Numbers 13:33

Context

In Numbers 13, Moses sends twelve men from the Wilderness of Paran, one representative from each tribe, to spy out the land of Canaan. After surveying the land for forty days, they return to Kadesh and report that it is a land that "floweth with milk and honey" but that its inhabitants are strong and its cities fortified. When Caleb quiets the people and urges them to go up, the other spies who had gone with him bring up "an evil report" of the land and add the words of this verse. In the following chapter, the people weep all night and talk of returning to Egypt. As a result, that generation must spend forty years in the wilderness, and the spies who brought the evil report die by a plague.

Interpretation

• A report of unbelief: Protestant commentators generally read the verse as the words of men who regarded the immediate threat as greater than God's promise. It is often read in contrast with the words of Joshua and Caleb: "they are bread for us" (Numbers 14:9).
• Exaggeration: The Nephilim are mentioned in Genesis 6 as beings who existed before the Flood. Many commentators therefore hold that the spies invoked the name of legendary giants to magnify the people's fear. They also cite the description of the land in the same chapter as "a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof" as another example of exaggeration.
• Historical record: This reading emphasizes that the sons of Anak, a people of great stature, actually existed. In support, it cites the account in Deuteronomy that describes them as a tall people and the account in the Book of Joshua of Caleb driving out the sons of Anak who lived in Hebron.

Debates and Issues

• The identity of the Nephilim: How one understands the Nephilim depends on whether the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 are taken to be angels, descendants of Seth, or powerful rulers. This verse is discussed in connection with the question of whether Nephilim existed even after the Flood.
• Translation and text: The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) renders Nephilim as "giants." The Korean Revised Version renders the sons of Anak as "mighty men." The phrase identifying the sons of Anak as descendants of the Nephilim (KJV: "the sons of Anak, which come of the giants") is reportedly absent from the Septuagint, and some scholars therefore regard it as a later explanatory addition.
• Citation out of context: Some criticize the use of this verse solely as a lesson in self-esteem or positive thinking, arguing that the focus of the text is not self-perception but the failure to believe God's promise.

In the Korean Church

The verse is frequently cited in sermons contrasting the ten spies with Joshua and Caleb. Expressions such as "a grasshopper self-image" are common material for sermons emphasizing the perspective of faith.

Related Passages

• Genesis 6:4
• Numbers 14:6-9
• Deuteronomy 1:28
• Joshua 14:12
• Hebrews 3:19