1 And the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.” 3 So at the command of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites, 4 and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; 15 and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua. 17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether its people are strong or weak, few or many. 19 Is the land where they live good or bad? Are the cities where they dwell open camps or fortifications? 20 Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) 21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. 23 When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs. 24 Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol. 25 After forty days the men returned from spying out the land, 26 and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit! 28 Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!” 31 But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!” 32 So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature. 33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
Numbers · Majority Standard Bible
Numbers 13 Majority Standard Bible
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