This chapter begins with God asking Moses to send some men to explore the Promised Land.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Here at the outset, the question arises as to ‘whose idea was it?’ that the children of Israel should spy out the land. Here, there is no mention of the people as being behind such a plan, but in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 1:20-22, it is revealed that the people themselves were behind this proposal.’
Notice that one man was taken from each tribe in order to form the exploration party, Numbers 13:1-2 / Deuteronomy 1:19-24. So at the LORD’s command, Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran, and all of them were leaders of the Israelites, Numbers 13:3.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The men named as the spies were not the same as the tribal princes, conveners, Numbers 1:5-15 / Numbers 7:12. Their personal qualifications for this mission may have been the basis for their selection.’
From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur, Numbers 13:4. From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori, Numbers 13:5. From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh, Numbers 13:6. From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph, Numbers 13:7.
From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun, Numbers 13:8 / Numbers 13:16. From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu, Numbers 13:9. From the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi, Numbers 13:10. From the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi, Numbers 13:11.
From the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli, Numbers 13:12. From the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael, Numbers 13:13. From the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi, Numbers 13:14. From the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki, Numbers 13:15.
Ephraim, Numbers 13:8, and Manasseh, Numbers 13:11, represented the descendants of Joseph, and because the Levites had been separated from the other tribes, they weren’t included.
These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land, and notice that Moses gave Hoshea, son of Nun, the name Joshua, Numbers 13:16 / Nehemiah 8:17.
Hess, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The name Joshua, Numbers 13:16, describes a special role that Moses wished Joshua to have when he renamed him in Numbers 13:16. Joshua’s earlier name, Hoshea, simply means ’he has saved’. In the name Hoshea, the person or god who saves is not made clear. Moses specified the LORD as the source of salvation by renaming Joshua.’
Moses sent them to explore Canaan and told them to go up through the Negev and on into the hill country, Numbers 13:17. The Negev is called the South Country and is a well-defined area lying from Kadesh North to the vicinity of Hebron and covering the whole area between the Jordan and the Dead Sea valley to the Mediterranean, Joshua 15:21-32.
Moses tells them to inspect the land and see what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many, Numbers 13:18. They are to find out what kind of land the people live in. Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? Numbers 13:19.
They are to inspect the soil, is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Numbers 13:20. They are to do their best to bring back some of the fruit of the land, Numbers 13:20. We are told it was the season for the first ripe grapes, Numbers 13:20.
So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath, Numbers 13:21 / Judges 18:28. Throughout the Bible, Hamath is repeatedly referred to as the northern gateway to Palestine.
Jeroboam restored the ancient Solomonic empire from the entrance of Hamath, etc. 2 Kings 14:25. They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived, Numbers 13:22.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following concerning Hebron.
‘Hebron was a large, fortified town. Moses gave it special emphasis here because it was near Hebron that God had promised to give Abraham the land, Genesis 13:14-18. From there Abraham had set out to defeat a coalition of kings, Genesis 14:13.’
We are told that Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt, Numbers 13:22.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Zoan of the Scriptures is allowed to be the Tanis of the heathen historians, which was the capital of Lower Egypt. Some think it was to humble the pride of the Egyptians, who boasted the highest antiquity, that this note concerning the higher antiquity of Hebron was introduced by Moses. Some have supposed that it is more likely to have been originally a marginal note, which in the process of time crept into the text; but all the versions and all the MSS. that have as yet been collated acknowledge it.’
When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes and two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs, Numbers 13:23.
That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there, Numbers 13:24. At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land, Numbers 13:25.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The valley was, in all likelihood, originally named after one of the three chiefs who were confederate with Abraham Genesis 14:24, but as often came to pass, the Israelites, wittingly or unwittingly, took up in a new and significant sense the name which they found; and to them the valley thus became the Valley of the Cluster. Bunches of grapes are found in Palestine in many pounds in weight.’
The normal requests for information were made by Moses in order to reassure the strength of the people of Canaan, as well as reconfirm their goal of dwelling in a land that flowed with milk and honey.
All the requests were indications of Israel’s lack of faith in trusting God to take the land, as well as trusting in God’s promise of what was waiting for them when they possessed the land.
Remember, Moses didn’t need this information; he only asked the spies to bring the information back in order to reassure the people to go up and take the land immediately.
When the spies came back, Numbers 13:26, they confirmed that Canaan was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey, and provided the evidence, Numbers 13:27 / Exodus 3:8 / Exodus 13:5.
However, these spies also thought that the land was filled with a strong people who lived in fortified cities; they even saw descendants of Anak there, Numbers 13:28.
The Amalekites live in the Negev, Numbers 14:25; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan, Numbers 13:29. We can safely assume that not all the people were giants in the land, and we can safely assume that not all the land was desolate.
Those with the negative report obviously just focused on the points which they wanted to focus on in order to give a discouraging report. And so, by being selective in what they reported, they discouraged the people. These guys were totally focused on all the negatives but totally refused to trust in God and His power.
It was Caleb who silenced the people and said, they need to go now, they need to trust and obey God and take the land because God had made them able, Numbers 13:30. He completely trusted God, Romans 3:4.
However, the men who had gone up with him said, We can’t attack those people because they are stronger than we are, Numbers 13:31. Notice they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored and said, the land they explored devours those living in it, Numbers 13:32.
They report that they saw the Nephilim there, who are the descendants of Anak, come from the Nephilim, Numbers 13:33. The Nephilim were known as giants, Genesis 6:4.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The word ‘Nephilim’ means strong ones or tyrants, not people of gigantic stature, though it came to imply superhuman giants. The spies concluded that the Anakites were relatives of the Nephilim.’
Notice that these spies, except for Caleb and Joshua, compared themselves to grasshoppers when they observed those living in the land, Numbers 13:33.
There are two things to notice in this passage.
1. The lack of faith on the part of the people, and 2. The compliance of God with their request, for the purpose of educating them and letting them ‘have their foolish way and taste its bitter results.’