¹sn Chapter 13 provides the names of the spies sent into the land (vv. 1-16), their instructions (vv. 17-20), their activities (vv. 21-25), and their reports (vv. 26-33). It is a chapter that serves as a good lesson on faith, for some of the spies walked by faith, and some by sight.
²tn The verse starts with the vav consecutive on the verb: “and….”
³tn The imperfect tense with the conjunction is here subordinated to the preceding imperative to form the purpose clause. It could be translated “send…to investigate.”
⁴tn The participle here should be given a future interpretation, meaning “which I am about to give” or “which I am going to give.”
⁵tn Heb “one man one man of the tribe of his fathers.”
⁶tn Heb “mouth.”
⁷tn Heb “heads.”
⁸tc Some scholars emend “tribe” to “sons.” Cf. Num 1:10.
⁹sn The difference in the names is slight, a change from “he saves” to “the Lord saves.” The Greek text used Iesoun, for Hebrew Yeshua.
¹⁰tn The preterite with vav consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb of the same formation to express a temporal clause.
¹¹tn The instructions had them first go up into the southern desert of the land, and after passing through that, into the hill country of the Canaanites. The text could be rendered “into the Negev” as well as “through the Negev.”
¹²tn The form is the perfect tense with vav consecutive; the word therefore carries the volitional mood of the preceding imperatives. It may be either another imperative, or it may be subordinated as a purpose clause.
¹³tn Heb “see the land, what it is.”
¹⁴tn The verb is the Hitpael perfect with vav consecutive, from the root hazaq qzj), “to be strong.” Here it could mean “strengthen yourselves” or “be courageous” or “determined.” See further uses in 2 Sam 10:12; 1 Kgs 20:22; 1 Chr 19:13.
¹⁵tn Heb “Now the days were the days of.”
¹⁶sn The reference to the first ripe grapes would put the time somewhere at the end of July.
¹⁷sn Zin is on the southern edge of the land, but Rehob is far north, near Mount Hermon. The spies covered all the land.
¹⁸tn The idiom uses the infinitive construct: “to enter Hamath,” meaning, “on the way that people go to Hamath.”
¹⁹tc The MT has the singular, but the ancient versions and SP have the plural.
²⁰tn The preterite with vav consecutive is here subordinated to the following clause. The first verse gave the account of their journey over the whole land; this section focuses on what happened in the area of Hebron, which would be the basis for the false report.
²¹sn These names are thought to be three clans that were in the Hebron area (see Josh 15:14; Judg 1:20). To call them descendants of Anak is usually taken to mean that they were large or tall people (2 Sam 21:18-22). They were ultimately driven out by Caleb.
²²sn The text now provides a brief historical aside for the readers. Zoan was probably the city of Tanis, although that is disputed today by some scholars. It was known in Egypt in the New Kingdom as “the fields of Tanis,” which corresponded to the “fields of Zoar” in the Hebrew Bible (Ps 78:12, 43).
²³tn The word is related etymologically to the verb for “slip, slide, bend, totter.” This would fit the use very well. A pole that would not bend would be hard to use to carry things; but a pole or stave that was flexible would serve well.
²⁴tn The verb is rendered as a passive because there is no expressed subject.
²⁵tn Or “Wadi Eshcol.” The translation “brook” is too generous; the Hebrew term refers to a river bed, a ravine or valley through which torrents of rain would rush in the rainy season; at other times it might be completely dry.
²⁶tn The word “Eshcol” is drawn from the Hebrew expression concerning the “cluster of grapes.” The word is probably retained in the name Burj Haskeh, two miles north of Damascus.
²⁷tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.
²⁸sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.
²⁹tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of sub (bWv).
³⁰tn Heb “told him and said.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³¹tn The relative clause modifies “the land.” It is constructed with the relative and the verb: “where you sent us.”
³²sn This is the common expression for the material abundance of the land (see further, F. C. Fensham, “An Ancient Tradition of the Fertility of Palestine,” PEQ 98 [1966]: 166-67).
³³tn The word ’epes (sp#a#) forms a very strong adversative. The land was indeed rich and fruitful, but….”
³⁴tn Heb “the people who are living in the land.”
³⁵tn Heb “by the side [hand] of.”
³⁶sn For more discussion on these people groups, see D. J. Wiseman, ed., Peoples of Old Testament Times (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973).
³⁷tn The construction is emphatic, using the cohortative with the infinitive absolute to strengthen it: ‘aloh na‘aleh (hl#u&n~ hOu*), “let us go up” with the sense of certainty and immediacy.
³⁸tn The perfect tense with vav consecutive brings the cohortative idea forward: “and let us possess it”; it may also be subordinated to form a purpose or result idea.
³⁹tn Here again the confidence of Caleb is expressed with the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense: yakol nukal (lk^Wn loky`), “we are fully able” to do this. The verb yakal (lky) followed by the preposition lamed means “to prevail over, to conquer.”
⁴⁰tn The vav disjunctive on the noun at the beginning of the clause forms a strong adversative clause here.
⁴¹tn Or “an evil report,” i.e., one that was a defamation of the grace of God.
⁴²tn Heb “which we passed over in it”; the pronoun on the preposition serves as a resumptive pronoun for the relative, and need not be translated literally.
⁴³tn The verb is the feminine singular participle from ’akal (lka); it modifies the land as a “devouring land,” a bold figure for the difficulty of living in the place.
⁴⁴sn The expression has been interpreted in a number of ways, such as that the land was infertile (McNeile, Gray), that the Canaanites were cannibals (Binns), that it is a land filled with warlike dissensions (Noth), or that it denotes a land geared for battle (Coats). It may be that they intended the land to seem infertile and insecure.
⁴⁵tn Heb “in its midst.”
⁴⁶tc The Greek version uses gigantes (“giants”) to translate “the Nephilim”; but it does not retain the clause “the sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.”
sn The Nephilim are the legendary giants of antiquity. They are first discussed in Gen 6:4. This forms part of the pessimism of the spies’ report.
⁴⁷tn Heb “in our eyes.”
⁴⁸tn Heb “in their eyes.”