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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:2
Send thou men, that they may search the land. If this account of the mission of the spies be compared with that given in Deuteronomy 1:20-25, it may be seen in a striking instance how entirely different a colour may be…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:4
These were their names. None of these names occur elsewhere, except those of Caleb and Joshua. The order of the tribes is the same as in Joshua 1:1-18; except that Zebulun is separated from the other sons of Leah, and p…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:6
Caleb the son of Jephunneh. In Numbers 32:12 he is called "the Kenezite" ( הַקְּנִזּי), which appears in Genesis 15:19 as the name of one of the ancient races inhabiting the promised land. It is possible that Jephunneh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:16
Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. The change was from הוֹשֵׁעַ (Hoshea, help or salvation) to יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Jehoshua—the same name with the first syllable of the sacred name prefixed, and one of the vowel points…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:17
Get you up this way southward. Rather, "get you up there ( זֶה) in the Negeb." The Negeb, meaning literally "the dryness," was the south-western district of Canaan, which bordered upon the desert, and partook more or le…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:18
Whether they be strong or weak, few or many. It would appear that Moses was guilty of some indiscretion at least in giving these directions. Whether the people were strong or weak, many or few, should have been nothing…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:20
And what the land is. It is impossible to suppose that Moses needed himself to be informed on such particulars as are here mentioned. The intercourse between Egypt and Palestine was comparatively easy and frequent (see…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:21
From the wilderness of Zin. The extreme southern boundary of the promised land (Numbers 34:3, Numbers 34:4; Joshua 15:1, Joshua 15:3). There seems to be but one marked natural feature which could have been chosen for th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:22
And came unto Hebron. This and the following details of their journey are appended to the general statement of Numbers 13:21 in that inartificial style of narrative still common in the East. On the name Hebron, and the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:23
The brook of Eshcol. Rather, "the valley of Eshcol," for it is not a land of brooks. Probably between Hebron and Jerusalem, where the grapes are still exceptionally fine, and the dusters of great size. They bare it betw…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:24
The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster. It is very probable that it was already known as the valley of Eshcol, from the friend of Abraham, who bore that name and lived in that neighbourhood (Genes…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:25
They returned … after forty days. This is a period of time which constantly recurs in the sacred books (see on Exodus 24:18). It points to the fact that their work was completely done, and the land thoroughly explored.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:26
To Kadesh (see note at the end of Numbers 14:1-45).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:27
It floweth with milk and honey. According to the promise of God in his first message of deliverance to the people (see on Exodus 3:8).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:28
Nevertheless. אֶפֶס כִּי. "Only that." Septuagint, ἀλλ ἢ ὅτι. The people be strong. Moses himself had directed their attention to this point, and now they dwell on it to the exclusion of everything else.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:29
The Amalekites. These descendants of Esau (see on Genesis 36:12) formed wild roving bands, which (like the Bedouins of the present day) infested rather than inhabited the whole country between Judaea and Egypt, includin…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:30
Caleb stilled the people. That Caleb alone is named here, whereas Joshua is elsewhere joined with him in the matter (as in Joshua 14:6, 30), has been considered strange; but it is not difficult to supply a probable expl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:31
For they are stronger than we. In point of numbers the enormous superiority of the Israelites over any combination likely to oppose them must have been evident to the most cowardly. But the existence of numerous walled…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:32
A land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. This cannot mean that the people died of starvation, pestilence, or other natural causes, which would have been contrary to facts and to their own report. It must mean that…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 13:33
The giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants, אֶת־הַנְּפִילים בְּנִי עַנָק מִן־הַנְּפִלים. The Nephilim, Beni-Anak, of the Nephilim. The Septuagint has only τοὺς γίγαντας. The Nephilim are, without doubt, th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 15:1-31
EXPOSITION VARIOUS LAWS OF SACRIFICE (Numbers 15:1-31).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 15:1
The Lord spake unto Moses. It must have been during the years of wandering, but within those limits it is impossible even to conjecture the probable date. There is no external evidence, and the internal evidence is whol…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 15:1-31
ORDINANCES OF SACRIFICE The laws given in this section were to be "an ordinance for ever," but they have long ago come to an end as far as the literal observance of them is concerned; it is certain, therefore, that they…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 15:1-16
GOD GIVING LAWS FOR THE DISTANT FUTURE I. HE TREATS THE FUTURE AS THE PRESENT. The people had been very near to a land of habitations, and to a time when the requirements of this passage would have been close upon them.…