absciderunt illinc palmitem et botrum uvarum unum, et portaverunt illum vecte bini, et de malogranatis et de ficubus.

24. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

24. Locus ille vocatus est Nahal Eschol propter botrum quem absciderunt inde filii Israel.

25. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

25. Reversi sunt ab exploranda terra post quadraginta dies.

26. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

26. Profecti ergo sunt, et venerunt ad Mosen et Aharon, et ad universum coetum filiorum Israel, in desertum Paran in Cades: et retulerunt eis rem, atque universo coetui, ostenderuntque eis fructum terrae.

27. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

27. Narraverunt ergo ei: et dixerunt, Pervenimus ad terram ad quam misisti nos; et certe affluit lacte et melle: et ipse est fructus ejus.

28. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the laud, and the cities are walled, and very great: and, moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.

28. Nisi quod fortis est populus qui incolit cam, et urbes munitae sunt, et magnae admodum: ac filios Enac vidimus illic.

29. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south; and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

29. Amalec habitat in terra meridiana: Hitthaeus autem, et Jebusaeus, et Amorrhaeus inhabitant montes: Chananaeus vero habitat juxta mare et ad ripam Jordanis.

30. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

30. Tacere vero fecit Caleb populum ad Mosen, et dixit, Ascendendo ascendamus et possideamus: nam praevalendo praevalebimus contra cam.

31. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

31. At viri qui ascenderant cum eo, dixerunt, Non poterimus ascendere contra populum illum, quia fortior est nobis.

32. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

32. Et detraxerunt terrae quam exploraverunt, apud filios Israel, dicendo, Terra per quam transivimus ut exploraremus eam, terra est quae consumit habitatores suos: et omnis populus quem vidimus in medio ejus, viri procerae staturae sunt.

33. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

33. Atque illuc vidimus gigantes filios Enac, e gigantibus. Et fiumus sicut locustae in oculis nostris, sic fuimus in oculis eorum.

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New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

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Alphabetical: Caleb from Jephunneh Judah of son the tribe

Bible Browser

The Spies
THE UNBELIEF OF THE CHILDREN of Israel, prompted them to send spies into Canaan. God had told them that it was a good land, and he had promised to drive out their enemies, they ought therefore to have marched forward with all confidence to possess the promised heritage. Instead of this, they send twelve princes to spy out the land, and "alas, for human nature," ten of these were faithless, and only two true to the Lord. Read over the narrative, and mark the ill effect of the lying message, and the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Exploring Canaan by Faith
EXPLORING CANAAN BY FAITH I can not understand faith. What is faith, anyway? I try to believe; sometimes I feel that my faith is strong, but at other times I feel that my faith is giving way. Can you help me in this matter? Faith seems such a hazy, intangible, elusive thing; now I think I have it, now it seems certain I have it not. I feel at times that my faith is so strong I could believe anything, then again I feel that every bit of faith I had is gone. Can you give me any instructions that will …
Robert Lee Berry—Adventures in the Land of Canaan

Canaan
Canaan was the inheritance which the Israelites won for themselves by the sword. Their ancestors had already settled in it in patriarchal days. Abraham "the Hebrew" from Babylonia had bought in it a burying-place near Hebron; Jacob had purchased a field near Shechem, where he could water his flocks from his own spring. It was the "Promised Land" to which the serfs of the Pharaoh in Goshen looked forward when they should again become free men and find a new home for themselves. Canaan had ever been …
Archibald Sayce—Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations

Hebron
From Jericho we proceed to Hebron, far off in situation, but next to it in dignity: yea, there was a time, when it went before Jerusalem itself in name and honour;--namely, while the first foundations of the kingdom of David were laid; and, at that time, Jericho was buried in rubbish, and Jerusalem was trampled upon by the profane feet of the Jebusites. Hebron was placed, as in the mountainous country of Judea, so in a place very rocky, but yet in a very fruitful coast. "There is no place, in all …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

An Unfulfilled Desire
'... Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!'--NUM. xxiii. 10. '... Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.'--NUM. xiii. 8. Ponder these two pictures. Take the first scene. A prophet, who knows God and His will, is standing on the mountain top, and as he looks down over the valley beneath him, with its acacia-trees and swift river, there spread the tents of Israel. He sees them, and knows that they are 'a people whom the Lord hath blessed.' Brought there …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Epistle xvii. To Felix, Bishop of Messana.
To Felix, Bishop of Messana. To our most reverend brother, the Bishop Felix, Gregory, servant of the servants of God [246] . Our Head, which is Christ, to this end has willed us to be His members, that through His large charity and faithfulness He might make us one body in Himself, to whom it befits us so to cling that, since without Him we can do nothing, through Him we may be enabled to be what we are called. From the citadel of the Head let nothing divide us, lest, if we refuse to be His members, …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus.
(at Nazareth, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke I. 26-38. ^c 26 Now in the sixth month [this is the passage from which we learn that John was six months older than Jesus] the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth [Luke alone tells us where Mary lived before the birth of Jesus. That Nazareth was an unimportant town is shown by the fact that it is mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament, nor in the Talmud, nor in Josephus, who mentions two hundred four towns and cities of Galilee. The …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6

Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament