Numbers 13 commentary

NUMBERS 13 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Exploring Canaan
1 The Lord said to Moses,
BARNES, "And the Lord spake - The mission of the spies was first
suggested by the Israelites themselves. See Deu_1:22.
GILL, "And the Lord Spake unto Moses,.... When in the wilderness of Paran,
either at Rithmah or Kadesh; this was on the twenty ninth day of the month
Sivan, on which day, the Jews say (o), the spies were sent to search the land,
which was a scheme of the Israelites' own devising, and which they first
proposed to Moses, who approved of it as prudential and political, at least
he gave his assent unto it to please the people, and carried the affair to the
Lord, and consulted him about it; who, rather permitting than approving,
gave the following order; for the motion carried in it a good deal of unbelief,
calling in question whether the land was so good as had been represented
unto them, fearing it was not accessible, and that it would be difficult to get
into it, and were desirous of knowing the best way of getting into it before
they proceeded any further; all which were unnecessary, if they would have
fully trusted in the Lord, in his word, promise, power, providence, and
guidance; who had told them it was a land flowing with milk and honey; that
he would show them the way to it, by going before them in a pillar of cloud
and fire; that he would assuredly bring them into it, having espied it for
them, and promised it unto them; so that there was no need on any account
for them to send spies before them; however, to gratify them in this point,
he assented to it:
HENRY 1-3, "Here we have, I. Orders given to send spies to search out the
land of Canaan. It is here said, God directed Moses to send them (Num_13:1,
Num_13:2), but it appears by the repetition of the story afterwards (Deu_
1:22) that the motion came originally from the people; they came to Moses,
and said, We will send men before us; and it was the fruit of their unbelief.
They would not take God's word that it was a good land, and that he would,
without fail, put them in possession of it. They could not trust the pillar of
cloud and fire to show them the way to it, but had a better opinion of their
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own politics than of God's wisdom. How absurd was it for them to send to
spy out a land which God himself had spied out for them, to enquire the way
into it when God himself had undertaken to show them the way! But thus we
ruin ourselves by giving more credit to the reports and representations of
sense than to divine revelation; we walk by sight, not by faith; whereas, if
we will receive the witness of men, without doubt the witness of God is
greater. The people making this motion to Moses, he (perhaps not aware of
the unbelief at the bottom of it) consulted God in the case, who bade him
gratify the people in this matter, and send spies before them: “Let them
walk in their own counsels.” Yet God was no way accessory to the sin that
followed, for the sending of these spies was so far from being the cause of
the sin that if the spies had done their duty, and the people theirs, it might
have been the confirmation of their faith, and of good service to them.
JAMISON, "Num_13:1-33. The names of the men who were sent to search
the land.
The Lord spake unto Moses, Send thou men, that they may search the
land, of Canaan — Compare Deu_1:22, whence it appears, that while the
proposal of delegating confidential men from each tribe to explore the land
of Canaan emanated from the people who petitioned for it, the measure
received the special sanction of God, who granted their request at once as a
trial, and a punishment of their distrust.
K&D 1-17, "Numbers 13:1-17
Despatch of the Spies of Canaan. - Num_13:1. The command of Jehovah,
to send out men to spy out the land of Canaan, was occasioned, according to
the account given by Moses in Deu_1:22., by a proposal of the congregation,
which pleased Moses, so that he laid the matter before the Lord, who then
commanded him to send out for this purpose, “of every tribe of their
fathers a man, every one a ruler among them, i.e., none but men who were
princes in their tribes, who held the prominent position of princes, i.e.,
distinguished persons of rank; or, as it is stated in Num_13:3, “heads of the
children of Israel,” i.e., not the tribe-princes of the twelve tribes, but those
men, out of the total number of the heads of the tribes and families of Israel,
who were the most suitable for such a mission, though the selection was to
be made in such a manner that every tribe should be represented by one of
its own chiefs. That there were none of the twelve tribe-princes among them
is apparent from a comparison of their names (Num_13:4-15) with the
(totally different) names of the tribe-princes (Num_1:3., Num_7:12.). Caleb
and Joshua are the only spies that are known. The order, in which the tribes
are placed in the list of the names in Num_13:4-15, differs from that in
Num_1:5-15 only in the fact that in Num_13:10 Zebulun is separated from
the other sons of Leah, and in Num_13:11 Manasseh is separated from
Ephraim. The expression “of the tribe of Joseph,” in Num_13:11, stands for
“of the children of Joseph,” in Num_1:10; Num_34:23. At the close of the
list it is still further stated, that Moses called Hoshea (i.e., help), the son of
Nun, Jehoshua, contracted into Joshua (i.e., Jehovah-help, equivalent to,
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whose help is Jehovah). This statement does not present any such
discrepancy, when compared with Exo_17:9, Exo_17:13; Exo_24:13; Exo_
32:17; Exo_33:11, and Num_11:28, where Joshua bears this name as the
servant of Moses at a still earlier period, as to point to any diversity of
authorship. As there is nothing of a genealogical character in any of these
passages, so as to warrant us in expecting to find the family name of Joshua
in them, the name Joshua, by which Hosea had become best known in
history, could be used proleptically in them all. On the other hand, however,
it is not distinctly stated in the verse before us, that this was the occasion on
which Moses gave Hosea the new name of Joshua. As the Vav consec.
frequently points out merely the order of thought, the words may be
understood without hesitation in the following sense: These are the names
borne by the heads of the tribes to be sent out as spies, as they stand in the
family registers according to their descent; Hosea, however, was named
Joshua by Moses; which would not by any means imply that the alteration in
the name had not been made till then. It is very probable that Moses may
have given him the new name either before or after the defeat of the
Amalekites (Exo_17:9.), or when he took him into his service, though it has
not been mentioned before; whilst here the circumstances themselves
required that it should be stated that Hosea, as he was called in the list
prepared and entered in the documentary record according to the
genealogical tables of the tribes, had received from Moses the name of
Joshua. In Num_13:17-20 Moses gives them the necessary instructions,
defining more clearly the motive which the congregation had assigned for
sending them out, namely, that they might search out the way into the land
and to its towns (Deu_1:22). “Get you up there (‫ֶה‬‫ז‬ in the south country, and
go up to the mountain.” Negeb, i.e., south country, lit., dryness, aridity,
from ‫,נגב‬ to be dry or arid (in Syr., Chald, and Samar.). Hence the dry,
parched land, in contrast to the well-watered country (Jos_15:19; Jdg_1:15),
was the name given to the southern district of Canaan, which forms the
transition from the desert to the strictly cultivated land, and bears for the
most part the character of a steppe, in which tracts of sand and heath are
intermixed with shrubs, grass, and vegetables, whilst here and there corn is
also cultivated; a district therefore which was better fitted for grazing than
for agriculture, though it contained a number of towns and villages (see at
Jos_15:21-32). “The mountain” is the mountainous part of Palestine, which
was inhabited by Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites (Num_13:29), and was
called the mountains of the Amorites, on account of their being the
strongest of the Canaanitish tribes (Deu_1:7, Deu_1:19.). It is not to be
restricted, as Knobel supposes, to the limits of the so-called mountains of
Judah (Jos_15:48-62), but included the mountains of Israel or Ephraim also
(Jos_11:21; Jos_20:7), and formed, according to Deu_1:7, the backbone of
the whole land of Canaan up to Lebanon.
COFFMAN, "This chapter has a record of the sending out of the spies to survey the
land of Canaan, an event that proved to be pivotal in the history of Israel. In this
chapter, there is:
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(1) the cause of sending out spies (Numbers 13:1,2)
(2) the choice of the spies (Numbers 13:2-16)
(3) the commission of the spies (Numbers 13:17-20)
(4) the conduct of the spies (Numbers 13:21-24)
(5) the confirmation of what God had said about Canaan by the spies (Numbers
13:25-27)
(6) the contradiction of God's Word by the majority report of the spies (Numbers
13:28,29), and
(7) the counter-report of the minority (Numbers 13:30), and
(8) the crooked rebuttal by the majority (Numbers 13:31-33)[1]
The unity, consistency, and harmony of this amazing narrative are unassailable.
Never was the criticism any more bankrupt than in the assaults directed against this
chapter. A summary of critical views is that of Wade:
"This narrative is marked by numerous discrepancies, being a fusion of two
accounts drawn from JE and P. In JE the spies start from Kadesh, and the survey is
limited to southern Palestine; the report of land is favorable, but the inhabitants are
alarming, and only Caleb opposes the majority report. In P the spies start from
Paran, the survey extends to the far north boundary of Canaan, and the report of
the country is unfavorable, with both Caleb and Joshua dissenting."[2]
"Kadesh vs. Paran as the starting place ..." There is not a scholar on earth who
knows with certainty the exact location and boundaries of either Paran or Kadesh,
and the conceited assumption that these terms are in any sense contradictory is
absolutely untenable. Kadesh was a station within the much larger district called
Paran. It was natural that both names would appear in a truthful narrative.
"The journey covered only southern Canaan ... it extended all the way to
Hamath ..." Nowhere in the Bible is there any suggestion whatever that the journey
of the spies was limited to southern Canaan. Such a view is mere scholarly
imagination imported into the text. The narrative does not have a summary of all
that the spies did during that forty days, and the mention of the valley of Eschol (in
southern Canaan) was purely incidental to identifying the source of the cluster, and
cannot mean that the spies went nowhere else.
"Caleb alone mentioned as opposing the majority ... both Caleb and Joshua are said
to oppose the majority ..." The first mention of Caleb (Numbers 13:30) came from
his being the leader of the minority and simply cannot mean that he was alone in his
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opposition. In Numbers 14:6, it is revealed that both Joshua and Caleb opposed the
majority report. A discrepancy or contradiction could be alleged here only in the
event that one of the passages said Caleb alone stood against the evil report. Where
is any such statement?
We may summarize all critical fulminations against this chapter in the words of
Keil:
"These `discrepancies' do not exist in the Biblical narrative, but have been
introduced by the critic himself by arbitrary interpolations .... We cannot possibly
suppose that two accounts have been linked or interwoven here ... This style of
narrative is common, not only in the Bible, but also in the historical works of the
Arabs."[3]
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may spy out the
land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their
fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them. And Moses sent them
from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Jehovah: all of
them men who were heads of the children of Israel."
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. Is this a "contradiction?"
Certainly not. Did not God command Balaam to "go with the men," whereas the
desire and purpose of his doing so originated not with God at all, but in the evil
heart of Balaam (Numbers 22:35)? Another instance in which the same phenomenon
occurs is in the life of Paul. It was the church that sent Paul up to the so-called
"Jerusalem Conference" (Acts 15:2); and yet Paul himself stated that he "went up
by revelation" (Galatians 2:2), indicating that he went by God's commandment and
approval. There are numerous examples of this style of narrative in the Bible, in
which "the whole picture" appears only in the light of "all that the scriptures have
spoken." It can be nothing but a corrupted exegesis that sees supplementary
passages as discrepancies.
As a matter of truth, there is no way that the Israelites should have desired to send
out spies. Was not God their leader? Was not His visible appearance among them
day and night in the phenomenal glory of the fiery cloudy pillar? Did God need any
information that their spies could have discovered? In this episode, the Israelites
were the prototype of all faithless and timid brethren, who, in the face of clear duty,
prefer not to act, but to disguise their unwillingness as prudence in "seeking more
facts."
Their request for spies indicated a lack of faith. They were not trusting God. God
had already spied out the land. He knew all about it. He would not have sent them
to possess the land unless He had known that they were able to take it. When they
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finally did enter it, the giants were still there, and all the difficulties and problems
were still there; but, of course, they took it anyway. Yes, God permitted them to
send out the spies; but "He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their
souls."[4]
There are two things 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."[5]
BENSON, "Numbers 13:1-2. The Israelites being now come to the borders of
Canaan, Moses commanded them, in the name of God, to go up and possess it,
reminding them of his promise to give them the possession of it, and exhorting them
not to fear nor be discouraged, Deuteronomy 1:21. But the unbelieving and
distrustful multitude, forgetting the power and faithfulness of God, were afraid to
venture on this hazardous undertaking, as they thought it, till some persons were
sent to examine and bring them information what sort of country it was, and what
kind of people they should have to contend with. We will send men before us, said
they, and they shall search out the land, and bring us word again, Deuteronomy
1:22. Moses, therefore, in compliance with their request, is directed by God to send
proper persons, chosen from all the tribes, for this purpose. Every one a ruler
among them — Not those called princes of the tribes, in the first chapter of this
book, but men of wisdom and authority, and rulers or officers of an inferior kind.
EBC, "THE SPIES AND THEIR REPORT
Numbers 13:1-33; Numbers 14:1-10
Two narratives at least appear to be united in the thirteenth and fourteenth
chapters. From Numbers 13:17; Numbers 13:22-23, we learn that the spies were
despatched by way of the south, and that they went to Hebron and a little beyond, as
far as the valley of Eshcol. But Numbers 13:21 states that they spied out the land
from the wilderness of Zin, south of the Dead Sea, to the entering in of Hamath. The
latter statement implies that they traversed what were afterwards called Judaea,
Samaria, and Galilee, and penetrated as far as the valley of the Leontes, between the
southern ranges of Libanus and Antilibanus. The one account taken by itself would
make the journey of the spies northward about a hundred miles; the other, three
times as long.
A further difference is this: According to one of the narratives Caleb alone
encourages the people. {Numbers 13:30, Numbers 14:24} But according to the
Numbers 13:8; Numbers 14:6-7, Joshua, as well as Caleb, is among the twelve, and
reports favourably as to the possibility of conquering and possessing Canaan.
Without deciding on the critical points involved, we may find a way of harmonising
the apparent differences. It is quite possible, for instance, that while some of the
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twelve were instructed to keep in the south of Canaan, others were sent to the
middle district and a third company to the north. Caleb might be among those who
explored the south; while Joshua, having gone to the far north, might return
somewhat later and join his testimony to that which Caleb had given. There is no
inconsistency between the portions ascribed to the one narrative and those referred
to the other; and the account, as we have it, may give what was the gist of several co-
ordinate documents. As to any variance in the reports of the spies, we can easily
understand how those who looked for smiling valleys and fruitful fields would find
them, while others saw.only the difficulties and dangers that would have to be faced.
The questions occur, why and at whose instance the survey was undertaken. From
Deuteronomy we learn that a demand for it arose among the people. Moses says:
{Deuteronomy 1:22} "Ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, Let us send
men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the
way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come." In Numbers
the expedition is undertaken at the order of Jehovah conveyed through Moses. The
opposition here is only on the surface. The people might desire, but decision did not
lie with them. It was quite natural when the tribes had at length approached the
frontier of Canaan that they should seek information as to the state of the country.
And the wish was one which could be sanctioned, which had even been anticipated.
The land of Canaan was already known to the children of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and the praise of it as a land flowing with milk and honey mingled with their
traditions. In one sense there was no need to send spies, either to report on the
fertility of the land or on the peoples dwelling in it. Yet Divine Providence, on which
men are to rely, does not supersede their prudence and the duty that rests with them
of considering the way they go. The destiny of life or of a nation is to be wrought out
in faith; still we are to use all available means in order to ensure success. So
personality grows through providence, and God raises men for Himself.
To the band of pioneers each tribe contributes a man, and all the twelve are
headmen, whose intelligence and good faith may presumably be trusted. They know
the strength of Israel; they should also be able to count upon the great source of
courage and power-the unseen Friend of the nation. Remembering what Egypt is,
they know also the ways of the desert; and they have seen war. If they possess
enthusiasm and hope, they will not be dismayed by the sight of a few walled towns
or even of some Anakim. They will say, "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of
Jacob is our refuge." Yet there is danger that old doubts and new fears may colour
their report. God appoints men to duty; but their personal character and tendencies
remain. And the very best men Israel can choose for a task like this will need all
their faithfulness and more than all their faith to do it well.
The spies were to climb the heights visible in the north, and look forth towards the
Great Sea and away to Moriah and Carmel. They were also to make their way
cautiously into the land itself and examine it. Moses anticipates that all he has said
in praise of Canaan will be made good by the report, and the people will be
encouraged to enter at once on the final struggle. When the desert was around them,
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unfruitful, seemingly interminable, the Israelites might have been disposed to fear
that journeying from Egypt they were leaving the fertility of the world farther and
farther behind. Some may have thought that the Divine promise had misled and
deceived them, and that Canaan was a dream. Even although they had now
overpassed that dreary region covered with coarse gravel, black flints, and drifting
sand, "the great and terrible wilderness," what hope was there that northward they
should reach a land of olives, vineyards, and flowing streams? The report of the
spies would answer this question.
Now in like manner the future state of existence may seem dim and unreal, scarcely
credible, to many. Our life is like a series of marches hither and thither through the
desert. Neither as individuals nor as communities do we seem to approach any state
of blessedness and rest. Rather, as years go by, does the region become more
inhospitable. Hopes once cherished are one after another disappointed. The stern
mountains that overhung the track by which our forefathers went still frown upon
us. It seems impossible to get beyond their shadow. And in a kind of despair some
may be ready to say: There is no promised land. This waste, with its sere grass, its
burning sand, its rugged hills, makes the whole of life. We shall die here in the
wilderness like those who have been before us; and when our graves are dug and
our bodies laid in them, our existence will have an end. But it is a thoughtless habit
to doubt that of which we have no full experience. Here we have but begun to learn
the possibilities of life and find a clew to its Divine mysteries. And even as to the
Israelites in the wilderness there were not wanting signs that pointed to the fruitful
and pleasant country beyond, so for us, even now, there are previsions of the higher
world. Some shrubs and straggling vines grew in sheltered hollows among the hills.
Here and there a scanty crop of maize was reared, and in the rainy season streams
flowed down the wastes. From what was known the Israelites might reason
hopefully to that which as yet was beyond their sight. And are there not fore-signs
for the soul, springs opened to the seekers after God in the desert, some verdure of
righteousness, some strength and peace in believing?
Science and business and the cares of life absorb many and bewilder them.
Immersed in the work of their world, men are apt to forget that deeper draughts of
life may be drunk than they obtain in the laboratory or the countinghouse. But he
who knows what love and worship are, who finds in all things the food of religious
thought and devotion, makes no such mistake. To him a future in the spiritual world
is far more within the range of hopeful anticipation than Canaan was to one who
remembered Egypt and had bathed in the waters of the Nile. Is the heavenly future
real? It is: as thought and faith and love are real, as the fellowship of souls and the
joy of communion with God are realities. Those who are in doubt as to immortality
may find the cause of that doubt in their own earthliness. Let them be less occupied
with the material, care more for the spiritual possessions, truth, righteousness,
religion, and they will begin to feel an end of doubt. Heaven is no fable. Even now
we have our foretaste of its refreshing waters and the fruits that are for the healing
of the nations.
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The spies were to climb the hills which commanded a view of the promised land.
And there are heights which must be scaled if we are to have previsions of the
heavenly life. Men undertake to forecast the future of the human race who have
never sought those heights. They may have gone out from camp a few miles or even
some days’ journey, but they have kept in the plain. One is devoted to science, and
he sees as the land of promise a region in which science shall achieve triumphs
hitherto only dreamt of, when the ultimate atoms shall disclose their secrets and the
subtle principle of life shall be no longer a mystery. The social reformer sees his own
schemes in operation, some new adjustment of human relations, some new economy
or system of government, the establishment of an order that shall make the affairs of
the world run smoothly, and banish want and care and possibly disease from the
earth. But these and similar previsions are not from the heights. We have to climb
quite above the earthly and temporal, above economics and scientific theories.
Where the way of faith rises, where the love of men becomes perfect in the love of
God, not in theory but in the practical endeavour of earnest life, there we ascend, we
advance. We shall see the coming kingdom of God only if we are heartily with God
in the ardour of the redeemed soul, if we follow in the footsteps of Christ to the
summits of Sacrifice.
The spies went forth from among tribes which had so far made a good journey
under the Divine guidance. So well had the expedition sped that a few days’ march
would have brought the travellers into Canaan. But Israel was not a hopeful people
nor a united people. The thoughts of many turned back; all were not faithful to God
nor loyal to Moses. And as the people were, so were the spies. Some may have
professed to be enthusiastic who had their doubts regarding Canaan and the
possibility of conquering it. Others may have even wished to find difficulties that
would furnish an excuse for returning even to Egypt. Most were ready to be
disenchanted at least and to find cause for alarm. In the south of Canaan a pastoral
district, rocky and uninviting towards the shore of the Dead Sea, was found to be
sparsely occupied by wandering companies of Amalekites, Bedawin of the time,
probably with a look of poverty and hardship that gave little promise for any who
should attempt to settle where they roamed. Towards Hebron the aspect of the
country improved; but the ancient city, or at all events its stronghold, was in the
hands of a class of bandits whose names inspired terror throughout the district-
Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, sons of Anak. The great stature of these men,
exaggerated by common report, together with stories of their ferocity, seem to have
impressed the timid Hebrews beyond measure. And round Hebron the Amorites, a
hardy highland race, were found in occupation. The report agreed on was that the
people were men of great stature; that the land was one which ate up its inhabitants-
that is to say, yielded but a precarious existence. Just beyond Hebron vineyards and
olive-groves were found; and from the valley of Eschol one fine cluster of grapes
was brought, hung upon a rod to preserve the fruit from injury, an evidence of
capabilities that might be developed. Still the report was an evil one on the whole.
Those who went farther north had to tell of strong peoples-the Jebusites and
Amorites of the central region, the Hittites of the north, the Canaanites of the
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seaboard, where afterwards Sisera had his headquarters. The cities, too, were great
and walled. These spies had nothing to say of the fruitful plains of Esdraelon and
Jezreel, nothing to tell of the flowery meadows the "murmuring of innumerable
bees," the terraced vineyards, the herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats. They
had seen the strong, resolute holders of the soil, the fortresses, the difficulties; and of
these they brought back an account which caused abundant alarm. Joshua and
Caleb alone had the confidence of faith, and were assured that Jehovah, if He
delighted in His people, would give them Canaan as an inheritance.
The report of the majority of the spies was one of exaggeration and a certain
untruthfulness. They must have spoken altogether without knowledge, or else
allowed themselves to magnify what they saw, when they said of the children of
Anak, "We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
Possibly the Hebrews were at this time somewhat ill-developed as a race, bearing the
mark of their slavery. But we can hardly suppose that the Amorites, much less the
Hittites, were of overpassing stature. Nor could many cities have been so large and
strongly fortified as was represented, though Lachish, Hebron, Shalim, and a few
others were formidable. On the other hand, the picture had none of the
attractiveness it should have borne. These exaggerations and defects, however, are
the common faults of misbelieving and therefore ignorant representation. Are any
disposed to leave the wilderness of the world and possess the better country? A
hundred voices of the baser kind will be heard giving warning and presage. Nothing
is said about its spiritual fruit, its joy, hope, and peace. But its hardships are
detailed, the renunciations, the obligations, the conflicts necessary before it can be
possessed. Who would enter on the hopeless task of trying to cast out the strong man
armed, who sits entrenched-of holding at bay the thousand forces that oppose the
Christian life? Each position must be taken after a sore struggle and kept by
constant watchfulness. Little know they who think of becoming religious how hard
it is to be Christians. It is a life of gloom, of constant penitence for failures that
cannot be helped, a life of continual trembling and terror. So the reports go that
profess to be those of experience and knowledge of men and women who understand
life.
Observe also that the account given by those who reconnoitred the land of promise
sprang from an error which has its parallel now. The spies went supposing that the
Israelites were to conquer Canaan and dwell there purely for their own sake, for
their own happiness and comfort. Had not the wilderness journey been undertaken
for that end? It did not enter into the consideration either of the people as a whole
or of their representatives that they were bound for Canaan in order to fulfil the
Divine purpose of making Israel a means of blessing to the world. Here, indeed, a
spirituality of view was needful which the spies could not be expected to have.
Breadth of foresight, too, would have been required which in the circumstances
scarcely lay within human power. If any of them had taken account of Israel’s
spiritual destiny as a witness for Jehovah in the midst of the heathen, could they
have told whether this land of Syria or some other would be a fit theatre for the
fulfilment of that high destiny?
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And in ignorance like theirs lies the source of mistakes often made in judging the
circumstances of life, in deciding what will be wisest and best to undertake. We, too,
look at things from the point of view of our own happiness and comfort, and, in a
higher range, of our religious enjoyment. If we see that these are to be had in a
certain sphere, by a certain movement or change, we decide on that change, we
choose that sphere. But if neither temporal well-being nor enjoyment of religious
privilege appears to be certain, our common practice is to turn in another direction.
Yet the truth is that we are not here, and we shall never be anywhere, either in this
world or another, simply to enjoy, to have the milk and honey of a smiling land, to
fulfil our own desires and live to ourselves. The question regarding the fit place or
state for us depends for its answer on what God means to do through us for our
fellow-men, for the truth, for His kingdom and glory. The future which we with
greater or less success attempt to conquer and secure will, as the Divine hand leads
us on, prove different from our dream in proportion as our lives are capable of high
endeavour and spiritual service. We shall have our hope, but not as we painted it.
Who are the Calebs and Joshuas of our time? Not those who, forecasting the
movements of society, see what they think shall be for their people a region of
comfort and earthly prosperity, to be maintained by shutting out as far as possible
the agitation of other lands; but those who realise that a nation, especially a
Christian nation, has a duty under God to the whole human race. Those are our
true guides and come with inspiration who bid us not be afraid in undertaking the
world-wide task of commendering truth, establishing righteousness, seeking the
enfranchisement and Christianisation of all lands.
Notwithstanding the efforts of Caleb and afterwards of Joshua to controvert the
disheartening reports spread by their companions, the people were filled with
dismay; and night fell upon a weeping camp. The pictures of those Anakim and of
the tall Amorites, rendered more terrible by imagination, appear to have had most
to do with the panic. But it was the general impression also that Canaan offered no
attractions as a home. There was murmuring against Moses and Aaron. Disaffection
spread rapidly, and issued in the proposal to take another leader and return to
Egypt. Why had Jehovah brought them across the desert to put them under the
sword at last? The tumult increased, and the danger of a revolt became so great that
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the assembly.
Always and everywhere faithless means foolish, faithless means cowardly. By this is
explained the dejection and panic into which the Israelites fell, into which men often
fall. Our life and history are not confided to the Divine care; our hope is not in God.
Nothing can save a man or a nation from vacillation, despondency, and defeat but
the conviction that Providence opens the may and never fails those who press on. No
doubt there are considerations which might have made Israel doubtful whether the
conquest of Canaan lay in the way of duty. Some modern moralists would call it a
great crime-would say that the tribes could look for no success in endeavouring to
dispossess the inhabitants of Canaan, or even to find a place among them. But this
11

thought did not enter into the question. Panic fell on the host, because doubt of
Jehovah and His purpose overcame the partial faith which had as yet been
maintained with no small difficulty.
Now it was by the mouth of Moses Israel had been assured of the promise of God.
Broadly speaking, faith in Jehovah was faith in Moses, who was their moralist, their
prophet, their guide. Men here and there, the seventy who prophesied for instance,
had their personal consciousness of the Divine power; but the great mass of the
people had the covenant, and trusted it through the mediation of Moses. Had Moses
then, as the Israelites could judge, a right to command unquestionable authority as
a revealer of the will of the unseen God? Take away from the history every incident,
every feature, that may appear doubtful, and there remains a personality, a man of
distinguished unselfishness, of admirable patience, of great sagacity, who certainly
was a patriot, and as certainly had greater conceptions, higher enthusiasms, than
any other man of Israel. It was perhaps difficult for those who were gross in nature
and very ignorant to realise that Moses was indeed in communication with an
unseen, omnipotent Friend of the people. Some might even have been disposed to
say: What if he is? What can God do for us? If we are to get anything, we must seek
and obtain it for ourselves. Yet the Israelites as a whole held the almost universal
belief of those times, the conviction that a Power above the visible world does rule
the affairs of earth. And there was evidence enough that Moses was guided and
sustained by the Divine hand. The sagacious mind, the brave, noble personality of
Moses, made for Israel, at least for every one in Israel capable of appreciating
character and wisdom, a bridge between the seen and the unseen, between man and
God.
We must not indeed deny that this conviction was liable to challenge and revision. It
must always be so when a man speaks for God, represents God. Doubt of the
wisdom of any command meant doubt whether God had really given it by Moses.
And when it seemed that the tribes had been unwisely brought to Canaan, the
reflection might be that Moses had failed as an interpreter. Yet this was not the
common conclusion. Rather, from all we learn, was it the conclusion that Jehovah
Himself had failed the people or deceived them. And there lay the error of unbelief
which is constantly being committed still.
For us, whatever may be said as to the composition of the Bible, it is supremely, and
as no other sacred book can be, the Word of God. As Moses was the one man in
Israel who had a right to speak in Jehovah’s name, so the Bible is the one book
which can claim to instruct us in faith, duty, and hope. Speaking to us in human
language, it may of course be challenged. At one point and another, some even of
those who believe in Divine communication to men may question whether the Bible
writers have always caught aright the sound of the heavenly Word. And some go so
far as to say: There is no Divine Voice; men have given as the Word of God, in good
faith, what arose in their own mind, their own exalted imagination.
Nevertheless, our faith, if faith we are to have at all, must rest on this Book. We
12

cannot get away from human words. We must rely on spoken or written language if
we are to know anything higher than our own thought. And what is written in the
Bible has the highest marks of inspiration-wisdom, purity, truth, power to convince
and convert and to build up a life in holiness and in hope.
It remains true accordingly that doubt of the Bible means for us, must mean, not
simply doubt of the men who have been instrumental in giving us the Book, but
doubt of God Himself. If the Bible did not speak in harmony with nature and reason
and the widest human experience when it lays down moral law, prescribes the true
rules and unfolds the great principles of life, the affirmation just made would be
absurd. But it is a book of breadth, full of wisdom which every age is verifying. It
stands an absolute, the manifest embodiment of knowledge drawn from the highest
sources available to men-from sources not earthly nor temporary, but sublime and
eternal. Faith, therefore, must have its foundation on the teaching of this Book as to
"what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man." And
on the other hand infidelity is and must be the result of rejecting the revelation of
the Bible, denying that here God speaks with supreme wisdom and authority to our
souls.
The Israelites doubting Jehovah who had spoken through Moses, that is to say,
doubting the highest, most inspiring word it was possible for them to hear, turning
away from the Divine reason that spoke, the heavenly purpose revealed to them, had
nothing to rely upon. Confused inadequate counsels, chaotic fears, waited
immediately upon their revolt. They sank at once to despondency and the most
fatuous and impossible projects. The men who stood against their despair were
made offenders, almost sacrificed to their fear. Joshua and Caleb, facing the tumult,
called for confidence. "Fear not ye the people of the land," they said, "for they are
bread for us: their defence is removed from over them, and Jehovah is with us: fear
them not." But all the congregation bade stone them with stones; and it was only the
bright glow of the pillar of fire shining out at the moment that prevented a dreadful
catastrophe.
So the faithless generations fell back still into panic, fatuity, and crime. Trusting in
their resources, men say, "No change need trouble us; we have courage, wisdom,
power, sufficient for our needs." But have they unity, have they any scheme of life
for which it is worth while to be courageous? The hope of bare continuance, of
ignoble safety and comfort will not animate, will not inspire. Only some great vision
of Duty seen along the track of the eternally right will kindle the heart of a people;
the faith that goes with that vision will alone sustain courage. Without it, armies and
battleships are but a temporary and flimsy defence, the pretext of a self-confidence,
while the heart is clouded with despair. Whether men say, We will return to Egypt,
refusing the call of Providence which bids us fulfil a high destiny, or still refusing to
fulfil it, We will maintain ourselves in the wilderness-they have in secret the
conviction that they are failures, that their national organisation is a hollow
pretence. And the end, though it may linger for a time, will be dismemberment and
disaster.
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Modern nations, nominally Christian, are finding it difficult to suppress disorder,
and occasionally we are almost thrown into a state of panic by the activity of
revolutionists. Does the cause not lie in this, that the en avant of Providence and
Christianity is not obeyed either in the politics or social economy of the people? Like
Israel, a nation has been led so far through the wilderness, but advance can only be
into a new order which faith perceives, to which the voice of God calls. If it is
becoming a general conclusion that there is no such country, or that the conquest of
it is impossible, if many are saying, Let us settle in the wilderness, and others, Let us
return to Egypt, what can the issue be but confusion? This is to encourage the
anarchist, the dynamiter. The enterprise of humanity, according to such counsels, is
so far a failure, and for the future there is no inspiring hope. And to make economic
self-seeking the governing idea of a nation’s movement is simply to abandon the true
leader and to choose another of some ignominious order. Would it have been
possible to persuade Moses to hold the command of the tribes, and yet remain in the
desert or return to Egypt? Neither is it possible to retain Christ as our captain and
also to make this world our home, or return to a practical heathenism, relieved by
abundance of food, the Hellenic worship of beauty, the organisation of pleasure. For
the great enterprise of spiritual redemption alone will Christ be our leader. We lose
Him if we turn to the hopes of this world and cease to press the journey towards the
city of God.
PARKER, " Irreligious Fears
Numbers 13 , Numbers 14:1-25
God gives no speculative commands. When he said—"Send thou men, that they may
search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel," he meant that
the land of Canaan was to be given to Israel whatever difficulties or delays might
occur in the process of acquisition. There is no if in the commandments of Heaven
that may mean either of two courses or either of two ways. God says,—You shall
have this, if you are faithful. But the if relates to the human mind and to the human
disposition, and not to the solidity and certainty of the divine purpose or decree.
This is true in morals. Along the line that is laid down in the Bible, which is called,
happily and properly, the line of salvation, heaven is found—not the mean heaven of
selfish indulgence and selfish complacency and release from mere toil and pain, but
the great heaven of harmony with God, identification with the Spirit divine,
complete restfulness in the movement of the infinite purpose. There will be
difficulties on the road; these difficulties will assume various proportions, according
to the dispositions of the men who survey them; but the Lord does not propose to
give the end without, by implication, proposing also to find the grace and comfort
necessary for all the process. We are not at liberty to stop at processes as if they
were final points; we have nothing to do with processes but to go through them; the
very call to attempt them is a pledge that they may be overcome. But these processes
test the quality of men. It is by such processes that we are revealed to ourselves. If
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everything came easily as a mere matter of course, flowing in sequence that is never
disturbed, we should lose some of the highest advantages of this present time school.
We are made strong by exercise; we are made wise by failure; we are chastened by
disappointment; driven back again and again six days out of the seven, we are
taught to value the seventh day the more, that it gives us rest, and breathing time,
and opportunity to consider the situation, so that we may begin another week"s
battle with a whole Sabbath day"s power. To some the processes of life are indeed
hard; let us never underrate them. Men are not cheered when the difficulties of the
way are simply undervalued. No man can sympathise with another until he has
learned the exact weight of the other man"s trouble and the precise pain of his
distress. There is a rough and pointless comfort which proceeds upon the principle
that you have only to underrate a man"s trials—to make them look as little and
contemptible as possible—in order to invigorate his motive and to increase his
strength. That is a profound mistake. He can sympathise best who acknowledges
that the burden is heavy and the back weak, and the road is long, and the sky dull,
and the wind full of ominous moaning;—granted that the sympathising voice can
say all this in a tone of real appreciation, it has prepared the listener for words of
cheer and inspiration—healthy, sound, intelligent courage. This is just the way of
the Bible; it recognises the human lot in all its length and breadth; it addresses itself
to circumstances which it describes with adequate minuteness and with copious and
pathetic eloquence.
Here you find a number of men, such as live in all ages, who are crushed by material
considerations. They report that the people of the country which they were sent to
search were "strong," their cities were "walled and very great," and the population
was made up of the Anakim—the "giants," the towering and mighty sons of Anak;
they reported that some dwelt in "the south," and some "in the mountains," and
some "by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan." This was a mean report, it was
hardly a report at all,—so nearly may a man come to speak the truth, and yet not to
be truthful, so wide is the difference between fact and truth. Many a book is true
that is written under the name of fiction; many a book is untrue that lays claim only
to the dry arguments of statistics and schedules. Truth is subtle; it is a thing of
atmosphere, perspective, unnameable environment, spiritual influence. Not a word
of what the truth says may have occurred in what is known as within the boundaries
of any individual experience. The fact relates to an individuality; the truth relates to
a race. A fact is an incident which occurred; a truth is a gospel which is occurring
throughout all the ages of time. The men, therefore, who reported about walled
cities, and tall inhabitants, and mountain refuges, and fortresses by the sea, confined
themselves to simply material considerations; they overlooked the fact that the
fortress might be stronger than the soldier, that the people had nothing but figure,
and weight, and bulk, and were destitute of the true spirit which alone is a
guarantee of sovereignty of character and conquest of arms. But this is occurring
every day. Again and again we come upon terms which might have been written this
very year. We are all men of the same class, with an exceptional instance here and
there; we look at walls, we receive despatches about the stature of the people and the
number of their fortresses, and draw very frightsome and terrible conclusions
15

concerning material resources, forgetting in our eloquent despatches the only thing
worth telling, namely: that if we were sent by Providence and are inspired by the
Living God and have a true cause and are intent to fight with nobler weapons than
gun and sword, the mountains themselves shall melt whilst we look upon them, and
they who inhabit the fortresses shall sleep to rise no more. This is what we must do
in life—in all life—educational, commercial, religious. We have nothing to do with
outsides and appearances, and with resources that can be totalled in so many
arithmetical figures; we have to ascertain, first, Did God send us? and secondly, if
he sent us, to feel that no man can drive us back. If God did not send us, we shall go
down before the savage; if God is not in the battle, it cannot and ought not to
succeed, and failure is to be God"s answer to our mean and unrighteous and
untimely prayer. Who is distressed by appearances? Who is afraid because the
labour is very heavy? What young heart quails because the books which lie upon the
road which terminates in the temple of wisdom are many in number and severe in
composition? We are called to enter the sanctuary of wisdom and of righteousness;
therefore we must take up the books as a very little thing and master them, and lay
them down, and smile at the difficulties which once made us afraid.
But one man at least spoke up and said,—We must go; this thing is to be
done:—"Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and
possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." Was Caleb, then, a giant—larger
than any of the sons of Anak? Was he a Hercules and a Samson in one? Was his
arm so terrific that every stroke of it was a conquest? We are not told so; the one
thing we are told about Caleb is that he was a man of "another spirit." That
determines the quality of the man. Character is a question of spirit. It is an affair of
inward and spiritual glow. Caleb had been upon the preliminary search; Caleb had
seen the walls, and the Anakim, and the fortresses, and he came back saying,—We
can do this, not because we have so many arms only or so many resources of a
material kind—but because he was a man of "another spirit." In the long run, spirit
wins; in the outcome of all history, spirit will be uppermost. The great battles of life
are not controversies of body against body, but, as far as God is in them, they are a
question of spirit against body, thought against iron, prayer against storming and
blustering of boastful men. While the cloud hangs over the field, and the dust of the
strife is very thick, and the tumult roars until it deafens those who listen, we cannot
see the exact proportions, colours, and bearings of things; but if we read history
instead of studying the events of the day which have not yet settled themselves into
order and final meaning, we shall discover that spirit is mightier than body, that
"knowledge is power," that "righteousness exalteth a nation," and that they who
bear the white banner of a pure cause ultimately triumph because God is with them.
How little the people had grown! They hear of the walled cities, and the great towns,
and the tall men—the Amalekites, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the
Amorites, and the Canaanites, and they lifted up their voices and wept—and wept
all night! You have only to make noise enough in the ears of some men to make them
afraid; you have simply to keep on repeating a catalogue of names, and they think
you are reciting the resources of almightiness; mention one opposition, and possibly
16

they may overcome the suggestion of danger: but have your mouth well-filled with
hostile names and be able to roll off the catalogue without halt or stammer, and you
pour upon the fainting heart a cataract which cannot be resisted. The people had
grown but little: they were still in the school of fear; they were still in the desert of
despair; they were childish, cowardly, spiritless; they had no heart for prayer; they
forgot the only thing worth remembering, the pledge and covenant of God. Let us
not condemn them. It is easy to condemn ancient Israelites and forgotten
unbelievers. How stands the case with us? Precisely as it stood with the people of
whom we are now reading. We are not an inch ahead of them. Christians are to-day
just as fearful as the children of Israel were thousands of years ago: they have only
to hear of certain bulks, forces, sizes, Numbers , in order to quail as if they had
never heard of the Eternal God. Would to Heaven we could make an exchange as
between such people and some Song of Solomon -called infidels we know! The
infidels would make better Christians. There is more reality in them, more firmness,
more standing right up to the line of conviction. He who prays, and then fears,
brings discredit upon the altar at which he prayed; he who talks of the promises of
God, and then lives in subjection to the devil, is worse than an infidel.
What wonder that God himself was filled with contempt towards the people whom
he had thus far led? He would slay them; he would "smite them with the pestilence,
and disinherit them"; he would root up the root of Abraham and begin a new
people in the spirit and life of Moses; he would start from a new centre; he would
obliterate the past: he would begin afresh to-morrow.
"And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou
broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) And they will tell it to the
inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people,
that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that
thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by
night. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one Prayer of Manasseh , then the
nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was
not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he
hath slain them in the wilderness" ( Numbers 14:13-16).
What book but the Bible has the courage to represent a man standing in this
attitude before his God and addressing his Sovereign in such persuasive terms? This
incident brings before us the vast subject of the collateral considerations which are
always operating in human life. Things are not straight and simple, lying in rows of
direct lines to be numbered off, checked off and done with. Lines bisect and
intersect and thicken into great knots and tangle, and who can unravel or
disentangle the great heap? Things bear relations which can only be detected by the
imagination, which cannot be compassed by arithmetical Numbers , but which force
upon men a new science of calculation, and create a species of moral algebra, by
which, through the medium and help of symbols, that is done which was impossible
to common arithmetic. Moses was a great leader; he thought of Egypt: what will the
enemy say? The enemy will put a false construction upon this. As if he had said,—
17

This will be turned against Heaven; the Egyptians do not care what becomes of the
people, if they can laugh at the Providence which they superstitiously trusted; the
verdict passed by the heathen will be:—God was not able to do what he promised,
so he had recourse to the vulgar artifice of murder. The Lord in this way developed
Moses. In reality, Moses was not anticipating the divine purpose, but God was
training the man by saying what Hebrews , the Lord, would do, and by the very
exaggeration of his strength called up Moses to his noblest consciousness. We do this
amongst ourselves. By using a species of language adapted to touch the innermost
nerve and feeling of our hearers, we call those hearers to their best selves. If the
Lord had spoken a hesitant language, or had fallen into what we may call a tone of
despair, Moses himself might have been seduced into a kindred dejection; but the
Lord said, I will smite, I will disinherit, I will make an end; and Moses became
priest, intercessor, mighty pleader,—the very purpose which God had in view—to
keep the head right, the leading man in tune with his purposes. So Moses said,
"Pardon"; the Lord said, "Smite"; and Moses said, "Pardon "—that is the true
smiting. The Lord meant it; the Lord taught Moses that prayer which Moses seemed
to invent himself. The Lord trains us, sometimes, by shocking our sensibilities; and
by the very denunciation of his judgments he drives us to tenderer prayer.
How stands our own case in relation to this? We deserve divine contempt: we are
frail and spiritless and mean; we shun danger; we are afraid of the damp night; we
want to be let alone; if it is possible to die without fighting, let us die in the
wilderness; if we can escape danger, we prefer to turn over upon our couch and to
slumber away into death and oblivion. Where is the aggressive spirit amongst
Christians? Men have gone out to search the land, and they have brought back this
report: that the land is a land of darkness: the land is a land of shame: there are
thousands upon thousands of people dying of starvation, perishing for lack of
knowledge, contemning the sanctuary, shut up in avenues and alleys and back
places into which the daintiest civilisation dare not go: rough men given to
drunkenness, bestiality and cruelty: women who are concealing their beauty under
distress and poverty and manifold shame: children who have never heard the divine
name or been invited to the divine table. Christians are few in number; the devil"s
army is an infinite host, dwelling in great cities walled and very strong, and the
devil"s men are of heroic proportion; their language is strong and definite; their
habits have in them no touch of fear; they are valiant in their master"s cause: they
care not whether they swear, whether they drink, whether they do the foul and
forbidden deed of unrighteousness and untruthfulness. The Church says,—Let us
sing an evening hymn and go home by the quiet way, and sigh ourselves into any
heaven that may be ready to take us; do not be sensational; do not attempt anything
novel or unusual; let us be quit of all things; and if we can get home by sneaking
along the eaves of the houses and in the shady part of the road so that nobody may
see us, do let us sing the evening hymn and go to rest. Is there no Caleb? Is there no
Joshua? Is there no man of "another spirit" to say, Let us go up at once, when we
are well able to overcome it? In whose strength? In God"s. By whose armour?
God"s. The battle is not yours, but God"s. The one thing we have dropped out of
our calculations is—Almightiness.
18

PETT, "Introduction
C. THE SPYING OUT OF THE LAND AND THE REFUSAL TO GO FORWARD
FOLLOWED BY REJECTION AND EXPULSION FROM THE LAND (Chapters
13-14).
Following the arrival in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh, the tribes settled down
while the land ahead could be spied out. The oases of Kadesh would provide a
welcome change from the harshness of the wilderness, and they were probably glad
to be able to rest once more at a place where water was not scarce.
The sending out of the spies or scouts may be seen as a wise military manoeuvre.
Scouting what lay ahead was always the precursor to military activity. But in this
case it must surely be seen as more than that, for it was Yahweh Who was leading
His people and He would not be unaware of what lay ahead. It therefore seemingly
performed a two way function. Firstly that it would let the people know how fruitful
and pleasant the land was, and secondly it would face them up to what lay ahead in
the way of fighting for the land. Yahweh wanted to test out their faith to see if it
would be strong enough for what they would have to face. It was very much a trial
of what they could cope with.
Already in the wilderness the slave mentality of the people had raised its head and
they had been revealed to be in a sad psychological state. They had complained, and
murmured, and wept when things had gone wrong. Even the stay at Sinai and the
assurance of His dwelling among them had not combated that. Faced with the
problem of fighting for the land their first reaction would be the desire to return to
‘comfortable’ slavery in Egypt (Numbers 14:3-4). So Yahweh was right therefore to
be concerned lest they be insufficient for what lay ahead. He was well aware that, if
their faith was not strong enough, any entry into the land, which would necessarily
be followed by sustained warfare, could only end in disaster. He would have to hold
them up at every turn and the result would be a nation not worthy of the name. It
would result in something far different from what He intended. That was not what
He had brought them there for.
The sending out of the spies must therefore be seen as a test of whether they were in
a fit state to enter the land. The outcome would determine whether the entry should
be made immediately, or whether a further wait was advisable. In the event the
latter proved to be the true position. And indeed when an abortive attempt was
made in desperation it did turn out to be disastrous. We must not see God’s refusal
to let them enter into the land as simply caprice on His part. It was a studied
recognition of the fact that they were not yet ready, and could not cope with what
lay ahead.
He thus accepted that until they had become hardened by a time in the wilderness,
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with the present generation being replaced by people who had been brought up to
liberty and had more backbone, an advance on the land would be inadvisable. Had
they gone forward it would have required miracles even greater than those wrought
in Egypt, and Yahweh clearly did not think that they were worthy of them. If His
people which were called by His name were not willing to trust Him and His name,
then establishing them in the land would not produce a nation which brought glory
to His name, but would simply result in a nation of selfish and weak misfits who
simply forgot Him. And that was not His intention. That would not be a nation
worthy of being seen as the Kingdom of God.
This section from Numbers 13:1 to Numbers 14:45 deals with that situation. It
consists of:
a Scouts advancing into the land to search it out (Numbers 13:1-25).
b The scouts report on what lay ahead (Numbers 13:26-33).
c The people’s response (Numbers 14:1-10).
d The anger of Yahweh (Numbers 14:11-12).
d The intercession of Moses (Numbers 14:13-19).
c Yahweh’s response (Numbers 14:20-38).
b The people report on their plans (Numbers 14:39-43)
a The people advancing into the land with devastating results (Numbers 14:44-45)
Verses 1-16
Chapter 13 The Sending Out of Scouts and the Message They Brought Back.
1). The Scouts Sent Out (Numbers 13:1-16).
The first section from Numbers 13:1-16 basically covers:
a Yahweh’s command to send out men to spy out the land (Numbers 13:1-2 a).
b The spies to be sent out one for each tribe (Numbers 13:2 b).
c Moses at Yahweh’s command sends out spies (Numbers 13:3).
b The names of those sent, one for each tribe (Numbers 13:4-15).
a These are the names of thos sent out to spy out the land (Numbers 13:16).
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Numbers 13:1
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,’
Again we have confirmation that here we have Yahweh’s words to Moses. The
writer could not make it more clear that he intends us to see what he wrote as the
actual words of Moses, spoken to him by the Voice from the throne (Numbers 7:87).
TRAPP, "Numbers 13:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Ver. 1. And the Lord spake.] Yielding to the people’s importunity, and winking at
their infidelity; for he had before spied out the land for them, [Ezekiel 20:6] and
searched it out, [Deuteronomy 1:33] but that satisfied them not; seeing was, with
them, believing. See Deuteronomy 1:22.
WHEDON, " 1. Send thou men — Although Canaan had been promised to the
Israelites as a God-given inheritance on the condition of their fidelity, yet this
promise did not render the means of conquest unnecessary. All the strategy of war
was required, such as the ambuscade (Joshua 8:13) and spies, (Joshua 2:1,) in order
to success. God’s promises are not designed to supersede, but to stimulate, human
activity. Moreover, this reconnaissance afforded to the spies a test of faith in
Jehovah, and their report tested the whole nation.
Every one a ruler — R.V., “a prince.” Spies in war are usually not men of high
rank, but adventurers who court peril for gain or praise; but these spies, though not
the tribe-princes named in chaps. i and vii, are rulers or princes selected from their
tribes because of their eminence. From Deuteronomy 1:22, we infer that the policy
of sending out the spies originated with the Israelites themselves, and was permitted
by God as a concession to the weakness of their faith, with a warning to “be of good
courage.” Strong faith would have accepted Jehovah’s description of Canaan, and
would have leaned on his ability to bring them in according to his oft-repeated
promise, without any reconnaissance. Thus suggests the Jewish Midrash. The order
of the tribes differs from that in Numbers 1:5-15, only in the separation of Zebulun
from the other sons of Leah in Numbers 13:10, and in Numbers 13:11 Manasseh
from Ephraim, who together constitute the tribe of Joseph, but are always counted
as two tribes, in accordance with the prediction of the dying Jacob in Genesis
48:5-6.
BI 1-20, "Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan.
Glimpses of the better land
I. The search.
II. The retreat,
21

III. An emblem of God’s dealings with His people.
1. The children of Israel were sent back to the wilderness on account of
their sin.
2. While they are sent in judgment, they go back of their own accord.
3. Though the fruit of sin, and the token of God’s righteous displeasure,
all was overruled for their good.
4. Though chastened they are not cast off.
(1) They are Divinely delivered.
(2) They are Divinely sustained.
(3) They are Divinely guided.
(4) They are Divinely chastened.
IV. Improvement.
1. Let young believers be not high-minded, but fear.
2. Let backsliders remember and weep.
3. Let tried and troubled saints take fresh courage. (Islay Burns, D. D.)
The sending forth of the spies
I. The origin of this expedition (cf. Deu_1:20-25).
1. God had Himself declared to them the excellence of the land (Exo_3:8;
Exo_33:3).
2. He had promised to guide them to the land (Exo_32:34; Exo_33:2;
Exo_33:14). Moreover, He was visibly present with them in the majestic
pillar of cloud and fire.
3. He had promised to drive out the heathen nations and give them
possession of the land (Exo_23:20-33; Deu_1:8).
4. He commanded them to “go up and possess” the land (Deu_1:8; Deu_
1:21).
5. Yet their answer was, “We will send men before us, and they shall
search us out the laud,” &c. (Deu_1:22). Clearly their duty was not to
send men to search out the land, but trusting in God, to obey His voice
and go and take possession of the land. God may allow us to carry out our
unbelieving plans to our own confusion. If we will “lean unto our own
understanding,” He will let us take our way until we find what utter folly
our fancied wisdom is.
II. The agents in this expedition. “Of every tribe of their fathers shall ye
send a man, every one a ruler among them,” &c. (Num_13:2-16). Three
points here require notice.
1. The wisdom of this arrangement.
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(1) in sending one man from each tribe. By this arrangement every
tribe would have a witness of its own.
(2) In sending a leading man from each tribe. They were approved
men of influence, and therefore their testimony would be the more
likely to be credited.
2. The scarcity of worthy leaders. We see here that a large proportion of
even these leading men, these “rulers” and “heads of the children of
Israel,” were unworthy of the position which they occupied.
3. The diversity of human fame. The names of these twelve men have
been handed down to the present time; but how different are the
positions which they occupy! History perpetuates the memory of Nero as
well as of St. Paul, of Judas Iscariot as well as of Jesus Christ. We are
making our posthumous reputation now; let us take heed that it be of a
worthy character.
III. The aims of this expedition. They were to report as to the condition of—
1. The land, whether it was fertile or barren, whether it was wooded or
bare, &c.
2. The towns, whether they were walled and fortified or open and
unprotected, &c.
3. The people, whether they were strong or weak, whether they were few
or many, &c.
IV. The spirit appropriate to this expedition. “And be ye of good courage.”
(W. Jones.)
The twelve spies
I. Their selection.
1. One from each tribe. That each tribe, without preference or
distinction, might be represented.
2. Each was a man of mark. “Every one a ruler.” “Heads of the children
of Israel.” Men of judgment and discretion. This the more needful—
(1) Because the journey was perilous.
(2) Because the object was important. Men able to judge of the soil,
and inhabitants.
3. They were chosen and sent by Moses. Their various characters prove
the impartiality of Moses. He could doubtless have found in each tribe a
man after his own heart. Probably he allowed the people of each tribe to
have a voice in the matter.
II. Their commission.
1. They were to spy out the whole land. Not to give a report upon some
few favourable or unfavourable aspects of it.
23

2. They were to observe the people, and note especially their numbers,
character, habits, and strength.
3. They were to bring particulars of the dwellings of the people; whether
cities, tents, or otherwise. From this, their habits and power of
resistance might be inferred.
4. They were carefully to examine the soil, whether fit for pasturage or
tillage, whether it was fat or lean.
5. To confirm and illustrate what they might say of the soil, they were to
bring of the fruit of the land.
6. They were to be fearless. God would have them in His keeping.
III. Their journey.
1. In the glorious summer-time, thus commissioned, they set out on their
enterprise. Time when the country looked most beautiful.
2. They passed up through the whole country, from the south to the
extreme north; even to Hamath.
3. Returning, they visited Hebron. Should not the remembrance of him
who dwelt there (Abraham) have encouraged them to believe in their
conquest of the country?
4. At a place afterwards called Eshcol (the place of grapes, or the
cluster), they cut down a large bunch of grapes; and collecting also some
figs and pomegranates, they returned with much information after forty
days.
IV. Their report.
1. Things in which they agreed. Concerning the country, soil, fruit,
people. They showed the fruit they had brought.
2. Things about which they differed. Their ability to conquer this
wonderful country.
3. Effect of their representations.
(1) Immediate. People discouraged and tumultuous (Num_13:30;
Num_14:1-5). They began to rebel. Were for returning to Egypt.
(2) Ultimate. Delayed the stay in the desert, and the conquest of
Canaan for many years.
4. Only Joshua and Caleb faithful; these were silenced and out-voted.
Minorities have often been in the right. Reason: goodness and wisdom
generally with the few. (J. C. Gray.)
Wise travellers
To us at this day the use may be twofold. First, to such as travel to see
foreign countries, that they observe fit things in them, so make good use of
their travel, not neglecting things profitable, and sucking up all venom, that
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the corruption of those places may yield, as too many do, to their own, not
only temporal, but eternal woe, and to the poisoning of many others when
they return. Secondly, to magistrates, ministers, and all of good disposition,
it may be a pattern of care and endeavour, according to the places and
power they have, to work liking in men of the true Canaan that shall endure
for ever, and a daily disliking of the pleasures of Egypt, this transitory and
sinful world, that bewitcheth so many to their endless woe and confusion.
(Bp. Babington.)
The promised land
We have a heavenly Canaan, towards which we are journeying; and we are
told by an oracle, even more sure than the Urim and Thummim, “There
remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God.” This, then, being the case,
can we do better than apply to ourselves the injunction in the text, and
“search out the land” which is our promised abode? True it is, we cannot
send men as the Jews did, for “who shall ascend into heaven, save the Son of
God which came down from heaven?” The city which we seek is no fancy of
the imagination. But shall we open the book of their record, and note what
inspired lips have spoken concerning the New Jerusalem? Shall we tell you
of the gates, each made of a single pearl, and the foundations of twelve
manner of precious stones? When the gates of that city shall close upon the
ransomed spirit, will it be on these things that the undying eye will be fixed,
or rather upon the face of “Him who sitteth upon the throne,” the triune
Jehovah, the glorified Jesus? He who hath “washed us in His own blood,
and made us kings and priests to God and to the Lamb,” will be the supreme
object of our admiration and worship. Such is the land towards which we
are hastening—an inheritance not doubtful, but secured to us by two
“immutable things, by which it is impossible for God to lie.” And now,
having heard this good report, shall we gird on our swords and prepare, as
disciples of the Lord, to “fight the good fight of faith,” and declare in the
heart-stirring words of Caleb, “Let us go up and possess it, for we are well
able to overcome it.” Press forward, then; the voice of our Captain is
cheering us onward—“Fear not, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you
the kingdom.” Angels are rejoicing at our progress; and not only so, but
fighting on our side; Satan and his apostate legions are fleeing before the
triumphant cross. Shall we plead our terrors at the Anakim, while the
sword of the Eternal is drawn on our behalf? Away with the thought;
“though they hedge us in on every side, in the name of the Lord we will
destroy them.” Yet let us not go on this warfare “without counting the cost”;
the enemies against whom we have to contend are giants indeed. “We
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.” These our foes are watchful as well as powerful; they are
most malignant; they know our weak parts, and can tempt us most craftily;
they are in league with the corruption of our own nature, and are often most
dangerous when least suspected. Are we prepared, against such antagonists
as these, not only to draw the sword, but to cast away the scabbard? (H.
Christmas, M. A.)
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Moses called Oshea . . . Jehoshua.—
The change of Joshua’s name
Originally called Hoshea, or Salvation, this name was changed, when he led
the spies, to Jehoshua, or The Lord is Salvation. And it has never ceased to
seem significant to the Christian that this name of Joshua should have been
that by which our Lord was called. In its Greek form, “Jesus,” it was given to
Him because He was to save His people from their sins. By His distinctive
name among men He was linked to Joshua, and in the salvation He
accomplishes for His people we are therefore led to expect the same leading
characteristics as distinguished the salvation of Israel by Joshua.
1. We are, in the first place, reminded by this parallel that the help
afforded to us in Christ is God’s help, and this in a fuller sense than was
true in Israel’s case.
2. Again, we are reminded by this parallel, that as in the conquest of the
land by Joshua, so in our salvation, is there a somewhat perplexing
mixture of miracle and hard fighting. Sometimes the rivers that flow
deep before us open at our approach, and we pass over dryshod. At other
times we are allowed to fall into ambuscades. And just as the Israelites,
when they found the Jordan open before them and the walls of Jericho
fall down, supposed that the conquest of the land was to be completed
without their drawing their swords, and were in consequence defeated
before Ai, so are the great mass of those who enter the Christian life
presuming that God will give them the land of uprightness, purity of
heart, and holiness of life, with scarcely an effort on their part. And
therefore, though there was miracle on the side of Israel, yet this rule
was distinctly laid down as the rule by which the territory was allotted to
the tribes, that each was to have what each could take, and hold against
the enemy. This is the law of our acquisitions also. What becomes really
ours is what we fight for inch by inch, killing as we go, slaughtering the
obstinate foe on his own soil, so that the property be left to us
uncontested. God’s grant is useless to us if we will not draw the sword
and conquer it, if we will not wield the axe and clear it. These two united
form the strongest of titles, God’s grant and our own conquest. (Marcus
Dods, D. D.)
2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan,
which I am giving to the Israelites. From each
ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
26

BARNES, "A ruler - A comparison of the list with that of Num_13:1 :5
following shows that they were not the princes of the tribes, but heads of
houses or families Num_12:4.
Of the names here given those of Joshua and Caleb alone are otherwise
known to us.
CLARKE, "Send thou men, that they may search - It appears from Deu_
1:19-24 that this was done in consequence of the request of the people, after
the following address of Moses: “And when we departed from Horeb, we
went through all that great and terrible wilderness - and we came unto
Kadesh-Barnea; and I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the
Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. Behold the Lord thy
God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of
thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. And ye
came near unto me every one of you, and said: We Will Send Men Before Us,
And They Shall Search Us Out The Land and bring us word again, by what
way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying
pleased me well, and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe,” etc., etc.
Nearly the whole of these verses is added here by the Samaritan.
Every one a ruler - Not any of the princes of the people, (see Numbers 1)
for these names are different from those; but these now sent were men of
consideration and importance in their respective tribes.
GILL, "Send thou men,.... Which is rather a permission than a command; so
Jarchi interprets it,"send men according to thy mind, I do not command
thee, but if thou pleasest send;''this he observed was agreeable to Moses,
and to the Israelites, and therefore granted it, or allowed them to take their
own way, and which issued badly, as it always does, when men are left to
their own counsel:
that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of
Israel; called the land of Canaan, though it consisted of seven nations, from
the principal of them; this God had given in promise to the children of
Israel, and had now brought them to the borders of it; nay, had given them
orders to go up and possess it; but they were for searching it first, to know
what sort of a land it was, and which was the best way of entering into it,
which is here permitted them, see Deu_1:21,
of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man; excepting the tribe of
Levi; the reason of which was because they were to have no inheritance in
the land, Deu_10:9; but then, to make up the number twelve, the two sons of
Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, are reckoned as two tribes:
27

everyone a ruler among them; a prince in his tribe; so were men of honour
and credit, of power and authority, of prudence and probity, and who might
be trusted with such an affair, and their report believed: they were not
indeed princes of the highest rank, not the same that assisted in taking the
numbers of the people, who were captains over their several tribes, as in
Num_1:4, &c. but were inferior princes and rulers, perhaps rulers of
thousands.
CALVIN, "2.Of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man. If all had been
taken from one tribe, or from any single portion of the people, their fidelity might
have been suspected by the others. God, therefore, would have each tribe assured by
its own witness, in order that their report might be more unquestionable. All cause
for jealousy was also to be taken away; lest, if any tribe had been passed over, it
might have excepted against the messengers, whom it supposed to have been elected
in contempt of it. This, then, was the advantage of the equal distribution, lest any
sinister suspicion or offence might disturb the unanimity of the whole people.
Secondly, it is required that they should be possessed of personal dignity, since God
commands that chief men should be chosen, whose testimony would be of greater
authority; for it would have been easy to throw discredit upon obscure individuals.
Since, however, both precautions were unsuccessful, it appears from hence that
there is no counsel so wise and salutary as not to be capable of perversion by the
wickedness of mankind. Thus this excellent providence of God rendered the people
the more inexcusable. At the same time, God has reminded us once for all by this
example that, however those, who seemed to be like pillars, may totter and stumble,
or even fall altogether, still our minds must be supported by faith, so as not to give
way.
Their names are enumerated, in perpetual remembrance of their ignominy, except
in the case of two, Joshua and Caleb; for it was just that their crime should be
handed down to all ages, and that the infamy of their perfidiousness should never be
blotted out, since they endeavored, as far as in them lay, to bring to naught the
promise and the grace of God.
Moses gave the name of Jehoshua to the son of Nun in the spirit of prophecy, as a
presage of the exalted function to which he was destined. Ambition is so rash, that
men are often disappointed in the result, when they invent titles of honor of their
own accord; but Moses was not induced by the blindness of affection to change the
name Oshea into Jehoshua; but God directed his tongue and mind thus to
commend, beforehand, him who (49) was to be the future minister of their
preservation. Still it cannot be inferred with certainty from this passage at what
time the new name was given him; for it is not specified that he was called Jehoshua
at the time he was sent out; nay, it is probable that he had been previously thus
distinguished, viz., from the period in which he had been associated with Moses as
his companion and minister in all important matters.
28

Calvin here alludes to the apparent contradiction arising from the fact that Joshua
had already been called by his new name in Exodus 17:9; and Numbers 11:28,
which, as Hengstenberg remarks, was a topic of discussion as early as the times of
Justin Martyr. Hengstenberg reviews the three modes of meeting the difficulty
proposed, viz., 1. That he was so called in the earlier passages by prolepsis. 2. That
Moses now only renewed the name. 3. That a statement is here made of what had
taken place a considerable time before. To this view he himself inclines, and says,
“That the author here first mentioned that he, whom he had originally called simply
Joshua, originally bore the name of Hoshea, was not without good reason. What had
been hitherto related of Joshua, belonged to him as a servant of God; the sacred
name was, therefore, properly employed. But here Hoshea must stand; for he went
to spy out the land, not as a servant of Moses, but as one of the heads of the children
of’ Israel,’ — one of the plenipotentiaries of the congregation.” — Genuineness of
Pentateuch, vol. 2, p. 323.
COKE, "Numbers 13:2. Send thou men, that, &c.— It appears from Deuteronomy
1:22; Deuteronomy 9:23 that this motion to search the land of Canaan was made by
the unbelieving multitude. Being come near to the borders of the land, God ordered
them by Moses to go up, and take possession of it; but, forgetting the power and
promises of God, the people were afraid to venture upon it, till some were sent to
bring them intelligence what kind of country it was, and what sort of people they
had to deal with; Moses, therefore, by divine direction, complies with the
importunities of the people, and chooses a proper officer out of each tribe for that
purpose: every one a ruler among them; for it was fit that men of authority and
prudence should be sent, of ability to execute the trust, and of credit to be believed:
their names shew plainly that they were not the persons, who, in the first chapter of
this book, are called princes of the tribes: they must have been rulers only of some
part, not of a whole tribe; perhaps some of those who were rulers of thousands, or
rulers of hundreds; called heads of the people, Exodus 18:25. They were sent,
according to the opinion of the Jews and St. Jerome, in the month Ab, which was the
fifth of the second year; at the beginning of the month, which falls upon the
nineteenth day of our July; see Bishop Patrick. We should just observe, that in
many versions of the Bible, this chapter begins with the last verse of the foregoing
chapter.
PETT, "Numbers 13:2
‘Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of
Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a prince
among them.’
Yahweh gave the command to send out spies or scouts to spy out the land of Canaan
which He was giving to the children of Israel. A scout was to go out from each tribe,
and each scout was to be a prince of the tribe. He intended that those who reported
29

back would be men of substance, and men of authority.
Note the emphasis on the fact that the land was God’s gift to them. Thus any failure
to respond would be a refusal of God’s gift. Yet it was also on the other hand
Yahweh’s assurance that they need not fear, for the gift was at His disposal and He
could ensure its reception. All the tribes were to be involved (apart from Levi). The
purpose of sending ‘princes’ was probably so that their word might carry authority
with all the people. This was a ‘search and see’ expedition being carried out on their
behalf in order to see how they would respond.
This command of Yahweh was, however, a response to the people’s own ideas, for in
Deuteronomy 1:22 we learn that the people had first approached Moses with a view
to sending out scouts, which would be a normal procedure. God was here
confirming His agreement with the plan. God regularly works in with men’s
determining. The purpose of the people was in order to discover what lay ahead.
PULPIT, "Numbers 13:2
Send thou men, that they may search the land. If this account of the mission of the
spies be compared with that given in Deuteronomy 1:20-25, it may be seen in a
striking instance how entirely different a colour may be put upon the same
circumstances by two inspired narratives. No one indeed will affirm that the two
records are contradictory, or even inconsistent, and yet they leave an entirely
different impression upon the mind; and no doubt were intended to. It is important
to note that the Divine inspiration did not in the least prevent two sacred authors
(cf. 2 Samuel 24:1 with 1 Chronicles 21:1), or even the same author at different
times, from placing on record very distinct and even strongly contrasted aspects of
the same facts, according to the point of view from which he was led to regard them.
In Deuteronomy 1:1-46, Moses reminds the people that on their arrival at Kadesh he
had bidden them go up and take possession; that they had then proposed to send
men before them to examine the land; that the proposal had pleased him so well that
he had adopted it and acted upon it. It is unquestionably strange that facts so
material should have been omitted in the historical Book of Numbers. It is, however,
to be considered—
1. That there is no contradiction between the two accounts. We may be certain from
many a recorded example that Moses would not have acted on the popular
suggestion without referring the matter to the Lord, and that it would be the Divine
command (when given) which would really weigh with him.
2. That the recital in Deuteronomy is distinctly ad populum, and that therefore their
part in the whole transaction is as strongly emphasized as is consistent with the
truth of the facts.
3. That the narrative of Numbers is fragmentary, and does not profess to give a full
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account of matters, especially in such particulars as do not directly concern the
Divine government and guidance of Israel. It is not, therefore, a serious difficulty
that the record only begins here at the point when God adopted as his own what had
been the demand of the people. If we ask why he so adopted it, the probable answer
is that he knew what secret disaffection prompted it, and to what open rebellion it
would lead. It was better that such disaffection should be allowed to ripen into
rebellion before they entered their promised land. Miserable as the desert
wandering might be, it was yet a discipline which prepared the nation for better
things; whereas the invasion of Canaan without strong faith, courage, and self-
restraint (such as they showed under Joshua) could but have ended in national
disaster and destruction. Of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man. This
was not part of the original proposition (Deuteronomy 1:22), but was agreeable to
the general practice in matters of national concern, and was no doubt commanded
in order that the whole people might share in the interest and responsibility of this
survey. Every one a ruler among them. This does not mean that they were to be the
tribe princes (as the names show), for they would not be suitable in respect of age,
nor could they be spared for this service. They were "heads of the children of
Israel" (verse 3), i.e; men of position and repute, but also no doubt comparatively
young and active, as befitted a toilsome and hazardous excursion.
TRAPP, "Numbers 13:2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan,
which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a
man, every one a ruler among them.
Ver. 2. Every one a ruler amongst them.] That might be, as Uriah and Zachariah,
[Isaiah 8:2] faithful witnesses; for lying lips become not a prince. [Proverbs 17:7]
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out
from the Desert of Paran. All of them were
leaders of the Israelites.
GILL, "And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord,.... By his power,
permission, and leave, as Jarchi, that there might be no delay through his
means:
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sent them from the wilderness of Paran; from Rithmah or Kadeshbarnea,
which seem to be one and the same place in that wilderness: this, as before
observed, was on the twenty ninth day of Sivan: See Gill on Num_13:1,
all those were heads of the children of Israel; were not mean and vulgar
men, but persons of rule, who bore some office of magistracy ant
government among the people in their respective tribes.
JAMISON, "those men were heads of the children of Israel — Not the
princes who are named (Num_10:14-16, Num_10:18-20, Num_10:22-27),
but chiefs, leading men though not of the first rank.
PETT, "Numbers 13:3
‘And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment
of Yahweh, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.’
Ever obedient to Yahweh’s command Moses sent men out from the wilderness of
Paran, where the people were encamped at the oases of the Kadesh region, and all
who were sent were chieftains.
TRAPP, "Numbers 13:3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them
from the wilderness of Paran: all those men [were] heads of the children of Israel.
Ver. 3. By the commandment of the Lord.] That is, by his permission; {See Trapp on
"Numbers 13:1"} God’s command was, that they should forthwith, without any
further search, go up and possess the land. [Deuteronomy 1:21] Now wicked men
are esteemed unjust, because they act against God’s command, though according to
his decree; like as believers are esteemed just, not because they obey God’s decree,
but his command.
4 These are their names: from the tribe of
Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;
HENRY 3-16, " The persons nominated that were to be employed in this
service (Num_13:4, etc.), one of each tribe, that it might appear to be the act
32

of the people in general; and rulers, person of figure in their respective
tribes, some of the rulers of thousands or hundreds, to put the greater
credit upon their embassy. This was designed for the best, but it proved to
have this ill effect that the quality of the persons occasioned the evil report
they brought up to be the more credited and the people to be the more
influenced by it. Some think that they are all named for the sake of two good
ones that were among them, Caleb and Joshua. Notice is taken of the change
of Joshua's name upon this occasion, Num_13:16. He was Moses's minister,
but had been employed, though of the tribe of Ephraim, as general of the
forces that were sent out against Amalek. The name by which he was
generally called and known in his own tribe was Oshea, but Moses called
him Joshua, in token of his affection to him and power over him; and now,
it should seem, he ordered others to call him so, and fixed that to be his
name henceforward. Oshea signifies a prayer for salvation, Save thou;
Joshua signifies a promise of salvation, He will save, in answer to that
prayer: so near is the relation between prayers and promises. Prayers
prevail for promises, and promises direct and encourage prayers. Some
think that Moses designed, by taking the first syllable of the name Jehovah
and prefixing it to his name, which turned Hoshea into Jehoshua, to put an
honour upon him, and to encourage him in this and all his future services
with the assurances of God's presence. Yet after this he is called Hoshea,
Deu_32:44. Jesus is the same name with Joshua, and it is the name of our
Lord Christ, of whom Joshua was a type as successor to Moses, Israel's
captain, and conqueror of Canaan. There was another of the same name,
who was also a type of Christ, Zec_6:11. Joshua was the saviour of God's
people from the powers of Canaan, but Christ is their Saviour from the
powers of hell.
COFFMAN, ""And these were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the
son of Zaccur. Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. Of the tribe of
Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the
son of Raphu. Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. Of the tribe of
Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. Of the tribe of Dan,
Ammiel the son of Gemalii. Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. Of the
tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of
Machi. These are the names of the men that Moses sent to spy out the land. And
Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua."
Note that the tribe of Levi is not mentioned and that both Manasseh and Ephraim
appear as the tribe of Joseph. This came about from Jacob's adoption of Ephraim
and Manasseh as his sons with full rank with the twelve sons of Jacob. It is easy to
memorize these names if they are arranged so as to allow the alliteration, thus:
SHAMMUA; SHAPHAT, and SETHUR; AMMIEL; GADDIEL; GEUEL; IGAL;
NAHBI; PALTI; GADDI; CALEB and JOSHUA.
33

"Shammua ..." means "heard," the name appearing also in 2 Samuel 5:14;
Nehemiah 11:17; 12:18.
"Shaphat ..." means "judge." This was also the name of Elisha's father.
"Sethur ..." means "hidden."
"Ammiel ..." means "God is my kinsman." The name also appears in the story of
Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:4).
"Gaddiel ..." means "God is my fortune." This is the full form of the name Gad.
"Geuel ..." means "majesty of God." It occurs nowhere else in the Bible.
"Igal ..." means "he will redeem." One of David's heroes (2 Samuel 23:36).
"Nahbi ..." means "hidden."
"Palti ..." means "God's deliverance." Also the name of Michal's husband (1
Samuel 25:44).
"Gaddi ..." another form of "Gad."
"Caleb ..." means "dog" and could have been applied to him because of his Gentile
ancestry. He was a Kenizzite (Numbers 32:12).[6]
"Hoshea ..." means "desire of salvation." Moses changed the name to Joshua by
adding the prefix "Jeh" for Jehovah, giving the meaning of "divinely appointed,
head of salvation," or "Savior." The name as changed is the same as "Savior", or
"Jesus."[7]
We cannot leave the discussion of the name Joshua without noticing the fantastic
proposition advanced by some critics to the effect that the P author of this passage
gave the name of Hoshea instead of Joshua, and then invented the story that Moses
changed his name, "in order to defend his view that the name Jehovah could not
have been known before Moses, and so presumably not at the time of Joshua's
birth!"[8] What an insight this gives to the critical NONSENSE about the name
Jehovah having been unknown before Moses. The name of Jehovah appears in the
name of Moses' mother, Jochebed! It was known extensively by the patriarchs of
old, as any student of the Bible may read for himself. The air castle that members of
the critical community have built upon Exodus 6:3 by means of their erroneous
translation of the passage crumbles into nothing in the light of the truth. It is not
true that God said that He was not known prior to the burning bush as "Jehovah."
The proper translation of the verse in question is: "By my name Jehovah was I not
known unto your fathers?"
34

Numbers 13 commentary

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Numbers 13 commentary