Numbers 13:1-16

II. THE PROMISED LAND REVIEWED AND REJECTED (Numbers 13; Numbers 14)

A. SELECTION OF THE SPIES, vv. 1-16
TEXT

Numbers 13:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 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, every one a ruler among them. 3. And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. 4. And 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, Oshea 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, namely, 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 which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun, Jehoshua.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 13:1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2, Send out men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel: from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, each one a ruler among them. 3. So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran by the commandment of the Lord, all those men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4. And these were their names; from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5. from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6. from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7. from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8. from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9. from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Rafu; 10. from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 11. from the tribe of Joesph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi; 12. from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; 13. from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 14. from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; 15. from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. 16. These are the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

COMMENTARY

When the second account of this mission is told by Moses (Deuteronomy 1:20-25), it is the people themselves who are made to suggest the mission of the spies. The original idea may well have come from them; it is clear, on the other hand, that Moses would have carried the plan to the Lord before acting upon it. With divine approval, the spies are appointed to their work.

The men who are chosen are prominent men, but they were not the tribal princes. The journey they are about to undertake would require both youthfulness and vigor; the princes may have been a poor selection for these reasons.
Only two names in the list are noteworthy: Joshua (here called Oshea), and Caleb. The change in Joshua's name is slight, but the change in meaning is significant: from Salvation to Jehovah is salvation. Since it is a change appointed by Moses, we should not find it strange that he has used the name already several times. Such apparent anachronisms trouble the negative critic much more than they would have bothered Moses, as author of the events. It would be quite natural for him to use the name he himself had bestowed upon his successor, even in alluding to that time before the actual change was made.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

230.

Explain the variation between the two accounts of the sending of the spies in the accounts given in Numbers and Deuteronomy.

231.

Why were none of the men sent chosen from the previously chosen tribal princes?

232.

No spy is sent for the tribe of Levi. Can you think of a good reason for this omission?

233.

If the change in Joshua's name was not made until Israel came to Kadesh-Barnea, how can we explain its use in the earlier records?

234.

What is the significance of the change in names?