1And the Lord said to Moses, 2Send men to get knowledge about the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you are to send a man, every one a chief among them. 3And Moses sent them from the waste land of Paran as the Lord gave orders, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur. 5Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori. 6Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. 7Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph. 8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun. 9Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu. 10Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi. 11Of the tribe of Joseph, that is of the family of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi. 12Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli. 13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael 14Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi. 15Of the tribe of Gad, Gevel, the son of Machi. 16These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to get knowledge about the land. And Moses gave to Hoshea, the son of Nun, the name of Joshua. 17So Moses sent them to have a look at the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up into the South and into the hill-country; 18And see what the land is like; and if the people living in it are strong or feeble, small or great in number; 19And what sort of land they are living in, if it is good or bad; and what their living-places are, tent-circles or walled towns; 20And if the land is fertile or poor, and if there is wood in it or not. And be of good heart, and come back with some of the produce of the land. Now it was the time when the first grapes were ready. 21So they went up and got a view of the land, from the waste land of Zin to Rehob, on the way to Hamath. 22They went up into the South and came to Hebron; and Ahiman and Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were living there. (Now the building of Hebron took place seven years before that of Zoan in Egypt.) 23And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cutting down a vine-branch with its grapes, two of them took it on a rod between them; and they took some pomegranates and figs. 24That place was named the valley of Eshcol because of the grapes which the children of Israel took from there. 25At the end of forty days they came back from viewing the land. 26And they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the children of Israel, to Kadesh in the waste land of Paran; and gave an account to them and to all the people and let them see the produce of the land. 27And they said, We came to the land where you sent us, and truly it is flowing with milk and honey: and here is some of the produce of it. 28But the people living in the land are strong, and the towns are walled and very great; further, we saw the children of Anak there. 29And the Amalekites are in the South; and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill-country; and the Canaanites by the sea and by the side of Jordan. 30Then Caleb made signs to the people to keep quiet, and said to Moses, Let us go up straight away and take this land; for we are well able to overcome it. 31But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. 32And they gave the children of Israel a bad account of the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there are men of more than common size. 33There we saw those great men, the sons of Anak, offspring of the Nephilim: and we seemed to ourselves no more than insects, and so we seemed to them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Twelve men sent to search the land of Canaan, Their instructions. (1-20) Their proceedings. (21-25) Their account of the land. (26-33) 1-20 A memorable and melancholy history is related in this and the following chapter, of the turning back of Israel from the borders of Canaan, and the sentencing them to wander and perish in the wilderness, for their unbelief and murmuring. It appears, #De 1:22|, that the motion to search out the land came from the people. They had a better opinion of their own policy than of God's wisdom. Thus we ruin ourselves by believing the reports and representations of sense rather than Divine revelation. We walk by sight not by faith. Moses gave the spies this charge, Be of good courage. It was not only a great undertaking they were put upon, which required good management and resolution; but a great trust was reposed in them, which required that they should be faithful. Courage in such circumstances can only spring from strong faith, which Caleb and Joshua alone possessed. 21-25 The searchers of the land brought a bunch of grapes with them, and other fruits, as proofs of the goodness of the country; which was to Israel both the earnest and the specimen of all the fruits of Canaan. Such are the present comforts we have in communion with God, foretastes of the fulness of joy we expect in the heavenly Canaan. We may see by them what heaven is. 26-33 We may wonder that the people of Israel staid forty days for the return of their spies, when they were ready to enter Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from the Divine power, and the miracles that had hitherto attended them. But they distrusted God's power and promise. How much we stand in our own light by our unbelief! At length the messengers returned; but the greater part discouraged the people from going forward to Canaan. Justly are the Israelites left to this temptation, for putting confidence in the judgment of men, when they had the word of God to trust in. Though they had found the land as good as God had said, yet they would not believe it to be as sure as he had said, but despaired of having it, though Eternal Truth had engaged it to them. This was the representation of the evil spies. Caleb, however, encouraged them to go forward, though seconded by Joshua only. He does not say, Let us go up and conquer it; but, Let us go and possess it. Difficulties that are in the way of salvation, dwindle and vanish before a lively, active faith in the power and promise of God. All things are possible, if they are promised, to him that believes; but carnal sense and carnal professors are not to be trusted. Unbelief overlooks the promises and power of God, magnifies every danger and difficulty, and fills the heart with discouragement. May the Lord help us to believe! we shall then find all things possible.