Teks -- Numbers 13:1-5 (NET)

Spies Sent Out

13:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 13:2 “Send out men to investigate the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a leader among them.” 13:3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 13:4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 13:5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Num 13:1 - Speak unto Moses

In answer to the peoples petition about it, as is evident from Deu 1:22. And it is probable, the people desired it out of diffidence of God's promise.

Wesley: Num 13:2 - A ruler

A person of wisdom and authority.

JFB: Num 13:1-2 - The Lord spake unto Moses, Send thou men, that they may search the land, of Canaan

Compare Deu 1:22, whence it appears, that while the proposal of delegating confidential men from each tribe to explore the land of Canaan emanated from the people who petitioned for it, the measure received the special sanction of God, who granted their request at once as a trial, and a punishment of their distrust.

JFB: Num 13:3 - those men were heads of the children of Israel

Not the princes who are named (Num 10:14-16, Num 10:18-20, Num 10:22-27), but chiefs, leading men though not of the first rank.

Clarke: Num 13:2 - Send thou men, that they may search

Send thou men, that they may search - It appears from Deu 1:19-24 that this was done in consequence of the request of the people, after the following address of Moses: "And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness - and we came unto Kadesh-Barnea; and I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. Behold the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said: We Will Send Men Before Us, And They Shall Search Us Out The Land and bring us word again, by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying pleased me well, and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe,"etc., etc. Nearly the whole of these verses is added here by the Samaritan

Clarke: Num 13:2 - Every one a ruler

Every one a ruler - Not any of the princes of the people, (see Numbers 1) for these names are different from those; but these now sent were men of consideration and importance in their respective tribes.

Calvin: Num 13:2 - Of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man

2.Of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man If all had been taken from one tribe, or from any single portion of the people, their fidelity might have been suspected by the others. God, therefore, would have each tribe assured by its own witness, in order that their report might be more unquestionable. All cause for jealousy was also to be taken away; lest, if any tribe had been passed over, it might have excepted against the messengers, whom it supposed to have been elected in contempt of it. This, then, was the advantage of the equal distribution, lest any sinister suspicion or offence might disturb the unanimity of the whole people. Secondly, it is required that they should be possessed of personal dignity, since God commands that chief men should be chosen, whose testimony would be of greater authority; for it would have been easy to throw discredit upon obscure individuals. Since, however, both precautions were unsuccessful, it appears from hence that there is no counsel so wise and salutary as not to be capable of perversion by the wickedness of mankind. Thus this excellent providence of God rendered the people the more inexcusable. At the same time, God has reminded us once for all by this example that, however those, who seemed to be like pillars, may totter and stumble, or even fall altogether, still our minds must be supported by faith, so as not to give way.

Their names are enumerated, in perpetual remembrance of their ignominy, except in the case of two, Joshua and Caleb; for it was just that their crime should be handed down to all ages, and that the infamy of their perfidiousness should never be blotted out, since they endeavored, as far as in them lay, to bring to naught the promise and the grace of God.

Moses gave the name of Jehoshua to the son of Nun in the spirit of prophecy, as a presage of the exalted function to which he was destined. Ambition is so rash, that men are often disappointed in the result, when they invent titles of honor of their own accord; but Moses was not induced by the blindness of affection to change the name Oshea into Jehoshua; but God directed his tongue and mind thus to commend, beforehand, him who ⁴⁹ was to be the future minister of their preservation. Still it cannot be inferred with certainty from this passage at what time the new name was given him; for it is not specified that he was called Jehoshua at the time he was sent out; nay, it is probable that he had been previously thus distinguished, viz., from the period in which he had been associated with Moses as his companion and minister in all important matters.

TSK: Num 13:2 - Send thou // of every // a ruler

Send thou : Num 32:8; Deu 1:22-25; Josh. 2:1-24

of every : Num 1:4, Num 34:18

a ruler : Num 11:16; Exo 18:25; Deu 1:15

TSK: Num 13:3

The wilderness of Paran, says Dr. Wells, seems to have been taken in a larger, and in a stricter sense. In the larger sense, it seems to have denoted all the desert and mountainous tract, lying between the wilderness of Shur westward, and mount Seir, or the land of Edom, eastward, the land of Canaan northward, and the Red sea southward. And in this sense, it seems to have comprehended the wilderness of Sin, and the wilderness of Sinai, also the adjoining tract wherein lay Kibroth-hattaavah and Hazeroth. In this sense it may be understood in Deu 1:19, where, by ""that great and terrible wilderness,""is intended the wilderness of Paran in its largest acceptation; for, in its stricter acceptation, it seems not to have been so great and terrible a wilderness; but is taken to denote more peculiarly that part of Arabia Petrea which lies between mount Sinai and Hazeroth west, and mount Seir east.

Num 12:16, Num 32:8; Deu 1:19, Deu 1:23, Deu 9:23

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Num 13:2 - Of every tribe of their fathers // A ruler

Do as the people press thee to do.

Of every tribe of their fathers i.e. which comes from their several parents or patriarchs.

A ruler a person of wisdom and authority, which might make his witness more considerable with the people.

Haydock: Num 13:1 - Pharan

Pharan, at Rethma, chap. xxxiii. 48.; though Barradius confounds that station with that at Cades-barne. The Samaritan copy inserts here a long passage, taken probably from Deuteronomy i. 20, 21, and 22, which shews that the Hebrews first proposed the sending spies, out of timidity; which God severely punished in the sequel, though in his anger he here consents to their proposal, which seemed to originate in motives of prudence, ver. 3.

Haydock: Num 13:3 - Rulers

Rulers of a hundred men, according to Hiscuni, inferior to those mentioned, chap. x. 14. (Calmet)

Gill: Num 13:1 - And the Lord Spake unto Moses // saying

And the Lord Spake unto Moses,.... When in the wilderness of Paran, either at Rithmah or Kadesh; this was on the twenty ninth day of the month Sivan, on which day, the Jews say ^o, the spies were sent to search the land, which was a scheme of the Israelites' own devising, and which they first proposed to Moses, who approved of it as prudential and political, at least he gave his assent unto it to please the people, and carried the affair to the Lord, and consulted him about it; who, rather permitting than approving, gave the following order; for the motion carried in it a good deal of unbelief, calling in question whether the land was so good as had been represented unto them, fearing it was not accessible, and that it would be difficult to get into it, and were desirous of knowing the best way of getting into it before they proceeded any further; all which were unnecessary, if they would have fully trusted in the Lord, in his word, promise, power, providence, and guidance; who had told them it was a land flowing with milk and honey; that he would show them the way to it, by going before them in a pillar of cloud and fire; that he would assuredly bring them into it, having espied it for them, and promised it unto them; so that there was no need on any account for them to send spies before them; however, to gratify them in this point, he assented to it:

saying; as follows.

Gill: Num 13:2 - Send thou men // that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel // of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man // everyone a ruler among them

Send thou men,.... Which is rather a permission than a command; so Jarchi interprets it,"send men according to thy mind, I do not command thee, but if thou pleasest send;''this he observed was agreeable to Moses, and to the Israelites, and therefore granted it, or allowed them to take their own way, and which issued badly, as it always does, when men are left to their own counsel:

that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel; called the land of Canaan, though it consisted of seven nations, from the principal of them; this God had given in promise to the children of Israel, and had now brought them to the borders of it; nay, had given them orders to go up and possess it; but they were for searching it first, to know what sort of a land it was, and which was the best way of entering into it, which is here permitted them, see Deu 1:21,

of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man; excepting the tribe of Levi; the reason of which was because they were to have no inheritance in the land, Deu 10:9; but then, to make up the number twelve, the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, are reckoned as two tribes:

everyone a ruler among them; a prince in his tribe; so were men of honour and credit, of power and authority, of prudence and probity, and who might be trusted with such an affair, and their report believed: they were not indeed princes of the highest rank, not the same that assisted in taking the numbers of the people, who were captains over their several tribes, as in Num 1:4, &c. but were inferior princes and rulers, perhaps rulers of thousands.

Gill: Num 13:3 - And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord // sent them from the wilderness of Paran // all those were heads of the children of Israel

And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord,.... By his power, permission, and leave, as Jarchi, that there might be no delay through his means:

sent them from the wilderness of Paran; from Rithmah or Kadeshbarnea, which seem to be one and the same place in that wilderness: this, as before observed, was on the twenty ninth day of Sivan: See Gill on Num 13:1,

all those were heads of the children of Israel; were not mean and vulgar men, but persons of rule, who bore some office of magistracy ant government among the people in their respective tribes.

Gill: Num 13:4 - And these were their names, of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

And these were their names, of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. From Num 13:4, there is nothing but the names of the said persons, whose sons they were, and of what tribe; and the several tribes are mentioned, not according to the order of the birth of the patriarchs, nor according to the dignity of their mothers that bore them, but, very likely, according to the order in which they were sent, two by two, to search the land; for had they gone all twelve in a body, they would have been liable to suspicion: the signification of their names is of no importance to know, and will give us no light into their characters or the reason of their choice, nor are their parents elsewhere taken notice of, nor any of them but Joshua and Caleb, of whom we shall hear more hereafter.

Gill: Num 13:5 - Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. See Gill on Num 13:4.