13:26 They came back 5 to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. 6 They reported 7 to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land. 13:27 They told Moses, 8 “We went to the land where you sent us. 9 It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, 10 and this is its fruit.
1 tn The word is related etymologically to the verb for “slip, slide, bend, totter.” This would fit the use very well. A pole that would not bend would be hard to use to carry things, but a pole or stave that was flexible would serve well.
2 tn The verb is rendered as a passive because there is no expressed subject.
3 tn Or “Wadi Eshcol.” The translation “brook” is too generous; the Hebrew term refers to a river bed, a ravine or valley through which torrents of rain would rush in the rainy season; at other times it might be completely dry.
4 tn The word “Eshcol” is drawn from the Hebrew expression concerning the “cluster of grapes.” The word is probably retained in the name Burj Haskeh, two miles north of Damascus.
3 tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.
4 sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.
5 tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).
4 tn Heb “told him and said.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The relative clause modifies “the land.” It is constructed with the relative and the verb: “where you sent us.”
6 sn This is the common expression for the material abundance of the land (see further, F. C. Fensham, “An Ancient Tradition of the Fertility of Palestine,” PEQ 98 [1966]: 166-67).