2[YAH's angel] says, โ[Since the people demand it, because they don't trust Me, go ahead and] send men to search the land [which I'm taking away from] Canaan {LowLand} to give to the descendants of Israel. For every ancestral tribe, send one man, each one the top [tribal] chief, [the leader of his family's thousands of people].โ YHVH allowed this search to take place, but only because the people had faithlessly demanded it in Deut 1:19-22. YHVH had already told them about how great the land was. This is the way we humans are. YHVH tells us everything we need to know. Still we don't listen to him. The fact that these were chiefs is what made their rebellion so serious.
3 So, ๐, there in the wilderness of Paran {Gleam}, Moses obeys this commandment of YHVH. He sends spies, each a chief of the sons of Israel.
4 Here are the [spiesโ] names, ๐: From the tribe of Reuben {Look-a-Son}: Shammua {Stunner} (the son of Zaccur {Memory}).
5[The spy] from the tribe of Simeon {Listener} is Shaphat {Judge} (the son of Hori {CaveMan}).
6[The spy] from the tribe of Judah {Celebrated} is (Caleb {Battle-Cry}, son of Jephunneh {Ready}).
7[The spy] from the tribe of Issachar {Reward} is Igal {Avenger/Redeemer} (the son of Joseph {Increaser}).
8[The spy] from the tribe of Ephraim is Hoshea {Deliverer} (the son of Nun {Perennial}). Renamed โJoshuaโ in verse 16.
9[The spy] from the tribe of Benjamin {Right-Hand-Son} is Palti {Rescued} (the son of Raphu {Cured}).
10[The spy] from the tribe of Zebulun {House} is (GaddiEl {El's-Trooper} the son of Sodi {Confidant}).
11[The spy] from Manasseh (the sub-tribe of Joseph {Increaser}) is Gaddi {Blessed} (the son of Susi {Stallion}).
12[The spy] from the tribe of Dan {Judge} is AmmiEl {People-of-El} (the son of Gemalli {Camel-Driver}).
13[The spy] from the tribe of Asher {Happy} is Sethur {Secret} (the son of MichaEl {El-Is-Incomparable}). Sethur means surrogate, mystical or occult. Using standard Hebrew Gematria, his name evaluates to 666, marking him as the probable instigator of the rebellion against Moses.
14[The spy] from the tribe of Naphtali {Wrestler} is Nahbi {Cherished-Secret} (the son of Vophsi {Increase}).
15[The spy] from the tribe of Gad {Troop} is GeuEl {Majesty-of-El} (the son of Machi {Skinny}).
16 That, ๐, [completes the list of] the names of the men Moses sends to spy out the [Promised] land. [Finally, before sending out the spies,] Moses renames Nun's son Oshea {Savior}[as] JAHoshua {Jah-Saves}, [to clarify that when we get rescued it's YAH, not man, who saves us]. Oshea ["Deliverer"] becomes Joshua ["JAH-is-our-Deliverer"], or Yahshua for short. The exact SAME name as the Messiah!
Levi is not here named because Levites, being segregated priests, hold no land inheritance rights. Priests have no motivation to risk their lives to spy out property claims.
Moses Reluctantly Sends The Spies
17 So Moses sends [the spies north] to investigate the land of Canaan {LowLand}. [Moses] instructs the [spies], โSneak up through [Judea's] Negev {Southland}[desert]. Then [spy] on into [Judea's central] hill country.
18 Scope out the land. Check its [soil and water] types. [Find out about] the people who live there: whether they're strong or weak, few or many.
19 Check the land they dwell in. [Test] whether it's good or bad. Check [what kind of] towns they dwell in, whether in camps, or in fortresses.
20 Test the land to see whether it's โfatโ [fertile] or โleanโ [wasted], and whether there's wood there or not. Be bold! Bring some fruit from the land, [since] now's the season for first-ripe grapes! [YUM!]โ
21 So, ๐, the spies journey [northward]. They search the [Promised] land from the Zin {Crags} desert to [the plains of] Rehob {Wide-Open}, near the road to Hamath {Joined-Walls}, [a mountain passage north of Damascus].
22 The spies sneak north through the Negev {Southland}[desert]. They arrive [17 miles south of Jerusalem] at [the ancient Societal center named] Hebron {Seat-Of-Society}, [a federal city] rebuilt 7 years before the [construction of the] Egyptian city of Zoan {Eastern-Nile-Delta}. There [the spies see] Ahiman {Gift-Brother}, Sheshai {Albino} and Talmai {Terrace}, all spawn of Anak {Strangler}. Caleb later drives out the people of Ahiman. Then Judah's thugs kill Ahiman's survivors. Evil Anak was descended from the 2nd round of fornication between fallen angels and earth women: see Gen 6:4, Deut 9:2, Josh 15:14. Zoan was the location of the Exodus, see ex 1:10.
23 The [spies travel] on to Eshcol {Bunch-Brook-Valley}, ๐. There they cut down a vine-branch bearing a [giant] cluster of grapes. They carry [the grapes] between two [men] on a staff. And they haul [out] some pomegranates and some figs. Grapes and pomegranates signify royal luxury & privilege, which the Israelites forfeit because of unbelief, ungratefulness and fear.
24 The [Israelites] name the place Eshcol {Bunch-Brook} because of this cluster of grapes the [spies] of Israel cut down there, ๐.
25[The spies courageously brave death, ๐.] They search the [Promised] land for 40 days. Then the [spies] return [to Moses]. 40 = # of probation. The spies return exactly 6 months after the setting up of the Tabernacle.
26 The [spies] run up to Moses, and to Aaron, and to the whole community of the people of Israel [camped there at] Kadesh {Sanctuary} in the wilderness of Paran {Gleam}, ๐. [The spies jump up and down, raving] to the [leaders] and to the whole population [about the awesome territory]! [As proof of the land's abundance, the spies] show the [Israelites] the fruit from the [Promised] land. [Moses takes a bite of a grape. His mouth floods with the unbelievable burst of refreshing fruit flavor!]
27 The [spies] report to Moses, raving, โWe penetrated the land where you sent us. It really does flow with milk and honey! [Check out] this fruit! [The land brims full of it!]
The Cowardly Spies Terrify Other Israelites
28 โBut the people who live in the [Promised] land [stand] strong. Their cities' walls [tower to the sky]. [The people and their cities] are abnormal, superhuman, [both in size and wickedness]. And, [worst of all,] we saw the [demon-spawned] Anakite {Sons-Of-The-Strangler} there! Even after seeing YHVH repeatedly show his invincibility, these spies quake in fear. Anakites may mean โlong-necksโ, โpowerful-onesโ, โrebelsโ, โmastersโ or โGiants.โ They lived in cities built with Cyclopean architecture, apparently built for giants.
29 The Amaleki {Blood-Lickers} infest the Negev {Southland}. The Hittite {Sons-Of-Terror} and the Jebusite {Threshers} and the Amorite {Mountaineers} infest the hill-country. And the Canaanite {Mercenaries} infest the [Mediterranean] sea [coast] and the Jordan [river valley].โ
30[Suddenly] Caleb {Battle-Cry} hushes the [fear-mongering] people facing Moses. Caleb [shouts], โLet's [march north right now to] occupy [the Promised land]! We can do it! [YAH gives] us the power!โ Caleb is not advocating war. He's saying that YAH can protect you if you go where he sends you. Caleb's name implies whole-heartedness.
31 But the spies who'd infiltrated [the Promised land] with [Caleb faithlessly] whine, โWe're not able to attack the [pagan] people. They're stronger than us.โ
32The naysayers [spider out] among the people of Israel. [They] spread an invented evil story about the land they'd searched, ๐. They lie, โWe've gone and spied-out the [promised] land. That country eats anybody who invades it! All the people we saw there are giant men!
33There we saw the Nephilim {Fallen-Prisoners}โthe spawn of Anak {Long-Neck}โthe giant-spawn! We saw ourselves as grasshoppers. And that's what we looked like to them!โ