Numbers 13
(1) Scouts Sent into Canaan
Then the Existing One told Moses,
“Send out some people to scope out the region of Canaan, which I’m gonna give to Israel’s descendants. Send one leader from each of the patriarchs’ tribes.”
So Moses followed the Existing One’s orders and sent out the scouts from the Paran wilderness [Paran means “cavernous place”]. Each scout led one of the tribes who had descended from Israel’s sons. These were their names according to their tribes:
Reuben’s tribe: Shammua [whose name means “renowned”], who was the son of Zaccur [“mindful”]
Simeon’s tribe: Shaphat [“judged”], who was the son of Hori [“cave dweller”]
Judah’s tribe: Caleb [“dog”], who was the son of Jephunneh [“he’ll be facing”]
Issachar’s tribe: Igal [“He buys back”], who was the son of Joseph [“the Existing One has added”]
Ephraim’s tribe: Hoshea [“salvation”], who was the son of Nun [“descendants”]
Benjamin’s tribe: Palti [“rescue”], who was the son of Raphu [“healed”]
Zebulun’s tribe: Gaddiel [“God is my fortune”], who was the son of Sodi [“acquaintance”]
Joseph’s tribe: Gaddi [“existing”], who was the son of Susi [“my horse”]. Gaddi was from the sub-tribe of Manasseh (Joseph’s oldest son).
Dan’s tribe: Ammiel [“my relative is God”], who was the son of Gemalli [“camel driver”]
Asher’s tribe: Sethur [“hidden”], who was the son of Michael [“who is like God”]
Naphtali’s tribe: Nahbi [“hidden”], who was the son of Vophsi [“rich”]
Gad’s tribe: Geuel [“majesty of God”], who was the son of Machi [“decrease”]
Those are all the scouts Moses sent out to scope out the region. In the list above, leader number 5 was named “Hoshea” [which means “salvation”], but Moses called him “Joshua” [which means “the Existing One is salvation”].
(17) Scouts Investigate the Land
When Moses sent these men to scope out Canaan, he told them,
“Go to the Negev [the southern region] and go to the hills to see what the land is like. Find out if its inhabitants are strong or weak, many or few. And pay attention to the quality of their land. Is it good or bad? And find out what their cities are like. Do they live in open camps? Or fortified strongholds? Is the land lush or desolate? And try to get your hands on some of the local fruit from the land.”
(Grape season was just starting.)
So they went and scoped out the region from the Zin wilderness [Zin means “flat”] all the way to Rehob at Lebo-hammath [Rehob means “expansive place”] . After reaching the Negev, the scouts went to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai were. (Hebron was a city in south Judah that was built 7 years before Zoan in Egypt, and the people groups mentioned were descendants of Anak, the giant.)
(23) Scouts Obtain Grape Cluster
Then they went to the Eshcol wadi [a “wadi” is a river canyon]. That’s where they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes and carried it on a pole between two men with some pomegranates and figs. That place became known as Eshcol [which means “cluster”], because of the grape cluster Israel’s descendants obtained there.
(25) Scouts Deliver Report
After spending 40 days scoping out the region, the scouts returned to Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the Israeli population at Paran, Kadesh. They told them all about it and showed them the fruit they brought back, saying,
“We infiltrated the area, and it was gushing with honey and milk. And here’s some fruit we found there. But the locals are really strong, and they have huge fortified cities. We even saw Anak’s descendants there. [Anak was a giant.] Amalek [whose name means “valley dweller”] lives in the Negev [the southern region], while the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hilly region. And the Canaanites live on the coast and next to the Jordan.”
(30) Only 1 Scout is Optimistic
Then Caleb hushed everyone and said,
“We should go up and capture the land, because we’ll definitely prevail.”
But the other scouts said,
“We can’t go up against those people! They’re too strong for us!”
They gave a bad report about the land, saying,
“The land we saw was a land that consumes its inhabitants. All the people we saw there were very large. We also saw the Nephilim there. (Anak’s sons were part of the Nephilim.) We looked like grasshoppers next to them!”
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