1 The Lord told Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, the country I'm giving to the Israelites. Choose one of the leaders from each of the tribes to go and do this.” 3 Moses did as the Lord had ordered and sent the men out from the Desert of Paran. They were all leaders of the Israelites. 4 Their names were: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben. 5 Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon. 6 Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah. 7 Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar. 8 Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim. 9 Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin. 10 Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun. 11 Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph). 12 Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan. 13 Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher. 14 Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali. 15 Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad. 16 These were the names of the men that Moses sent to explore the country. Moses called Hoshea Joshua. 17 Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the place looks like, and find out about the people living there—are they strong or weak? Are there many of them or only a few? 19 Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls? 20 Is the soil productive or not? Is it forested? Be brave, and bring back some of the country's fruit.” (It was the beginning of the grape harvest.) 21 So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear Lebo-hamath. 22 They went through the Negev and arrived in Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. This town was built seven years before the Egyptian town of Zoan. 23 When they arrived at the Valley of Eshcol they chopped down a branch that had just one bunch of grapes. They had to carry it on a pole held between two men. They also collected some pomegranates and figs. 24 (The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.) 25 Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country. 26 They went to see Moses and Aaron, and all the Israelites gathered there at their camp in Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. They gave a report before everyone and showed them the fruit they had brought back from the country. 27 This is the report they gave to Moses: “We went and explored the country you sent us to, and it is definitely very productive, as if it was flowing with milk and honey. Just look at some of its fruit! 28 But the people living there are strong, and their towns are big and have defensive walls. We also saw some descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live on the sea coast and also beside the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb asked for quiet as the people stood before Moses and told them, “Let's go and take over the land. We can conquer the country, no doubt about it!” 31 But the men who had gone with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!” 32 They spread a negative report among the Israelites about the country they had explored. They told people, “The country we explored destroys the people that live there. Plus everyone we saw was really big! 33 We even saw giants there—people descended from Anak the giant! Compared to them we looked like grasshoppers, and we must have looked like that to them too!”
Numbers 13 Free Bible Version
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
Geuel
One of the twelve leaders Moses sent to spy out Canaan, representing the tribe of Gad, who brought back a bad report about the land and died in the plague that struck the spies.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:15
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