1 And the Lord said to Moses, 2 Send men to get knowledge about the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you are to send a man, every one a chief among them. 3 And Moses sent them from the waste land of Paran as the Lord gave orders, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur. 5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori. 6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. 7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph. 8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun. 9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu. 10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi. 11 Of the tribe of Joseph, that is of the family of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi. 12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli. 13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael 14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi. 15 Of the tribe of Gad, Gevel, the son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to get knowledge about the land. And Moses gave to Hoshea, the son of Nun, the name of Joshua. 17 So Moses sent them to have a look at the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up into the South and into the hill-country; 18 And see what the land is like; and if the people living in it are strong or feeble, small or great in number; 19 And what sort of land they are living in, if it is good or bad; and what their living-places are, tent-circles or walled towns; 20 And if the land is fertile or poor, and if there is wood in it or not. And be of good heart, and come back with some of the produce of the land. Now it was the time when the first grapes were ready. 21 So they went up and got a view of the land, from the waste land of Zin to Rehob, on the way to Hamath. 22 They went up into the South and came to Hebron; and Ahiman and Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were living there. (Now the building of Hebron took place seven years before that of Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cutting down a vine-branch with its grapes, two of them took it on a rod between them; and they took some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was named the valley of Eshcol because of the grapes which the children of Israel took from there. 25 At the end of forty days they came back from viewing the land. 26 And they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the children of Israel, to Kadesh in the waste land of Paran; and gave an account to them and to all the people and let them see the produce of the land. 27 And they said, We came to the land where you sent us, and truly it is flowing with milk and honey: and here is some of the produce of it. 28 But the people living in the land are strong, and the towns are walled and very great; further, we saw the children of Anak there. 29 And the Amalekites are in the South; and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill-country; and the Canaanites by the sea and by the side of Jordan. 30 Then Caleb made signs to the people to keep quiet, and said to Moses, Let us go up straight away and take this land; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad account of the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there are men of more than common size. 33 There we saw those great men, the sons of Anak, offspring of the Nephilim: and we seemed to ourselves no more than insects, and so we seemed to them.
Numbers · Bible in Basic English
Numbers 13 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Ahiman
One of three descendants of Anak whom the spies saw living at Hebron.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:22; Joshua 15:14; Judges 1:10
Ammiel
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Dan, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the spies.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:12
Anak
The ancestor of the Anakim, the tall people of Canaan whom the spies feared; Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai at Hebron were his descendants.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:22; Numbers 13:28; Deuteronomy 9:2
Caleb
The son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah and one of the twelve spies, who urged Israel to take the land, followed the LORD wholeheartedly, was promised the land he had walked…
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:6; Numbers 13:30; Numbers 14:24
Gaddi
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Manasseh, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the…
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:11
Gaddiel
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Zebulun, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the…
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:10
Gemalli
The father of Ammiel, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Dan.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:12
Hori
The father of Shaphat, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Simeon.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:5
Igal
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Issachar, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the…
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:7
Jephunneh
The father of Caleb, the faithful spy of the tribe of Judah, called a Kenizzite in Numbers 32:12.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:6; Numbers 14:6; Numbers 32:12
Joseph
The father of Igal, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Issachar.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:7
Joshua
The Ephraimite son of Nun, originally named Hoshea, who led Israel against Amalek at Rephidim, served as Moses' attendant, was one of the two faithful spies, and was commissioned…
Cited in the guide: Exodus 17:9; Exodus 33:11; Numbers 13:16
Machi
The father of Geuel, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Gad.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:15
Michael
The father of Sethur, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Asher.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:13
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Nahbi
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Naphtali, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the…
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:14
Nun
The father of Joshua, whom Moses named from among the tribe of Ephraim; 1 Chronicles 7:26-27 places him in Ephraim's line after Elishama.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 33:11; Numbers 13:8; Numbers 13:16
Palti
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Benjamin, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the…
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:9
Raphu
The father of Palti, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Benjamin.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:9
Sethur
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Asher, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the spies.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:13
Shammua
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Reuben, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the spies.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:4
Shaphat
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Simeon, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the spies.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:5
Sheshai
One of three descendants of Anak whom the spies saw living at Hebron.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:22; Joshua 15:14; Judges 1:10
Sodi
The father of Gaddiel, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Zebulun.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:10
Susi
The father of Gaddi, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Manasseh.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:11
Talmai
One of three descendants of Anak whom the spies saw living at Hebron.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:22; Joshua 15:14; Judges 1:10
Vophsi
The father of Nahbi, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Naphtali.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:14
Zaccur
The father of Shammua, who was sent to spy out Canaan for the tribe of Reuben.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:4
Cross references (20)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 2 Deuteronomy 1:22–25; Numbers 32:8; Numbers 34:18; Exodus 18:25; Deuteronomy 1:15
- 3 Numbers 12:16; Numbers 32:8; Deuteronomy 1:19; Deuteronomy 9:23; Deuteronomy 1:23
- 6 Numbers 34:19; Numbers 14:6; Joshua 14:6–15; Numbers 14:30; Numbers 13:30
- 8 Numbers 11:28; Exodus 24:13; Deuteronomy 31:23; Deuteronomy 34:9; Numbers 27:18–22
- 16 Numbers 13:8; Exodus 17:9; Numbers 14:6; Matthew 1:21–23; Romans 9:25
- 17 Judges 1:9; Genesis 12:9; Judges 1:15; Joshua 15:3; Genesis 13:1
- 18 Ezekiel 34:14; Exodus 3:8
- 20 Deuteronomy 31:23; Nehemiah 9:35; Deuteronomy 31:6–8; Ezekiel 34:14; Nehemiah 9:25
- 21 Numbers 33:36; Numbers 20:1; Numbers 27:14; Joshua 15:1; Joshua 13:5
- 22 Psalm 78:43; Psalm 78:12; Joshua 15:13–14; Isaiah 19:11; Isaiah 30:4
- 23 Numbers 13:24; Numbers 32:9; Deuteronomy 1:24–25; Judges 16:4
- 25 Exodus 34:28; Numbers 14:33–34; Exodus 24:18
- 26 Numbers 32:8; Numbers 20:1; Numbers 33:36; Numbers 20:16; Deuteronomy 1:19
- 27 Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Exodus 33:3; Deuteronomy 31:20
- 28 Deuteronomy 9:1–2; Deuteronomy 1:28; Numbers 13:33; Joshua 11:22; Joshua 15:14
- 29 Numbers 14:43; Judges 6:3; Numbers 24:20; Psalm 83:7; Numbers 14:45
- 30 Numbers 14:24; Romans 8:31; Philippians 4:13; Psalm 60:12; Numbers 14:6–9
- 31 Deuteronomy 1:28; Joshua 14:8; Hebrews 3:19; Deuteronomy 9:1; Numbers 32:9
- 32 Amos 2:9; Numbers 14:36–37; Ezekiel 36:13–14; Matthew 23:13; 2 Samuel 21:20
- 33 Deuteronomy 1:28; Genesis 6:4; Isaiah 40:22; 1 Samuel 17:42; Deuteronomy 9:2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences