The Spies Return from Canaan

Moses then led the Hebrews away from there to a place called Paran, which was near the borders of the Canaanites and a hard place to remain in. There he gathered the people together in assembly, and standing in the middle of them he said: “Of the two things God determined to give us, liberty and the possession of a happy country, you already share in the one by God’s gift, and you will soon obtain the other. For we are now living near the borders of the Canaanites, and nothing can stop us from taking it, now that we have at last come upon it. I say that not only no king or city, but not even the whole human race, if they were all gathered together, could do so. So let us prepare ourselves for the work, for the Canaanites will not give up their land to us without fighting; it must be wrested from them by great struggles in war. Let us then send spies to see how good the land is and how strong. But above all, let us be of one mind, and let us honor God, who above all is our helper and ally.” [a]

When Moses had said this, the people paid him their respects and chose twelve spies from among the most eminent men, one from each tribe. They passed through the whole land of Canaan from the borders of Egypt and came to the city of Hamath and to Mount Lebanon; and having learned the nature of the land and of its inhabitants, they came home, after spending forty days on the whole task. They also brought with them some of the fruits the land produced, showed the people how excellent those fruits were, and gave an account of the great abundance of good things the land provided, all of which moved the people to go to war. But then they terrified them again with how hard it would be to take it. The rivers, they said, were so wide and deep that they could not be crossed; the hills were so high that no one could travel through them; the cities were strong with walls and with firm fortifications all around them. They told them also that they had found the descendants of the giants at Hebron. So these spies, who had seen the land of Canaan, when they saw that all these difficulties were greater there than any they had met since they came out of Egypt, were frightened of them themselves and tried to frighten the people too. [b]

So the people concluded from what they had heard that it was impossible to take possession of the country. When the assembly broke up, they, their wives and their children kept up their lamentation, as if God would not really help them but had only made them fine promises. They also blamed Moses again and raised an outcry against him and his brother Aaron, the high priest. So they spent that night very badly, using insulting language against them; and in the morning they ran together in assembly, intending to stone Moses and Aaron and so go back to Egypt.

But among the spies were Joshua the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, who were afraid of what would follow. They came into the middle of the crowd and quieted the people, and urged them to be of good courage. They should not condemn God as if he had told them lies, they said, nor listen to those who had frightened them by telling them what was not true about the Canaanites, but to those who encouraged them to hope for success. They would gain possession of the happiness promised them, for neither the height of mountains nor the depth of rivers could stop men of true courage from attempting them, especially while God shared their eagerness and fought for them. “So let us go against our enemies,” they said, “and have no fear of failure, trusting God as our leader, and following us, who will show you the way.” So these two exhorted them and tried to calm the rage they were in. But Moses and Aaron fell to the ground and begged God, not for their own deliverance, but that he would put a stop to what the people were so rashly doing, and bring their minds back to calm, now that they were thrown into disorder by their present passion. The cloud also now appeared and stood over the tabernacle, and showed them that the presence of God was there. [d]