Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Numbers-Chapter 13

Num 13.1-33 tells us about scouts that were sent out to get an idea about the layout of the land and to decide what was the best route. This was not a bad idea to seek out information because strategic intelligence was necessary. The problem will be that they will not trust the Lord and they will use the report of the scouts to determine whether or not they were going to enter into the land. This is a turning point for all those who were coming out of slavery.

v 1…Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

v 2…”Send out (shelach) for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan (we learn right way they were not going in as “spies” because the Hebrew word for “spy” is “menagei” and that is not used in any form in this chapter; these were not “twelve spies” as we have often heard; they will be sent in to “tour” and “explore” the land. There was no need for “spies” because Yehovah has already given them the land and didn’t need their input. They were to travel through it like “tourists” and were “shaliachim” or sent in to gather information; the Hebrew word used is “toor” and it means to travel about and explore. They were to come back with good impressions and reports about the advantages and beauty of the land. God gives them permission to go in if they wanted to, so that is why “yourself” is used, but they went in to satisfy their own ego and were arrogant. They were already negative and had been complaining, and they were going to see what they wanted to see), which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader (nasi) among them.”

v 3…So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran (Kadesh Barnea or Wadi Rum-Josh 14.7) at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads “sarim” or princes or ambassadors) of the sons of Israel.

v 4…These then were their names; from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

v 5…from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

v 6…from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh (Josh 15.13; see v 30);

v 7…from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

v 8…from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun (in Hebrew it is Hoshea bin Nun not “ben Nun” This may have been a nickname, hinting at his wisdom and understanding because “bin” is from the root “binah” meaning understanding. This alludes to the fact that God “took away” from the full “ben” (son) relationship with his father to show that he had an even greater relationship with his spiritual father Yehovah. In fact, ‘Yeho” is added to his name in v 16 by Moses to be said, “Yehoshua.” This is a form of the name “Yeshua”);

v 9…from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

v 10…from the tribe of Zebulon, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

v 11…from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;

v 12…from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

v 13…from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

v 14…from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

v 15…from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

v 16…These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out (tour) the land, but Moses called Hoshea the son (bin) of Nun, Joshua (Yehoshua-Yehovah saves; he will be a type of Yeshua).

v 17…When Moses sent them (from Kadesh Barnea) to spy out (tour) the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev (south), then go up into the hill country (the mountains of Judea);

v 18…and see (they were commissioned to find out the following things) what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether there are few or many;

v 19…and how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?

v 20…And how is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes (July/August).

v 21…So they went up and spied out the land (toured it) from the wilderness of Zin (northeast of Kadesh Barnea and the southern boundary of Canaan) as far as Rehob (near Mount Hermon and the source of the Jordan) at Lebo-hamath (the entrance of Hamath, a narrow pass between Hermon and Lebanon, the northernmost border of of the land promised-Num 34.8).

v 22…When they had gone up into the Negev (south), they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai (probably sons or clans), the descendants of Anak were (a very tall people; known before this as Kiriat-arbah or “city of the four” or from Arba, the father of Anak). Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt (a very old city predating 2000 BC).

v 23…Then they came to the valley of Eshcol (valley of clusters and called this later after Israel had gained possession of the land) and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between to men with some of the pomegranates and the figs (this is very meaningful in Hebrew; the phrase “single cluster” is “eshcol echad” and there were hundreds of grapes, symbolizing a composite unity and a picture of the Messiah in John 15.8; this is also the symbol for the tourist bureau in Israel, meaning “come explore the land”).

v 24…That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

v 25…When they returned from spying (touring) the land, at the end of forty days (v 25-33 we will see the root of the problem),

v 26…they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation (adat) of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh (Kadesh Barnea or Wadi Rum), and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

v 27…Thus they told him, and said, “We went into the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey (matching the description the Lord gave in Exo 3.8 that the land was good and had fruit; but also meaning uncultivated or devastated by war as in Isa 7.21-25; a land of shepherds not farmers- see the article called “Simple Pleasures in the Land of Milk and Honey” by Ronit Vered, Haaretz.com), and this is its fruit.

v 28…Nevertheless (this is the key word), the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there (they had heard frightful stories of them before and how terrible they were; very formidable-see v 33 notes; Gen 6.4 notes; Deut 1.28).

v 29…Amalek is living in the land of the Negev (in the south) and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the amorites are living in the hill country (on the mountains around Jerusalem and guard the passes), and the Canaanites are living by the sea (on the west and the east; Canaanites dwelt west by the Mediterranean and the eastern Canaanites dwelt by the sea of Galilee and Dead Sea) and by the side of the Jordan (so that the river was not passable because of them, meaning that all avenues and passes were guarded; any attempt to gain access into the and was vain).”

v 30…Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses (this Caleb was the son of Jephunnah, a Kenizzite -Gen 15.19; Num 32.12; Josh 14.14; Josh 15.13, or possibly descended from Kenaz, a son of Eliphaz, a descendant of Esau -see “Ancient Israel” book by Roland Devaux, p. 6 of the introduction; Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 627; some believe he is simply a descendant of Judah based on 1 Chr 4.1-15) and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of of it, for we shall surely overcome it (little by little-Exo 23.30).”

v 31…But the men who had gone up with him (not Joshua) said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”

v 32…So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they spied out (toured), saying, “The land through which we have gone, spying (touring) it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants (meaning that it is barren and unfruitful and uncultivated, not able to produce enough food for its inhabitants; there were civil wars among the people), and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size (this is the heart of the problem).

v 33…There also we saw the Nephilim (“fallen ones from God’s image” and men of great renown for their ferocity and violence, also associated with the Rephaim meaning “dead ones”-see Gen 6.4 notes, and used here to magnify their assertion that they could not take the land; but this was only in Hebron-v 22), the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim (not only Anak, but his father also-Josh 14.15 says he was the greatest man among the Anakim), and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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