The Spies Explore Canaan
The LORD directs Moses to send tribal leaders into Canaan, and the chapter records each man by name. The list gives the mission public weight and marks Joshua among those sent.
A1nd the LORD said to Moses, 2“Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.” 3So at the command of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites, 4and these were their names: 5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 11from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; 12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; 13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; 15and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. 16These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
Moses tells the spies what to examine: the people, the cities, the land, and its fruit. His instructions hold promise and danger together in a single commission.
17When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country. 18See what the land is like and whether its people are strong or weak, few or many. 19Is the land where they live good or bad? Are the cities where they dwell open camps or fortifications? 20Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
The spies travel through the land as far as Hebron and the Valley of Eshcol. They return with a heavy cluster of grapes, along with pomegranates and figs, as a sign of the land's abundance.
21So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath. 22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. 23When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs. 24Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol.