Chapter 13:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Leviticus Deuteronomy
Numbers 13
The sending of the spies into Canaan, ver. 1-17. The
instructions given them, ver. 18-20. Their journey and return, ver.
21-25. Their report, ver. 26-33.
Verse 1. Speak unto Moses - In answer to the peoples petition about it,
as is evident from Deut. i, 22. And it is probable, the people
desired it out of diffidence of God's promise.
Verse 2. A ruler - A person of wisdom and authority.
Verse 8. Oshea - Called also Joshua, ver. 16.
Verse 11. Of Joseph - The name of Joseph is elsewhere appropriated to
Ephraim, here to Manasseh; possibly to aggravate the sin of the
ruler of this tribe, who did so basely degenerate from his noble
ancestor.
Verse 16. Jehoshua - Oshea notes a desire of salvation, signifying, Save
we pray thee; but Jehoshua, or Joshua, includes a promise of
salvation, He will save. So this was a prophecy of his succession
to Moses in the government, and of the success of his arms. Josh.
is the same name with Jesus, of whom Joshua was a type. He was
the saviour of God's people from the powers of Canaan, Christ
from the powers of hell.
Verse 17. Southward - Into the southern part of Canaan, which was the
nearest part, and the worst too, being dry and desert, and therefore
fit for them to enter and pass through with less observation. Into
the mountain - Into the mountainous country, and thence into the
valleys, and so take a survey of the whole land.
Verse 18. What it is - Both for largeness, and for nature and quality.
Verse 19. In tents - As the Arabians did; or in unwalled villages, which,
like tents, are exposed to an enemy.
Verse 20. Fat - Rich and fertile.
Verse 21. Zin - In the south of Canaan, differing from the wilderness of
Sin, which was nigh unto Egypt. To Hamath - From the south
they passed through the whole land to the northern parts of it;
Rehob was a city in the northwest part, Hamath, a city in the
northeast.
Verse 22. By the south - Moses having described their progress from
south to north, more particularly relates some memorable places
and passages. They came - Hebrew. He came, namely, Caleb, as
appears from Josh. xiv, 9, 12, 14. For the spies distributed their work among them, and went
either severally, or by pairs; and it seems the survey of this part
was left to Caleb. Anak - A famous giant, whole children these
are called, either more generally, as all giants sometimes were, or
rather more specially because Arbah, from whom Hebron was
called Kiriath-arbah, was the father of Anak, Josh. xv, 13. And
this circumstance is mentioned as an evidence of the goodness of
that land, because the giants chose it for their habitation. Before
Zoan - This seems to be noted to confront the Egyptians, who
vainly boasted of the antiquity of their city Zoan above all places.
Verse 23. Upon a staff - Either for the weight of it, considering the,
length of the way they were to carry it, or for the preservation of it
whole and entire. In those eastern and southern countries there are
vines and grapes of an extraordinary bigness as Strabo and Pliny
affirm.
Verse 24. Eschol - That is, a cluster of grapes.
Verse 25. They returned after forty days - 'Tis a wonder the people had
patience to stay forty days, when they were just ready to enter
Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from
the Divine power, proved by a constant series of miracles, that
had hitherto attended them. But they distrusted God, and chose to
be held in suspence by their own counsels, rather than to rest upon
God's promise! How much do we stand in our own light by
unbelief?
Verse 26. 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.
Verse 27. They told him - In the audience of the people.
Verse 29. 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 southeast 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,
1. Because it is that sea which is next to Jordan,
2. 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.
Verse 30. Caleb - Together with Joshua, as is manifest from chap. xiv, 6,
7, 30, but Caleb alone is here mentioned, possibly because he spake
first and most, which he might better do, because he might be
presumed to be more impartial than Joshua, who being Moses's
minister might be thought to speak only what he knew his master
would like. Stilled the people -Which implies either that they had
began to murmur, or that by their looks and carriage, they
discovered the anger which boiled in their breasts. Before Moses -
Or, towards Moses, against whom they were incensed, as the man
who had brought them into such sad circumstances. Let us go up
and possess it - He does not say, Let us go up and conquer it. He
looks on 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 without delay,
and take the possession which our great Lord is now ready to give
us! Thus difficulties that lie in the way of salvation, vanish away
before a lively faith.
Verse 31. The men - All of them, Joshua excepted. Stronger - Both in
stature of body and numbers of people. Thus they question the
power, and truth, and goodness of God, of all which they had such
ample testimonies.
Verse 32. Eateth up its inhabitants - Not so much by civil wars, for that
was likely to make their conquest more easy; but rather by the
unwholesomeness of the air and place, which they guessed from
the many funerals, which, as some Hebrew writers, not without
probability affirm, they observed in their travels through it:
though that came to pass from another cause, even from the
singular providence of God, which, to facilitate the Israelites
conquest, cut off vast numbers of the Canaanites either by a
plague, or by the hornet sent before them, as is expressed, Josh.
xxiv, 12.
Chapter 13:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Leviticus Deuteronomy
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
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