1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 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, you shall send a man, every one a prince amongst them.” 3 Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD. All of them were men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 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, of the tribe 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, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. 17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country. 18 See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; 19 and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; 20 and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes. 21 So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. 22 They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there. 25 They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. 26 They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. 29 Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.” 30 Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” 31 But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” 32 They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers · World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Numbers 13 World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
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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