Chapter Text
Twelve Spies Sent Out
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Send 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.
3And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
4And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
5Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
6Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
7Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
9Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
10Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
11Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
12Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
14Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
15Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
17And 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:
18And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;
19And 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;
20And 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 firstripe grapes.
21So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
22And 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.)
23And 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.
24The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.
Report of the Spies
25And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
26And 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 shewed them the fruit of the land.
27And 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.
28Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29The 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.
30And 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.
31But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32And 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.
33And 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.
Summary
Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses because of his Cushite wife and challenge whether God speaks only through Moses. God summons all three to the tabernacle, declaring that Moses is unique among prophets: God speaks to him face to face, not in riddles. Miriam is struck with leprosy. Aaron pleads with Moses, who intercedes for her. She is shut out of the camp for seven days.
Meaning
This episode teaches that God defends those He has appointed and that challenging divinely established authority carries serious consequences. Miriam's punishment, and Aaron's exemption, may reflect her role as the primary instigator.
Moses' immediate intercession for the sister who wronged him reveals the heart of a true servant-leader. His prayer is strikingly brief and selfless, a model of gracious forgiveness even when personal honor has been attacked.
Background
The identity of Moses' Cushite wife has been debated; she may be Zipporah or a second wife from the region of Cush, possibly Ethiopia or Midian. Leprosy in the Old Testament encompassed various skin diseases and rendered a person ceremonially unclean, requiring isolation from the community.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-3God Commands the Reconnaissance Mission
- vv. 4-16The Twelve Spies Named by Tribe
- vv. 17-20Moses' Instructions to the Spies
- vv. 21-25Forty Days Exploring the Land
- vv. 26-29The Spies' Report: Abundance and Giants
- vv. 30Caleb's Bold Call to Possess the Land
- vv. 31-33The Majority's Evil Report of Unbelief
Key Verses
“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.”— 13:2
God's command to spy the land underscores that Canaan was already a divine gift — the mission was not to determine whether to enter, but to prepare for entry. The phrase 'which I give' speaks in the present tense of a settled promise.
“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.”— 13:27
The spies' testimony confirms God's repeated description of Canaan as a land flowing with milk and honey. Even the faithless majority could not deny the abundance God had promised.
“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.”— 13:30
Caleb's bold declaration stands as a model of faith responding to God's promise. His confidence rested not on military superiority but on divine assurance, making this a pivotal verse on courage and trust.
“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.”— 13:33
This verse captures the essence of unbelief — measuring oneself against the obstacle rather than against God's power. The grasshopper metaphor has become a lasting image of self-defeating fear in biblical teaching.
People & Places
People
- Moses — Leader of Israel who, at God's command, organized and dispatched the twelve spies into Canaan.
- Aaron — Moses' brother and Israel's high priest, present when the spies delivered their report at Kadesh.
- Caleb — Spy from the tribe of Judah, son of Jephunneh, who urged Israel to take the land in faith.
- Oshea (Jehoshua/Joshua) — Spy from the tribe of Ephraim, son of Nun, whose name Moses changed to Joshua, meaning 'the LORD saves.'
- Shammua — Spy representing the tribe of Reuben, son of Zaccur.
- Shaphat — Spy representing the tribe of Simeon, son of Hori.
- Igal — Spy representing the tribe of Issachar, son of Joseph.
- Palti — Spy representing the tribe of Benjamin, son of Raphu.
- Gaddiel — Spy representing the tribe of Zebulun, son of Sodi.
- Gaddi — Spy representing the tribe of Manasseh, son of Susi.
- Ammiel — Spy representing the tribe of Dan, son of Gemalli.
- Sethur — Spy representing the tribe of Asher, son of Michael.
- Nahbi — Spy representing the tribe of Naphtali, son of Vophsi.
- Geuel — Spy representing the tribe of Gad, son of Machi.
- Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai — Three descendants of Anak dwelling at Hebron, whose great stature terrified the majority of the spies.
Places
- Canaan — The promised land God designated for Israel, the object of the spies' forty-day reconnaissance.
- Wilderness of Paran — The desert region from which Moses dispatched the twelve spies northward into Canaan.
- Kadesh (Kadesh-barnea) — The encampment in the wilderness of Paran where the spies returned and delivered their report.
- Hebron — An ancient city in the southern hill country where the sons of Anak dwelt, built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
- Brook (Valley) of Eshcol — The valley where the spies cut the famous oversized cluster of grapes; its name means 'cluster.'
- Wilderness of Zin — The southern boundary of the territory the spies explored.
- Rehob — A location near the northern extent of the spies' journey, approaching Hamath.
- Zoan — An ancient Egyptian city referenced to establish Hebron's antiquity.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Moses renaming Oshea ('salvation') to Jehoshua ('the LORD saves') in verse 16 carries messianic significance, as Joshua is the Hebrew form of the name Jesus. Joshua's role as the faithful spy who would ultimately lead Israel into the promised land prefigures Christ leading His people into spiritual rest and inheritance (cf. Hebrews 4:8-9). The land 'flowing with milk and honey' also foreshadows the abundant life promised through God's covenant faithfulness.
Devotional
Every believer faces a Canaan moment — a threshold where God's promise stands on one side and intimidating obstacles on the other. The twelve spies saw the same land, tasted the same fruit, and encountered the same giants. The difference was not in their circumstances but in their perspective.
Caleb looked at the giants through the lens of God's promise; the ten looked at God's promise through the lens of the giants. Fear did not change the facts — it changed the interpretation. When we shrink ourselves to grasshoppers, we have already decided that God is too small.
Faith does not deny difficulty. It simply refuses to let difficulty have the final word over what God has spoken.
Literary Style
Numbers 13 is historical narrative with embedded catalogue (the tribal roster of spies in vv. 4-15) and direct speech (Moses' commission in vv. 17-20, the spies' report in vv. 27-29, 31-33, and Caleb's counter-speech in v. 30). The chapter employs dramatic contrast between the land's abundance and the people's fear, culminating in the vivid hyperbole of the grasshopper simile.