Numbers 13:1-5

Spies Sent Out

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.

13:4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 13:5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

[13:1]  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.

[13:1]  ² tn The verse starts with the vav (ו) consecutive on the verb: “and….”

[13:2]  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.”

[13:2]  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.”

[13:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “one man one man of the tribe of his fathers.”

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “mouth.”

[13:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “heads.”