Deuteronomy 1:24-28

1:24 They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley, ¹  which they scouted out. 1:25 Then they took ²  some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”

Disobedience at Kadesh Barnea

1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. ³  1:27 You complained among yourselves privately ⁴  and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! 1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage ⁵  by describing people who are more numerous ⁶  and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven ⁷  itself! Moreover, they said they saw ⁸  Anakites ⁹  there.”

[1:24]  ¹ tn Or “the Wadi Eshcol” (so NAB).

[1:25]  ² tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.

[1:26]  ³ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord your God.” To include “the mouth” would make for odd English style. The mouth stands by metonymy for the Lord’s command, which in turn represents the Lord himself.

[1:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.

[1:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”

[1:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).

[1:28]  ⁷ tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[1:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “we have seen.”

[1:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”