Numbers 13:32
New International Version
And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.

New Living Translation
So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.

English Standard Version
So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

Berean Standard Bible
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.

King James Bible
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

New King James Version
And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

New American Standard Bible
So they brought a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature.

NASB 1995
So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

NASB 1977
So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

Legacy Standard Bible
So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, which we have passed through to spy out on, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

Amplified Bible
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we went, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

Christian Standard Bible
So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.

American Standard Version
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And those who spied out sent out the report of the land to the children of Israel and they said to them: “The land in which we passed through and spied out, the land consumes its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw within it are men of stature.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they brought a horror of that land which they surveyed upon the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed by to survey it, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of extraordinary stature.

Contemporary English Version
Then they started spreading rumors and saying, "We won't be able to grow anything in that soil. And the people are like giants.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they spoke ill of the land, which they had viewed, before the children of Israel, saying: The land which we have viewed, devoureth its inhabitants: the people, that we beheld, are of a tall stature.

English Revised Version
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So they began to spread lies among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored is one that devours those who live there. All the people we saw there are very tall.

Good News Translation
So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, "That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall,

International Standard Version
So they put out this false report to the Israelis about the land that they had explored: "The land that we've explored is one that devours its inhabitants. All the people whom we observed were giants.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

Literal Standard Version
and they bring out an evil account of the land which they have spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land into which we passed over to spy it out is a land eating up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in its midst [are] men of stature;

Majority Standard Bible
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.

New American Bible
They spread discouraging reports among the Israelites about the land they had reconnoitered, saying, “The land that we went through and reconnoitered is a land that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge.

NET Bible
Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, "The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great stature.

New Revised Standard Version
So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size.

New Heart English Bible
They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they brought an evil report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have passed to search it, is a land that eateth up its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it, are men of a great stature.

World English Bible
They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.

Young's Literal Translation
and they bring out an evil account of the land which they have spied unto the sons of Israel, saying, 'The land into which we passed over to spy it, is a land eating up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in its midst are men of stature;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Reports of the Spies
31But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!” 32So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature. 33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”…

Cross References
Numbers 14:36
So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land--

Numbers 14:37
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land--were struck down by a plague before the LORD.

Psalm 106:24
They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.

Ezekiel 36:13
For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, 'You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,'

Ezekiel 36:14
therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord GOD.

Amos 2:9
Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.


Treasury of Scripture

And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

brought

Numbers 14:36,37
And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, …

Deuteronomy 1:28
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

Matthew 23:13
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

a land

Numbers 13:28
Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

Ezekiel 36:13
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;

Amos 2:9
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

men of a greater stature.

2 Samuel 21:20
And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

1 Chronicles 20:6
And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.

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Numbers 13
1. The names of the men who were sent to search the land
17. Their instructions
21. Their acts
26. Their relation














(32) A land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.--Some understand by this phrase a land of scarcity, unable to support its inhabitants; others understand it as denoting an unhealthy land, in which sense it appears to be still used in the East. (See Roberts' Oriental Illustrations, p. 101, 8vo, 1844.) It seems more probable, however, that the allusion is to the strife and discord which prevailed amongst the various tribes who contended for its possession. (Comp. Leviticus 26:38.)

Men of great stature.--Literally, men of measures (comp. Isaiah 45:14), where the word middah, measure, occurs in the singular number, "men of stature." Such persons did undoubtedly exist in the land of Canaan, but there is no evidence that the inhabitants generally were of extraordinary size.

Verse 32. - A land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. This cannot mean that the people died of starvation, pestilence, or other natural causes, which would have been contrary to facts and to their own report. It must mean that the population was continually changing through internecine wars, and the incursions of fresh tribes from the surrounding wastes. The history of Palestine from first to last testifies to the constant presence of this d anger. The remarkable variation in the lists of tribes inhabiting Canaan may be thus accounted for. All the people... are men of great stature, אֲגְשֵׁי מִדּות "men of measures. " Septuagint, ἄνδρες ὑπερμήκεις. The "all" is an exaggeration very natural to men who had to justify the counsels of cowardice.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So they gave
וַיּוֹצִ֜יאוּ (way·yō·w·ṣî·’ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

the Israelites
בְּנֵ֥י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

a bad report
דִּבַּ֤ת (dib·baṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1681: Whispering, defamation, evil report

about the land
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

they had spied out:
תָּר֣וּ (tā·rū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 8446: To meander, about, for, trade, reconnoitring

“The land
הָאָ֡רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

we explored
עָבַ֨רְנוּ (‘ā·ḇar·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

devours
אֹכֶ֤לֶת (’ō·ḵe·leṯ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

its inhabitants,
יוֹשְׁבֶ֙יהָ֙ (yō·wō·šə·ḇe·hā)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

and all
וְכָל־ (wə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the people
הָעָ֛ם (hā·‘ām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

we saw
רָאִ֥ינוּ (rā·’î·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 7200: To see

there
בְתוֹכָ֖הּ (ḇə·ṯō·w·ḵāh)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 8432: A bisection, the centre

are great in stature.
מִדּֽוֹת׃ (mid·dō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4060: Extension, height, breadth, a measure, a portion, a vestment, tribute


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OT Law: Numbers 13:32 They brought up an evil report (Nu Num.)
Numbers 13:31
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