Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron.“ If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained.
“ Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.”So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.These were the tribes and the names of their leaders: Tribe Leader Reuben Shammua son of ZaccurSimeon Shaphat son of HoriJudah Caleb son of JephunnehIssachar Igal son of JosephEphraim Hoshea son of NunBenjamin Palti son of RaphuZebulun Gaddiel son of SodiManasseh son of Joseph Gaddi son of SusiDan Ammiel son of GemalliAsher Sethur son of MichaelNaphtali Nahbi son of VophsiGad Geuel son of MakiThese are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land.( Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land:“ Go north through the Negev into the hill country.See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many.See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps?Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.”( It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo hamath.Going north, they passed through the Negev and arrived at Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai— all descendants of Anak— lived.( The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.)When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs.That place was called the valley of Eshcol( which means“ cluster”), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite men cut there.After exploring the land for forty days, the men returnedto Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land.
A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua,“ Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh barnea.I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report,
“ Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh barnea,I said to you,‘ You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us.Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’“ But you all came to me and said,‘ First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’“ This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes.They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it.They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported,‘ The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’
