Numbers 13 Summary

At the LORD's command, Moses selects one leader from each of the twelve tribes and sends them from the wilderness of Paran to spy out the land of Canaan, giving them specific instructions to assess the people, cities, and agricultural richness of the land. The twelve spies spend forty days exploring from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, passing through Hebron where they encounter the giant sons of Anak, and from the brook of Eshcol they cut down a single cluster of grapes so large it required two men to carry it on a staff. Upon returning to Kadesh, all twelve report that the land flows with milk and honey and display its fruit, but ten of the spies deliver an evil report, insisting the people are too powerful to overcome and describing themselves as grasshoppers compared to the giant inhabitants. Caleb alone dissents among the returning spies, urging the congregation that Israel is well able to possess the land.