CHAPTER XIII Twelve men, _one out of every tribe, are sent to examine the_ _nature and state of the land of Canaan_, 1-3. _Their names_, 4-16. _Moses gives them particular directions_, 17-20. _They proceed on their journey_, 21, 22. _Come to_ Eshcol, _and cut down a branch with a cluster of gr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:2. _SEND THOU MEN, THAT THEY MAY SEARCH_] It appears from Deuteronomy 1:19-5 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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:13. _SETHUR, THE SON OF MICHAEL._] It would have been strange had the numerous searches after the explanation of the mystical number 666, Revelation 13:18; Revelation 17:5, met with nothing to their purpose in the name of this son of Michael. סתור _Sethur_, from סתר _sathar_, to _hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:16. _AND MOSES CALLED OSHEA JEHOSHUA._] Oshea, Heb. הושע should be written _Hoshea_: the word signifies _saved_, or a _saviour_, or _salvation_; but יהושע, _he shall save_, or _the salvation of_ _God_; a _letter_, says Calmet, of the incommunicable name of God, being added to his fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:18. _SEE THE LAND, WHAT IT IS_] What sort of a COUNTRY it is; how situated; its natural advantages or disadvantages. _AND THE PEOPLE - WHETHER THEY_ BE _STRONG OR WEAK_] Healthy, robust, hardy men; or little, weak, and pusillanimous.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:20. _THE LAND - WHETHER IT_ BE _FAT OR LEAN_] Whether the SOIL be _rich_ or _poor_; which might be known by its being well _wooded_, and by the _fruits_ it produced; and therefore they were desired to examine it as to the _trees_, c., and to bring some of the _fruits_ with them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:21. _FROM THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN_] The place called; צן _Tsin_, here, is different from that called סין _Sin_ or _Seen_. Exodus 16:1; the latter was nigh to _Egypt_, but the former was near _Kadesh Barnea_, not far from the borders of the promised land. "The spies having left Kades... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:22. _HEBRON WAS BUILT SEVEN YEARS BEFORE ZOAN IN EGYPT._] The _Zoan_ of the Scriptures is allowed to be the _Tanis_ of the heathen historians, which was the capital of Lower Egypt. Some think it was to humble the pride of the Egyptians, who boasted the highest antiquity, that this n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:23. _THEY BARE IT BETWEEN TWO UPON A STAFF_] It would be very easy to produce a great number of witnesses to prove that grapes in the promised land, and indeed in various other hot countries, grow to a prodigious size. By _Calmet, Scheuchzer_, and _Harmer_, this subject has been ex... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:27. _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 bro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:32. _MEN OF A GREAT STATURE_] אנשי מדות _anshey_ _middoth_, men of measures - two men's height; i. e., exceedingly tall men.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 13:33. _THERE WE SAW THE GIANTS_] נפלים _nephilim_. It is evident that they had seen a robust, sturdy, warlike race of men, and of great stature; for the asserted fact is not denied by Joshua or Caleb. Tales of _gigantic men_ are frequent in all countries, but they are generally of s... [ Continue Reading ]