Numbers 13:17

The Spies’ Instructions

13:17 When Moses sent ¹  them to investigate the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev, ²  and then go up into the hill country

Joshua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ³  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ⁴  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ⁵ 

Proverbs 20:18

20:18 Plans ⁶  are established by counsel,

so ⁷  make war ⁸  with guidance.

Luke 14:31

14:31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down ⁹  first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose ¹⁰  the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

[13:17]  ¹ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb of the same formation to express a temporal clause.

[13:17]  ² tn The instructions had them first go up into the southern desert of the land, and after passing through that, into the hill country of the Canaanites. The text could be rendered “into the Negev” as well as “through the Negev.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[20:18]  ⁶ tn The noun form is plural, but the verb is singular, suggesting either an abstract plural or a collective plural is being used here.

[20:18]  ⁷ tn The clause begins with vav (ו) on “with guidance.” But the clause has an imperative for its main verb. One could take the imperfect tense in the first colon as an imperfect of injunction, and then this clause would be also instructional. But the imperfect tense is a Niphal, and so it is better to take the first colon as the foundational clause and the second colon as the consequence (cf. NAB): If that is true, then you should do this.

[20:18]  ⁸ sn There have been attempts by various commentators to take “war” figuratively to mean life’s struggles, litigation, or evil inclinations. But there is no need and little justification for such interpretations. The proverb simply describes the necessity of taking counsel before going to war.

[14:31]  ⁹ tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:31]  ¹⁰ tn On the meaning of this verb see also L&N 55.3, “to meet in battle, to face in battle.”