13:1 1 The Lord spoke 2 to Moses: 13:2 “Send out men to investigate 3 the land of Canaan, which I am giving 4 to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, 5 each one a leader among them.” 13:3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command 6 of the Lord. All of them were leaders 7 of the Israelites.
1 sn Chapter 13 provides the names of the spies sent into the land (vv. 1-16), their instructions (vv. 17-20), their activities (vv. 21-25), and their reports (vv. 26-33). It is a chapter that serves as a good lesson on faith, for some of the spies walked by faith, and some by sight.
2 tn The verse starts with the vav (ו) consecutive on the verb: “and….”
3 tn The imperfect tense with the conjunction is here subordinated to the preceding imperative to form the purpose clause. It can thus be translated “send…to investigate.”
4 tn The participle here should be given a future interpretation, meaning “which I am about to give” or “which I am going to give.”
5 tn Heb “one man one man of the tribe of his fathers.”
6 tn Heb “mouth.”
7 tn Heb “heads.”