They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land. They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”
Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv27–29 Called also Kadesh Barnea.
Called also Kadesh Barnea.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv27–28 Num 13:27 And they told him, and said, We…
Num 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this [is] the fruit of it.
Ver. 27. And this is the fruit of it.] Plutarch {a} tells of the Gauls, that after they had once a taste of the sweet wine of the grapes that grew in Italy, they inquired in what country such sweet wine was: and after they had understood where such grapes grew, they would never be at rest, till they had got that country. Sextus Rufus, writing of Cyprus, saith, Cyprus famosa divitiis, paupertatem populi Rom. ut occuparetur, solicitavit, Cyprus by her wealth tempted the Romans to seize it into their hands. The pearls usually cast out with the flood, and gathered with the ebb, drew Caesar’s affection for the conquest of Britain, as Suetonius {b} saith: God hath given us here a grape of the heavenly Canaan, to edge our desires.
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{a} In Vita Camilli.
{b} In Vita Caesar.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv26–30 Kadesh; so called by way of abbreviation, which is…
Kadesh; so called by way of abbreviation, which is frequent in Hebrew names, for Kadesh-barnea, Deu 1:19, which some rashly confound with Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, Num 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; into which they came not till the fortieth year after their coming out of Egypt, as appears from Num 33:37,38 whereas they were in this Kadesh in the second year, and before they received the sentence of their forty years’ abode in the wilderness.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v26 It is a wonder how the people of Israel…
It is a wonder how the people of Israel had patience to stay forty days for the return of their spies, when they were just ready to enter Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from the divine power, and a constant series of miracles that had hitherto attended them; but they distrusted God's power and promise, and were willing to be held in suspense by their own counsels, rather than be brought to a certainty by God's covenant. How much do we stand in our own light by our unbelief! Well, at length the messengers return, but they agree not in their report.
I. The major part discourage the people from going forward to Canaan; and justly are the Israelites left to this temptation, for putting so much confidence in the judgment of men, when they had the word of God to trust to. It is a righteous thing with God to give those up to strong delusions who will not receive his truth in the love of it.
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1. Observe their report. (1.) They could not deny but that the land of Canaan was a very fruitful land; the bunch of grapes they brought with them was an ocular demonstration of it, Num 13:27. God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, and the evil spies themselves own that it is such a land. Thus even out of the mouth of adversaries will God be glorified and the truth of his promise attested. And yet afterwards they contradict themselves, when they say (Num 13:32), It is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; as if, though it had milk, and honey, and grapes, yet it wanted other necessary provision; some think that there was a great plague in the country at the time they surveyed it, which they ought to have imputed to the wisdom of the divine Providence, which thus lessened the numbers of their enemies, to facilitate their conquests; but they invidiously imputed it to the unwholesomeness of the air, and thence took occasion to disparage the country. For this unreasonable fear of a plague in Canaan, they were justly cut off immediately by a plague in the wilderness, Num 14:37. But, (2.) They represented the conquest of it as altogether impracticable, and that it was to no purpose to attempt it. The people are strong (Num 13:28), men of a great stature (Num 13:32), stronger than we, Num 13:31. The cities are represented as impregnable fortresses: they are walled and very great, Num 13:28. But nothing served their ill purpose more than a description of the giants, on whom they lay a great stress: We saw the children of Anak there (Num 13:28), and again, we saw the giants, those men of a prodigious size, the sons of Anak, who come of the giants, Num 13:33. They spoke as if they were ready to tremble at the mention of them, as they had done at the sight of them. "O these tremendous giants! when we were near them, we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, not only little and weak, but trembling and daunted." Compare Job 39:20, Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? "Nay, and so we were in their sight; they looked upon us with as much scorn and disdain as we did upon them with fear and trembling." So that upon the whole matter they gave it in as their judgment, We are not able to go up against them (Num 13:31), and therefore must think of taking some other course.
2. Now, even if they had been to judge only by human probabilities, they could not have been excused from the imputation of cowardice. Were not the hosts of Israel very numerous? 600,000 effective men, well marshalled and modelled, closely embodied, and entirely united in interest and affection, constituted as formidable an army as perhaps was ever brought into the field; many a less has done more than perhaps the conquering of Canaan was, witness Alexander's army. Moses, their commander-in-chief, was wise and brave; and if the people had put on resolution, and behaved themselves valiantly, what could have stood before them? It is true the Canaanites were strong, but they were dispersed (Num 13:29): Some dwell in the south and others in the mountains; so that by reason of their distance they could not soon get together, and by reason of their divided interests they could not long keep together, to oppose Israel. The country being plentiful would subsist an army, and, though the cities were walled, if they could beat them in the field the strong-holds would fall of course into their hands. And, lastly, as for the giants, their overgrown stature would but make them the better mark, and the bulkiest men have not always the best mettle.
3. But, though they deserved to be posted for cowards, this was not the worst, the scripture brands them for unbelievers. It was not any human probabilities they were required to depend upon, but, (1.) They had the manifest and sensible tokens of God's presence with them, and the engagement of his power for them. The Canaanites were stronger than Israel; suppose they were, but were they stronger than the God of Israel? We are not able to deal with them, but is not God Almighty able? Have we not him in the midst of us? Does not he go before us? And is any thing too hard for him? Were we as grasshoppers before the giants, and are not they less than grasshoppers before God? Their cities are walled against us, but can they be walled against heaven? Besides this, (2.) They had had very great experience of the length and strength of God's arm, lifted up and made bare on their behalf. Were not the Egyptians as much stronger than they as the Canaanites were? And yet, without a sword drawn by Israel or a stroke struck, the chariots and horsemen of Egypt were quite routed and ruined; the Amalekites took them at great disadvantages, and yet they were discomfited. Miracles were at this time their daily bread; were there nothing else, an army so well victualled as theirs was, so constantly, so plentifully, and all on free cost, would have a might advantage against any other force. Nay, (3.) They had particular promises made them of victory and success in their wars against the Canaanites. God had given Abraham all possible assurances that he would put his seed into possession of that land, Gen 15:18; Gen 17:8. He had expressly promised them by Moses that he would drive out the Canaanites from before them (Exo 33:2), and that he would do it by little and little, Exo 23:30. And, after all this, for them to say, We are not able to go up against them, was in effect to say, "God himself is not able to make his words good." It was in effect to give him the lie, and to tell him he had undertaken more than he could perform. We have a short account of their sin, with which they infected the whole congregation, Psa 106:24. They despised the land, they believed not his word. Though, upon search, they had found it as good as he had said, a land flowing with milk and honey, yet they would not believe it as sure as he had said, but despaired of having it, though eternal truth itself had engaged it to them. And now this is the representation of the evil spies.
II. Caleb encouraged them to go forward, though he was seconded by Joshua only (Num 13:30): Caleb stilled the people, whom he saw already put into a ferment even before Moses himself, whose shining face could not daunt them, when they began to grow unruly. Caleb signifies all heart, and he answered his name, was hearty himself, and would have made the people so if they would have hearkened to him. If Joshua had begun to stem the tide, he would have been suspected of partiality to Moses, whose minister he was; and therefore he prudently left it to Caleb's management at first, who was of the tribe of Judah, the leading tribe, and therefore the fittest to be heard. Caleb had seen and observed the strength of the inhabitants as much as his fellows, and upon the whole matter, 1. He speaks very confidently of success: We are well able to overcome them, as strong as they are. 2. He animates the people to go on, and, his lot lying in the van, he speaks as one resolved to lead them on with bravery: "Let us go up at once, one bold step, one bold stroke more, will do our business; it is all our own if we have but courage to make it so: Let us go up and possess it." He does not say, "Let us go up and conquer it;" he looks upon that to be as good as done already; but, "Let us go up and possess it; there is nothing to be done but to enter, and take the possession which God our great Lord is ready to give us." Note, The righteous are bold as a lion. Difficulties that lie 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 be but promised, to him that believes.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv26–27 And they brought up an evil report of the…
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel,.... Before, they gave a good report of the land itself, as a very fruitful one, answering to their expectations and wishes; but now they change their language, and give a different account of it; which shows their want of integrity, and to what length an opposition carried them, to say things contrary to their real sentiments, and to what they themselves had said before:
saying, the land through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; the meaning seems to be, that it was so barren and unfruitful that it did not produce food sufficient for the inhabitants of it, who were ready to starve, and many did starve through want, and so was the reverse of what they had before said; for which reason, Gussetius (o) thinks the sense is, that the land was the food and nourishment of its inhabitants, and that there was such plenty in it that it wanted not any foreign assistance in any respect whatever. Some think that it was continually embroiled in civil wars, in which they destroyed one another; but then this was no argument against, but for their going up against them, since through the divisions among themselves they might reasonably hope the better to succeed; or it ate them up with diseases, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, and so they would represent it, though a fruitful land, yet a very unhealthful one, in which the natives could not live, and much less strangers; and so Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom interpret it of the badness of the air of the country, as being very unwholesome and pernicious. Jarchi represents them as saying, that wherever they came they saw them burying their dead, as if there was a plague among them; and be it so that there was, which is not unlikely, since the Lord promised to send hornets before them, which some interpret of diseases sent, Exo 23:28; and which was in their favour, since hereby the number of their enemies would be lessened, and they would be weakened, and in a bad condition to oppose them:
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and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature; or men of measures (p), of a large measure, above the common measure of men; but it may be justly questioned whether they spoke truth; for though they might see some that exceeded in height men in common, yet it is not credible that all they saw were of such a size; since they were not only at Hebron and saw the giants there who were such, but they went through the land, as in the preceding clause, and all they met with cannot be supposed to be of such a measure.
(o) Ebr. Comment. p. 40. (p) "viri mensurarum", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 29, 30 Kadesh - Kadesh-barnea, which some confound with Kadesh in…
Kadesh - Kadesh-barnea, which some confound with Kadesh in the wilderness of Sin, into which they came not 'till the fortieth year after their coming out of Egypt, as appears from chap. xxxiii, 37, 38, whereas they were in this Kadesh in the second year, and before they received the sentence of their forty years abode in the wilderness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v27 Verse 27. We came unto the land, &c.] It…
Verse 27. We came unto the land, &c.] It is astonishing that men so dastardly as these should have had courage enough to risk their persons in searching the land. But probably though destitute of valour they had a sufficiency of cunning, and this carried them through. The report they brought was exceedingly discouraging, and naturally tended to produce the effect mentioned in the next chapter. The conduct of Joshua and Caleb was alone magnanimous, and worthy of the cause in which they were embarked.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv27, 30 Num 13:27-29. They told him — In the audience…
Num 13:27-29. They told him — In the audience of the people. The Amalekites in the south — Where we are to enter the land; and they who were so fierce against us that they came into the wilderness to fight with us, will, without doubt, oppose us when we come close by their land, the rather, to revenge themselves for their former loss. Therefore they mention them, though they were not Canaanites. In the mountains — In the mountainous country, in the south-east part of the land, so that you cannot enter there without great difficulty, both because of the noted strength and valour of those people, and because of the advantage they have from the mountains. By the sea — Not the mid-land sea, which is commonly understood by that expression, but the Salt or Dead sea; as appears, 1st, Because it is that sea which is next to Jordan; 2d, Because the Canaanites dwelt principally in those parts, and not near the mid-land sea. So these guard the entrance on the east side, as the others do on the south.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv26, 29 Kadesh is usually identified with Ain-el-Weibeh, which lies in…
Kadesh is usually identified with Ain-el-Weibeh, which lies in the Arabah, about 10 miles north of the place in which Mount Hor abuts on that valley, (or with Ain-Gadis in Jebel Magrah).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv27, 30 Cades. The desert of Pharan, or of Cades, is…
Cades. The desert of Pharan, or of Cades, is the same. (Haydock) --- The town is sometimes called Cades-barne, or Recem, (Chaldean) which is Petra, the capital of the stony Arabia, and lies rather nearer to the Dead Sea than to the Mediterranean. It was on the high road from the Red Sea to Hebron. In one part of the desert of Cades, the people murmured for want of water, chap. xx. 1. But there was plenty near the city. Moses continued here a long time after the return of the spies, Deuteronomy i. 19, 46. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 29 they came . . . to Kadesh--an important encampment…
they came . . . to Kadesh--an important encampment of the Israelites. But its exact situation is not definitely known, nor is it determined whether it is the same or a different place from Kadesh-barnea. It is supposed to be identical with Ain-el-Weibeh, a famous spring on the eastern side of the desert [ROBINSON], or also with Petra [STANLEY].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv26–30 26. Paran — See Num_10:12; Num_12:16, notes.
26. Paran — See Num_10:12; Num_12:16, notes.
Kadesh — Num_20:16; Num_33:36, notes.
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Showed them the fruit — In confirmation of their report of the excellence of the land.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv29–30 29. Apparently a parenthesis by the narrator or compiler,…
29. Apparently a parenthesis by the narrator or compiler, enumerating the inhabitants who occupied respectively (1) the Negeb, (2) the central hills of Palestine and (3) the western coast-lands, and the Jordan valley. See on Num_14:25.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv26, 28, 29, 30 (26) To Kadesh.—Robinson and others identify Kadeeh with Ain-el-Weibeh,…
(26) To Kadesh.—Robinson and others identify Kadeeh with Ain-el-Weibeh, which is in the Arabah, about ten miles north of the place in which Mount Hor abuts on that valley. On the other hand, Mr. Wilton, in The Negeb (pp. 79, 80), and Mr. Palmer in the Desert of the Exodus (Numbers 25), maintain the identity of Kadesh with el-Ain, which is about sixty miles west of Mount Hor, and about fifty miles west of Ain-el-Weibeh. The former of these views is maintained in a very elaborate note on this verse in The Bible Commentary.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv26–30 To Kadesh. (see note at the end of Nu…
To Kadesh. (see note at the end of Nu 14)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv27, 30 It floweth with milk and honey.
Num_13:27
It floweth with milk and honey.
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A land flowing with milk and honey
The idea suggested is, that the true disciples of the Lord Jesus are expected to show to the world some illustration of the nature of the heavenly country to which they are journeying. In a sense they have been there, and have come back. But in what sense?
1. The idea with many persons is, that the future condition of man is so completely different from this, that it is out of the question to attempt to form a conception of it. Now, it is true, St. Paul tells us, that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But it is also true, as the apostle goes on to say, that God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. Some people, then, are in a position to understand what the heavenly kingdom is like. They have true ideas about it--foretastes. In fact, heaven is really the expansion of a life begun here below. He that hath the Son hath life.
2. What, then, has the true disciple to show as specimens of the produce of this unseen and unknown country? Briefly, the character of Christ reproduced in him, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is faintly, imperfectly reproduced; still it is reproduced (see 2Co_1:21, Hath Christed us). There is the strength which overcometh the world, the peace which passeth understanding, the blessedness of communion with God, the soul-thirst for God ever renewed and ever satisfied.
3. It is by the presentation of these fruits of the land that souls are won. No doubt there are some persons in the world to whom Christ and everything belonging to Christ, are only repulsive; and these will scrutinise the disciple with an unfriendly eye, and rejoice if ever they find, or fancy they find, any inconsistency in his conduct. But there are also many others of a different temper. They are halting between two opinions. They say, not of course in words, but by their feelings and manner, Be Christ to us; let us see in you and through you what the Divine Master is, and how He will treat us if we venture to apply to Him--or, to express it differently, Show us the fruits of the heavenly land, of which you think so much and speak so much. You are amongst us as a citizen of the heavenly city (Php_3:20). Enable us to gather from your conduct what are the characteristics of that noble land, of that bright and glorious companionship.
4. And lastly, what is the practical conclusion to be drawn from the whole subject thus discussed? Surely it is this--that we, who profess to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, should be careful to recognise the responsibility laid upon us to give a good report, like Caleb and Joshua, and not a bad report, like the ten other spies, of the unseen land. We shall give a bad report if our lives are not attractive, and are not consistent. We shall give a good report if our characters glow, even feebly, with the inner light of the life of Christ; and if, by deed as well as by word, we cry, The conflict may be a formidable one, but it is not too formidable; and if we trust as we should do, and may do, that we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us. (G. Calthrop, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv27, 30 It certainly flows with milk and honey
It certainly flows with milk and honey
"Milk and honey certainly flow there." They spoke of the land being good for animals and plants as if the milk and honey from those animals and plants were flowing through the land. AT: "It is certainly excellent for raising livestock and growing crops" or "It is certainly very fertile land" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
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milk
Since milk comes from cows and goats, it represents livestock and the food produced from the livestock. AT: "food from livestock" (See: Metonymy)
honey
Since honey is produced from flowers, it represents crops and the food produced from the crops. AT: "food from crops" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
honey
stronghold
descend
Amalek
Negev
Hittite
Jebus
Amorite
Canaan
the sea
Jordan River
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv26, 27, 29, 30 13:26 Kadesh is often identified with ‘Ain el-Qudeirat, a…
13:26 Kadesh is often identified with ‘Ain el-Qudeirat, a spring at the northern border of Sinai and the southern edge of Canaan. There is no evidence of a Hebrew camp at this site during the period of the Exodus or the wilderness wanderings, so some scholars have suggested that ancient Kadesh was located elsewhere.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.