The twelve spies are sent to view the land. The relation they make of it.
From the desert of Pharan Moyses sendeth twelue men (of euerie tribe one) to view the Land of Chanaan. 17. changeth Osee his name into Iosue, 18. instructeth them which way to goe, and what to note in the land: 22. which they performe: 26. and after fourtie dayes returne, bringing with them fruites, in token of the landes fertilitie. 29. but in other respects (the rest besides Caleb and Iosue) discoureging the people make them to murmur.
1And the people marched from Haseroth, and pitched their tents in the desert of Pharan.E partito il popolo da Haseroth, piantò le tende nel deserto di Pharan,AND the people marched from Haseroth pitching their tentes in the desert of Pharan.Profectusque est populus de Haseroth, fixis tentoriis in deserto Pharan. 2And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying.Dove il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And there our Lord spake to Moyses, saying;Ibique locutus est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 3Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I will give to the children of Israel, one of every tribe, of the rulers.Manda a considerare la terra di Canaan, la quale io darò a' figliuoli d'Israele, un uomo de' principali per ogni tribù.Send men, that may view the Land of Chanaan, which I wil geue to the children of Israel, one of euerie tribe, of the princes.Mitte viros, qui considerent terram Chanaan, quam daturus sum filiis Israël, singulos de singulis tribubus, ex principibus. 4Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending from the desert of Pharan, principal men, whose names are these:Fece Mosè quello che avea comandato il Signore, mandando dal deserto di Pharan uomini principali, de' quali i nomi son questi:Moyses did that which our Lord had commanded, from the desert of Pharan sending principal men, whose names be these.Fecit Moyses quod Dominus imperaverat, de deserto Pharan mittens principes viros, quorum ista sunt nomina. 5Of the tribe of Ruben, Sammua the son of Zechur.Della tribù di Ruben, Sammua figliuolo di Zechur;Of the tribe of Ruben, Samua the sonne of Zechur.De tribu Ruben, Sammua filium Zechur. 6Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the son of Huri.Della tribù di Simeon, Saphat figliuolo di Huri;Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the sonne of Huri.De tribu Simeon, Saphat filium Huri. 7Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.Della tribù di Giuda, Caleb figliuolo di Jephone;Of the tribe of Iuda, Caleb the sonne of Iephone.De tribu Juda, Caleb filium Jephone. 8Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.Della tribù d'Issachar, Igal figliuolo di Joseph;Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the sonne of Ioseph.De tribu Issachar, Igal filium Joseph. 9Of the tribe of Ephraim, Osee the son of Nun.Della tribù di Ephraim, Osee figliuolo di Nun;Of the tribe of Ephraim, Osee the sonne of Nun.De tribu Ephraim, Osee filium Nun. 10Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.Della tribù di Beniamin, Phalti figliuolo di Raphu;Of the tribe of Beniamin, Phalti the sonne of Raphu.De tribu Benjamin, Phalti filium Raphu. 11Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the son of Sodi.Della tribù di Zabulon, Geddiel figliuolo di Sodi;Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the sonne of Sodi.De tribu Zabulon, Geddiel filium Sodi.
12Of the tribe of Joseph, of the sceptre of Manasses, Gaddi the son of Susi.Della tribù di Joseph, de' discendenti di Manasse, Gaddi figliuolo di Susi;Of the tribe of Ioseph, of the scepter of Manasses Gaddi, the sonne of Susi.De tribu Joseph, sceptri Manasse, Gaddi filium Susi. 13Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.Della tribù di Dan, Ammiel figliuolo di Gemmalli;Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the sonne of Gemalli.De tribu Dan, Ammiel filium Gemalli. 14Of the tribe of Aser, Sthur the son of Michael.Della tribù di Aser, Sthur figliuolo di Michael;Of the tribe of Aser, Sthu• the sonne of Michael.De tribu Aser, Sthur filium Michaël. 15Of the tribe of Nephtali, Nahabi the son of Vapsi.Della tribù di Nephthali, Nahabi figliuolo di Vapsi;Of the tribe of Nephthali, Nahabi the sonne of Vapsi.De tribu Nephthali, Nahabi filium Vapsi. 16Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.Della tribù di Gad, Guel figliuolo di Machi.Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the sonne of Machi.De tribu Gad, Guel filium Machi. 17These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to view the land: and he called Osee the son of Nun, Josue.Questi sono i nomi di quelli che Mosè mandò a visitare la terra: e ad Osee figliuolo di Nun diede il nome di Giosuè.These are the names of the men, whom moyses sent to view the Land: and he called Osee the sonne of Nun, Iosue.Hæc sunt nomina virorum, quos misit Moyses ad considerandam terram: vocavitque Osee filium Nun, Josue. 18And Moses sent them to view the land of Chanaan, and said to them: Go you up by the south side. And when you shall come to the mountains,Mandogli adunque Mosè a visitare la terra di Canaan, e disse loro: Andate versa il mezzodì. E quando sarete giunti alle montagne,Moyses therfore sent them to view the Land of Chanaan, and said to them: Goe vp by the south side. And when you shal come to the mountaines,Misit ergo eos Moyses ad considerandam terram Chanaan, et dixit ad eos: Ascendite per meridianam plagam. Cumque veneritis ad montes, 19View the land, of what sort it is, and the people that are the inhabitants thereof, whether they be strong or weak: few in number or many:Considerate la qualità della terra, e il popolo che l'abita, se sia forte, o debole; se pochi di numero, o molti:view the Land, what it is: and the people that are the inhabitantes therof, whether they be strong or weake: few in number or manie:considerate terram, qualis sit: et populum qui habitator est ejus, utrum fortis sit an infirmus: si pauci numero an plures: 20The land itself, whether it be good or bad: what manner of cities, walled or without walls:Se la terra stessa sia buona, o cattiva: quali le città; se murate, o senza mura:the land it self, whether it be good or badde: what manner of cities, walled or without walles:ipsa terra, bona an mala: urbes quales, muratæ an absque muris:
21The ground, fat or barren, woody or without trees. Be of good courage, and bring us of the fruits of the land. Now it was the time when the firstripe grapes are fit to be eaten.Se il terreno sia grasso, o sterile; selvoso, o senza alberi. Fatevi cuore, e portateci de' frutti della terra. Era allora il tempo quando le uve primaticce sono da mangiarsi.the ground, fatte or barren, wooddie or without trees. Be of good courage, and bring vs of the fruites of the Land. And it was the time when now the first ripe grapes are to be eaten.humus, pinguis an sterilis, nemorosa an absque arboribus. Confortamini, et afferte nobis de fructibus terræ. Erat autem tempus quando jam præcoquæ uvæ vesci possunt. 22And when they were gone up, they viewed the land from the desert of Sin, unto Rohob as you enter into Emath.E quegli essendo andati, disaminaron la terra dal deserto di Sin fino a Rohob, per dove si va in Emath.And when they were gone vp, they viewed the Land from the desert of Sin, vnto Rohob as you enter to Emath.Cumque ascendissent, exploraverunt terram a deserto Sin, usque Rohob intrantibus Emath. 23And they went up at the south side, and came to Hebron, where were Achiman and Sisai and Tholmai the sons of Enac. For Hebron was built seven years before Tanis the city of Egypt.Andarono verso mezzodì, e giunsero ad Hebron, dove stavano Achiman, e Sisai, e Tholmai figliuoli di Enac: perocché Hebron fu edificata sette anni prima di Tanim città dell'Egitto.And they went vp at the south side, and came to Hebron, where were Achiman and Sisai and Tholmai the sonnes of Enac. for Hebron was built seuen yeares before Tanis the citie of Aegypt.Ascenderuntque ad meridiem, et venerunt in Hebron, ubi erant Achiman et Sisai et Tholmai filii Enac: nam Hebron septem annis ante Tanim urbem Ægypti condita est. 24And going forward as far as the torrent of the cluster of grapes, they cut off a branch with its cluster of grapes, which two men carried upon a lever. They took also of the pomegranates and of the figs of that place:E tirando innanzi fino al Torrente del Grappolo, troncarono un tralcio col suo grappolo, e lo portarono due uomini appeso ad un bastone. Preser anche delle melagranate, e de' fichi di quel luogo:And going forward as farre as the Torrent of cluster, they cutte of a branch with the grapes therof, which two men carried vpon a leauer. They tooke of the pomegranates also and of the figges of that place:Pergentesque usque ad Torrentem botri, absciderunt palmitem cum uva sua, quem portaverunt in vecte duo viri. De malis quoque granatis et de ficis loci illius tulerunt:
25Which was called Nehelescol, that is to say, the torrent of the cluster of grapes, because from thence the children of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes.Gli fu dato questo nome di Nehel Escol, cioè Torrente del Grappolo, per averne indi portato quel grappolo i figliuoli d'Israele.which was called Nehelescol, that is to say, the Torrent of cluster, for that thence the children of Israel had caried a cluster.qui appellatus est Nehelescol, id est Torrens botri, eo quod botrum portassent inde filii Israël. 26And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty days, having gone round all the country,E tornarono gli esploratori dopo quaranta giorni, avendo scorso tutto il paese,And the discouerers of the Land returning after fourtie daies, hauing circuted al the countrie,Reversique exploratores terræ post quadraginta dies, omni regione circuita, 27And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits of the land:E andarono a trovar Mosè ed Aronne e tutto il popolo de' figliuoli d'Israele nel deserto di Pharan a Cades. E parlarono a lui, e a tutto il popolo, e mostrarono de' frutti della terra:came to Moyses & Aaron and to al the assemblie of the children of Israel into the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And speaking to them & to al the multitude they shewed the fruites of the Land:venerunt ad Moysen et Aaron et ad omnem cœtum filiorum Israël in desertum Pharan, quod est in Cades. Locutique eis et omni multitudini ostenderunt fructus terræ: 28And they related and said: We came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey as may be known by these fruits:E fecero il loro racconto, dicendo: Giungemmo nella terra, dove tu ci mandasti, e questa veramente scorre latte e miele, come si può riconoscere da questi frutti:and reported, saying: We came into the Land to which thou didst send vs, which in very deede floweth with milke and honie, as by these fruites may be knowen:et narraverunt, dicentes: Venimus in terram, ad quam misisti nos, quæ revera fluit lacte et melle, ut ex his fructibus cognosci potest: 29But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.Ma ella ha abitatori fortissimi, e città grandi e murate. Ivi abbiam veduto la stirpe di Enac.but it hath very strong inhabitantes, and cities great and walled. The stocke of Enac we saw there.sed cultores fortissimos habet, et urbes grandes atque muratas. Stirpem Enac vidimus ibi.
30Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite and the Amorrhite in the mountains: but the Chanaanite abideth by the sea and near the streams of the Jordan.Da mezzodì abita Amalec, l'Hetheo, e lo Jebuseo, e l'Amorrheo sulle montagne; il Cananeo poi verso il mare, e intorno al fiume Giordano.Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hetheite and the Iebuseite and the Amorrheite in the mountaines: but the Chananeite abideth beside the sea and about the streames of Iordan.Amalec habitat in meridie, Hethæus et Jebusæus et Amorrhæus in montanis: Chananæus vero moratur juxta mare et circa fluenta Jordanis. 31In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people that rose against Moses, said: Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to conquer it.Frattanto Caleb per sedare il rumore, che principiava a levarsi nel popolo contro Mosè, disse: Andiamo a prender possesso di quella terra: perocché noi potrem farne acquisto.Among these thinges Caleb appeasing the murmuring of the people that rose against Moyses, said: Let vs goe vp and possesse the Land, because we may obtaine it.Inter hæc Caleb compescens murmur populi, qui oriebatur contra Moysen, ait: Ascendamus, et possideamus terram, quoniam poterimus obtinere eam. 32But the others, that had been with him, said: No, we are not able to go up to this people, because they are stronger than we.Ma gli altri, che erano andati con lui, dicevano: No, che non possiamo andar contro quel popolo, perché è più forte di noi.But the others, that had bene with him, said: No, we are not able to goe vp to this people, because it is stronger then we.Alii vero, qui fuerant cum eo, dicebant: Nequaquam ad hunc populum valemus ascendere, quia fortior nobis est. 33And 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.E screditarono presso i figliuoli d'Israele la terra, che avean visitato, dicendo: la terra, che abbiamo scorsa, divora i suoi abitanti: il popolo, che abbiam veduto, è di grande statura.And they detracted from the Land, which they had viewed, before the children of Israel, saying: The Land, which we haue viewed, deuoureth her inhabitantes: the people, that we beheld, is of a tall stature.Detraxeruntque terræ, quam inspexerant, apud filios Israël, dicentes: Terra, quam lustravimus, devorat habitatores suos: populus, quem aspeximus, proceræ staturæ est.
34There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind: in comparison of whom, we seemed like locusts.Vi abbiam veduto certi mostri di figliuoli di Enac di razza di giganti paragonati a' quali noi parevamo locuste.There we saw certaine monsters of the sonnes of Enac, of the gyantes kind: to whom being compared, we seemed as it were locustes.Ibi vidimus monstra quædam filiorum Enac de genere giganteo: quibus comparati, quasi locustæ videbamur.
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Year of the World 2514.
Pharan, at Rethma, chap. 33:48.; though Barradius confounds that station with that at Cades-barne. The Samaritan copy inserts here a long passage, taken probably from Deuteronomy 1:20, 21, and 22, which shews that the Hebrews first proposed the sending spies, out of timidity; which God severely punished in the sequel, though in his anger he here consents to their proposal, which seemed to originate in motives of prudence, ver. 3.
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Haydock
Huri: Septuagint, "Souri." None of the tribe of Levi, the third son of Jacob, are sent; but two represent the different branches of the tribe of Joseph, ver. 9, 12. The tribe of Ephraim comes out of its natural order, and has been overlooked by Calmet. (Haydock)
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Sceptre. Hebrew matte, means also "a tribe."
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Calmet
Josue. His former name Osee, or Hoseah, means "one saved, or salvation;" but the addition of the i, taken from the name of the Lord, intimates, "he shall save, or the Saviour of God." Some think that Moses had given him this name after the defeat of the Amalecites; but the Book of Exodus, where the name is found, might have been written after he received this commission. (Calmet)
Menochius
The Septuagint have, "Ause, the son of Nave, Jesus," as he was a striking figure of our blessed Saviour, and their names are written with the same letters, Yehoshuah. This Moses foresaw, and also that he whould be the happy instrument, in the hand of God, of saving the Israelites, by introducing them to the land of promise, and establishing them in peace therein. (Menochius)
Worthington
The changing of his name imported likewise, that he should be the chief leader. (Theodoret, q. 25.) (Worthington)
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South side, which is to the north of where you now dwell. Moses enters into several details for the satisfaction of the people, though they had probably a general idea of the country and of its fruitfulness already, having lived not far off. They might not know, however, but that some part of the inhabitants might dwell in tents, instead of towns, as many of the Arabians did.
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First ripe (praecoquae:) Hebrew literally, "the first-born." Septuagint, "the days of spring, forerunners of the grape." In Madeira, grapes ripen in March. Some suppose the messengers departed in June, others in July. In Palestine, they have fresh grapes from the end of June till Martinmas [memorial day of St. Martin of Tours, November 11?], and three vintages, in August, and in each of the two following months.
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Sin. The desert of Pharan was contiguous to that of Sin. They departed from Cades-barne, and went along the Jordan to Rohob, at the foot of Mount Libanus, and on the road to Emath; then they returned by the confines of the Sidonians and Philistines, through Hebron, to the camp at Cades.
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Kennicott
And came. The printed Hebrew has, "and he came:" but the Samaritan and all the versions, as well as some manuscripts, properly retain the plural, which the Massorets allow is right. (Kennicott, Diss. 1.)
Grotius
Enac, the founder of Hebron, and father of the giants of Chanaan, Josue 15:13. The Greek word anax, "king," was perhaps derived from him, as also the famous Inachides, who settled in Greece, after they were driven out by Josue. (Grotius)
Tanis, where the tyrants of the Hebrews resided; a city, which the Egyptians represented as the most ancient in the world. Moses represses their vain boasting, by informing them that Hebron was of greater antiquity. It was afterwards assigned to the priests, and for a city of refuge, in the tribe of Juda, Josue 20:7.
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Torrent. Septuagint, "vale."
Its. Hebrew, "one cluster."
Two men, Josue and Caleb; (St. Maximus) though the Rabbins say they carried nothing.
Haydock
Lever, or staff, suspending it thus, in order that it might not be crushed. In that valley, Doubdan (I. 21,) was assured by the religious, that clusters, weighing twelve pounds, might still be found. Pliny (Natural History? 14:1,) says, there are some in Africa, larger than a male infant. Strabo (xi.) describes some in Carmania, two cubits high. Forster saw a religious man at Nuremberg, who had lived eight years in Palestine, and assured him that two men could hardly carry a bunch of grapes, such as grew in the vale of Hebron: (Calmet) but this may seem to be an hyperbole. (Haydock)
Calmet
Lucas (T. 1:p. 310,) assures us, that he had seen a bunch at Damascus, weighing above forty pounds. The Fathers here contemplate Jesus Christ, suspended between the two testaments, the synagogue and the Church: the juice, or blood of the grape, (Genesis 49:2., and Deuteronomy 32:14,) denotes his passion. (St. Jerome, ep. ad Fab.; St. Bernard in Cant. ser. xliv.) (Calmet)
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Haydock
Cades. The desert of Pharan, or of Cades, is the same. (Haydock)
Calmet
The town is sometimes called Cades-barne, or Recem, (Chaldean) which is Petra, the capital of the stony Arabia, and lies rather nearer to the Dead Sea than to the Mediterranean. It was on the high road from the Red Sea to Hebron. In one part of the desert of Cades, the people murmured for want of water, (Numbers 20:1.) But there was plenty near the city. Moses continued here a long time after the return of the spies, Deuteronomy 1:19, 46. (Calmet)
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South. They had already routed the Amalecites; but the spies insidiously recall to their remembrance, that they would be again in arms to obstruct their passage.
Calmet
Hethites, dwelt nearest the Philistines, in the country which fell to the shares of Simeon and of Dan. The Jebusites occupied Jerusalem; and the Amorrhites, the most powerful of all those nations, held possession of most of the territory which was allotted to Juda. Nearer the Dead Sea, on the same mountains, dwelt the Cinezeans and the Cineans. Bonfrere places the Chanaanites on the banks of the Jordan, from the lake of Sodom as far as the sea of Tiberias. But they dwelt also near the Mediterranean; and the Phoenicians maintained themselves at Tyre and Sidon, against the most powerful kings of the Jews, and extended their commerce over the old world, to many parts of which they sent out colonies. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Caleb, to whom Josue alone joined himself, to bear witness of the truth against the other ten; whom the people were, however, more inclined to believe, (Numbers 14:6.; Ecclesiasticus 46:9.) paying more attention to numbers than to authority, when it suited their humour. (Haydock)
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Challoner
Spoke ill, etc. These men, who, by their misrepresentations of the land of promise, discouraged the Israelites from attempting the conquest of it, were a figure of worldlings, who, by decrying or misrepresenting true devotion, discourage Christians from seeking in earnest and acquiring so great a good, and thereby securing to themselves a happy eternity. (Challoner)
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Monsters. Hebrew, "giants."
Haydock
Locusts, or grasshoppers. So much inferior in size were we to them. Hebrew insinuates that the spies entertained these sentiments when they beheld the giants, and the latter seemed to look down upon them with contempt; "and so we were in their sight." These wicked men scrupled not to exaggerate in order to fill the people with dismay. (Haydock)
Their suggestions tended to make them distrust the goodness or the power of God; and therefore he would not suffer them to enjoy the sweets of the land, (Numbers 14:23, 29.) (Worthington) See Deuteronomy 1:28., and Isaias 40:21.
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Spoke ill, etc.... These men, who by their misrepresentations of the land of promise, discouraged the Israelites from attempting the conquest of it, were a figure of worldlings, who, by decrying or misrepresenting true devotion, discourage Christians from seeking in earnest and acquiring so great a good, and thereby securing to themselves a happy eternity.
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Changing of his name literally imported the great office of chiefe Duke vnto which he was designed. mystically prefigured our Lord IESVS, for it is the same name in Hebrew, and signifieth SAVIOVR Theod. q. 25. in Num.
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Pretending falsly that the Land had an vnwholsome ayre, deuouring the inhabitātes, & not possible to be obtained by reasō of the gyants, couertly they detracted frō Gods powre, or his good wil towards them, who had promised the same. And therfore he gaue it to their children, but not to these seducers and murmurers. chap. 14. v. 23, 29.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 16.19
… This successor was called Osea, and Moses gave him the name of Jesus. Why then did he give him this name when he sent him from the valley of Pharan into the land into which he was to lead the people?
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St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 75
… Give heed to Him, and obey Him; do not disobey Him. For He will not draw back from you; for My name is in Him.’ Now understand that He who led your fathers into the land is called by this name Jesus, and first called Auses
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 9
… Learn the habitual character of your error. In the course of the appointing of a successor to Moses, Oshea the son of Nun is certainly transferred from his pristine name, and begins to be called Jesus.
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 1.3.4
4. His successor, therefore, who had not hitherto borne the name Jesus, but had been called by another name, Auses,
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 2.13
… For how does it prevent our understanding it to have the following passage thus expressed: “ Quæ est terra in quo isti insidunt super eam, si bona est an nequam; et quæ sunt civitates, in quibus ipsi inhabitant in ipsis? ”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 105.17
… “He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen him ” ( ver. 26 ). “Whom He had chosen,” would be sufficient; but there is no difficulty in the addition of “him.” It is a phrase of Scripture, as, “The land in which they shall dwell in it:”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 23
… cvi. 24 .) “How ‘despised’ it? Surely they prized it highly.” By becoming indolent and cowardly, and not choosing to undergo any labors to obtain it. Let not us then “despise” Heaven! This is what is meant by “despising.” Again, among us also has fruit been brought, fruit from Heaven, not the cluster of grapes borne upon the staff (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.11
… Next turning to the right she passed from Bethzur to Eshcol which means “a cluster of grapes.” It was hence that the spies brought back that marvellous cluster which was the proof of the fertility of the land
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 8.2
2. There is another interpretation concerning the wine-presses, yet still keeping to the meaning of Churches. For even the Divine Word may be understood by the grape: for the Lord even has been called a Cluster of grapes; which they that were sent before by the people of Israel brought from the land of promise hanging on a staff, crucified as it were.
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.12
168. But not only has our Lord called Himself a Vine—He has also given Himself, by the voice of the prophet, the title of a Grape-cluster—even when Moses, at the command of the Lord, sent spies to the Valley of the Cluster.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 41.24
… Did I not, when food was lacking to thee passing through the desert, supply a rain of food, and nourishment around thee, whithersoever thou wentest? Did I not, after subduing all thine enemies, bring thee into the region of Eshcol?
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.8
54. Joshua, also, and Caleb, when sent to spy out the land, brought back the news that the land was indeed rich, but that it was inhabited by very fierce nations.
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1. AND THE PEOPLE DEPARTED FROM HASEROTH (where was the fourteenth encampment of the Hebrews), AND PITCHED THEIR TENTS IN THE DESERT OF PHARAN, -- that is to say, Going on to pitch camp in that vast desert of Pharan: for in it the following encampments were thereafter until the thirty-third; this moreover the fifteenth, into which they came next from Haseroth, was Rethma, as is evident Num. XXXIII, 48.
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2 and 3. AND THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES THERE, SAYING: SEND MEN WHO MAY CONSIDER THE LAND OF CHANAAN. -- God said this after this people, distrusting the promises of God, had requested that spies be sent into Chanaan, who would report what sort of land it was, how fertile, and how fortified, as is evident Deut. 1, 22. For when the people requested this, Moses consulted the Lord, who assented to Moses, and commanded that he do the very thing which the people requested, as is evident from this place. "For the best commander is he who has most thoroughly known the affairs of his enemies," says Chabrias; for in wars secrecy is of great value. Whence Metellus, when asked by a centurion what he would do, replied: "If I knew that my tunic was aware of my counsel, I would immediately burn it," says Plutarch.
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3. ONE FROM EACH TRIBE, FROM THE PRINCES, -- not the first and highest, namely from those twelve, each of whom presided over his whole tribe; for they were called otherwise, as is evident cap. x, vers. 14; but from other lower ones, who were subordinate to those first; and perhaps from those who had been appointed by the counsel of Jethro, Exodus XVIII, 25.
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12. FROM THE TRIBE OF JOSEPH THE SCEPTRE OF MANASSE, -- In Hebrew from the tribe of Joseph the tribe of Manasse, or as to the tribe of Manasse. For the tribe of Joseph was twofold, namely Ephraim and Manasse: therefore in order to designate a certain tribe, he determines the tribe of Joseph through the tribe of Manasse.
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Vers. 17. AND HE CALLED OSEE THE SON OF NUN, JOSUE. -- Note: For Nun, the Septuagint and often the ancients who follow them, read Nave, but corruptly; for the Hebrew, Chaldean and Latin have Nun, and easily Nun could be corrupted into Greek, so that for Nun (as the Septuagint appears to have translated it) Navi crept in. Again for Osee, or as it is in Hebrew, Hosee, the Septuagint translates Ausen, and thus the ancients following the Septuagint, often call Josue Ausem. The Septuagint therefore appears to have read the Hebrew name with other points, as if descending from the passive imperative niphal of the verb iasca, that is, he saved; namely hosea, that is, to save, be thou saved: whence by crasis the name Ause was made, which Moses changed into the active Jehoscua, that is, saviour, or he who will save: unless one should suspect an old error with St. Jerome, at the beginning of the Commentary on Osee, so that for Ause Ausem be read, with vav corrupted into mem, which is akin to it in character. For our translator and the Chaldean and others often translate Osee, not Ause.
Moses indeed changed the name of Hosea into Jehoshua, adding and prefixing to the name Osee the letter iod, first, so that he might promise to Joshua himself and to the people through him more certain salvation and victory over the Canaanites, which he was beginning with this exploration: for Hosee is a word signifying save (whence hosanna is the same as save I pray), but Jehoshua, to which Jehoshua alludes, signifies he who will save; secondly, so that he might intimate that God would bestow many good things upon him, to whom he had added the first letter of his own name, the tetragram, namely iod. To which St. Jerome seems to have looked in Aggaeus chapter 1, and Eusebius, IV Demonstr. chapter last, saying: Jehoshua is the same as Jaho Jescua, that is, the salvation of God, or saviour, that is, given by God for the salvation of the people: for the tetragrammatic name itself he reads with these points, so that it sounds Jaho; thirdly finally, because Moses by prophetic spirit foresaw that Joshua would bear an express type of Jesus Christ, both in name and in the thing itself, and in the most happy translation of the elect people into the promised land.
Hence Eusebius, lib. IV Demonstr. XXXVII, teaches that Aaron the high priest was called by Moses Christ, because he was a type of the priesthood of Christ: but Ausen (for it is read viciously in Eusebius as Nausen) was called by Moses Joshua, because he was going to be a type of the principate of Christ; so also Theodoret, Quaest. XXV, and Tertullian Against the Jews, and Clement of Alexandria in lib. I Paedag. VII, Justin Against Trypho, pag. 84, Lactantius, lib. IV On True Wisdom, cap. XVII, Prosper, par. II, Predest. cap. IV, Origen, homily 1 on Joshua, Ambrose on Psalm XLVII, Jerome to Paulinus, Augustine, lib. XVI Against Faustus, cap. XVIII. Thus Abraham, going to be father of many peoples, was called by God Abraham. The Precursor of Christ, going to be the first herald of the grace and Gospel of Christ, was called John, that is, gracious. Hence again Lactantius, lib. IV, cap. XVII, Origen, hom. 11 on Exodus, and other Greek and Latin Fathers, whom Serarius cites, praefat. in Joshua, note that Moses changed his name for him, and called him Joshua instead of Hosee, at that time when he was made leader of the army against the Amalekites, and defeated them. For Joshua signifies Saviour, who as leader of the people saved his people: just as Jesus saved men, fighting and defeating demons, Colossians II, 15. The evidence of this matter is that the name Joshua is first read in Exodus XVII, 9, where Joshua is made leader of war against Amalec by Moses. Others however think that the name Osee was changed into Joshua at that time when he was designated as an explorer of the holy land. For then, undertaking the uncertain and dangerous office of exploring a hostile land, he voluntarily offered himself for the people to an evident danger of ignominious and bitter death (lest namely as an explorer and traitor he should be tortured and flayed by the Canaanites). Then therefore he appeared keen, magnanimous and fearless, and therefore worthy to be honored with this new and august name. Thus think Justin Against Trypho, St. Augustine, lib. XVI Against Faustus, cap. XIX, Anastasius of Nicaea, Quaest. LV, Abulensis and Oleaster. St. Augustine adds that Joshua then bore the type of Jesus Christ, who about to go into heaven said to his disciples: "And if I go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself," John XIV, 3. Thus Antiochus the first of this name, king of Syria, on account of the victory reported over the Galatians, was called soter, that is, saviour: and in battle he bore on his standard the figure of a pentagram, with the word hygiaia, that is, health, as is seen in coins; and he used for a military watchword the word sozantho, which signifies to be saved; and he said this was commanded to him by Alexander the Great in a dream: witness is Lucian, Apol. de Lapsu in salut., and Pierius, Hierogl. 47.
From all which it is clear that Jehoshua, or by crasis Josue, is precisely the same name as Jescua, that is Jesus, not a different one, as Galatinus, Pagninus, and Jansenius wish, cap. VII Concord. And this is proved from the fact that the Septuagint, Josephus, and Philo, lib. De Charitate, everywhere translate the Hebrew Jescua, or Josue, as Iesous, that is Jesus: for Iesous is trisyllabic to the Greeks, because iota among them is a vowel, which among the Hebrews and Latins is a consonant; then the point tsere under iod in Jescua they turn into eta: for formerly eta sounded like e; and thirdly they turn the guttural ayin into sigma, for the sake of milder pronunciation, just as for Maschiach they translate Messias. Then the same thing is clear from Aggaeus, cap. 1, vers. 1, 12, 14, and cap. II, vers. 3, 5, and from Zacharias, cap. III, vers. 1, 3, 8; for these two call Jesus the priest, son of Josedec (who was also a type of Christ, as He is the High Priest of the New Testament, as is clear from Zach. III, the verses cited) Jesus, who nevertheless by Esdras, lib. I, cap. III, 2, 8, 9, and cap. IV, vers. 3, in the Hebrew and our version, is called Jesue. Finally, in Hebrew the letters of both these names are the same, and the same root, namely iasca, that is he saved; whence Josue or Jesus is the same as Saviour. Hence it is clear first that those are deceived who derive the name Jesus from the Greek word iao, that is I heal: or from the Syriac asa, that is I heal, as if Iesous were the same as iatros, that is physician; thus Epiphanius, haeresi 29: "Jesus," he says, "in the Hebrew language is called healer, or physician and saviour." Thus also from the Greek iao Basilius in Asceticis derives the name Iesous, and Cyrillus, Catechesi 10, near the end. Where however note that, although this is not the true etymology, yet the correct adaptation and accommodation of the name is true.
It is clear secondly that in Hebrew it should be written Jescua, so that the last letter is ayin, not Iesu, as the Jews write it, either out of contempt, or on account of Syriac abbreviation; nor should it be written Jescuah, with he at the end: because this signifies salvation, but Jesus signifies Saviour. It is clear thirdly that the name Jesus is not the same as the name tetragrammaton, nor does it differ from it by only the letter shin inserted, as some from the sect of the Novatians, namely Lucas Osiander in Matth. 1, thought; and therefore neither should it be written Jehescuh with he at the end preceding vau, as he wishes, as if the name Jesus of Christ the Lord, from Josue, or Jescua, were altogether different. For this has already been refuted; and the same thing St. Matthew openly refutes, 1, 21, who concerning Christ says: Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people, etc. Whence it is clear that the name Jesus is the same as Jescua, or Josue, that is Saviour; nor should it be written Jehescuh in Hebrew, but Jescua, because Jehescuh does not signify Saviour, but Jescua; nay, Jehescuh is a fabricated name, and does not properly have any Hebrew root. Finally, in the title of the Cross of the Lord, which is preserved in Rome in the temple of the Holy Cross, Jescua, not Jehescuh, is written this name, as Pagninus testifies, an eyewitness, in the interpretation of Hebrew names. You will say: Even Jescua does not signify Saviour, but saved, because it has the form of a passive participle pual. I answer, Jescua is not pual, but is a name, signifying Saviour, just as Josue; but names differ greatly from participles both in points and in signification; for Jescua alludes to ioschia, that is he who will save, or certainly to jescuah, that is salvation, as if you were to say, salvation itself, that is Saviour by essence.
You will say secondly: In Isaias VII, 14, and Matth. 1, 23, it is said that Christ shall be called Emmanuel, that is God with us: but this signifies Jehescuh, not Jescua, or Josue: for Jehescuh contains all the letters of the name of God the tetragrammaton, with only the letter shin inserted. I answer: Even Jehuda contains all the letters of the name of the tetragrammaton, as do many other names, yet for that reason it does not signify the same as the tetragrammaton. Secondly, even if you were to feign that it signifies the same as the name of the tetragrammaton, it could by no means signify God with us: because the name of the tetragrammaton does not signify this, but simply signifies God. I add that Jehoshua, which is the same as Jescua, has all the letters of the name of the tetragrammaton, and them joined together, not separated, as Jehescuh. As to the place of Isaias and St. Matthew, therefore, Justin answers in Quaest. ad orthodox., Quaest. CXXXV; Tertullian, lib. Contra Judaeos, cap. IX; Lactantius, lib. IV De Vera sapientia, cap. XII; Cyrillus, lib. De Incarnatione Unigeniti, cap. III, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, does not signify that Christ was to be named thus (for we never read that the name Emmanuel was given to him, but Jesus only, and that in circumcision), but that he would be Emmanuel, so that he could rightly be called Emmanuel; for to be called in Scripture often signifies to be, as in Isaias IX, 6, Isaias LX, 14, Zach. VIII, 3, Jerem. III, 17. Then, as Tertullian rightly says above: Emmanuel and Jesus are the same, not in sound, but in sense. For to be God with us, is to be Saviour: for our salvation and redemption was accomplished by God's descent to us, nor could it be perfected in any other way.
I confess, however, that just as God added the letter he to His name, the tetragrammaton, to Abraham and Sarah, to signify that from them would be born a man: so also Joshua added the same letter, so that Jehoshua contains in itself all the letters of the name of the tetragrammaton: because by this he wished to signify that Jesus Christ, whose type was Joshua, would be Jehovah, that is, God.
Wherefore this name of Jesus was revealed to the Prophets, who foretold that the Messiah would be called by it, as is evident from Habacuc III, 18: "I will rejoice in God my Jesus." Isaiah XLV, 8: "Let the earth be opened and bud forth a saviour," and throughout the Septuagint. The Hebrews translate the name masciach, that is Messias, as soter, that is saviour. Whence also the ancient Rabbis before the time of Christ foretold that the name of the Messiah would be Jesus, as Rabbi Haceados teaches, whom Galatinus cites, lib. III, cap. XX. The Sibyls prophesied the same, as that acrostic of the verses of the Sibyl Erythraea teaches, whose first letters produce these words: Jesus Christ Son of God, Saviour, Cross, which is found at the end of the Sibylline Oracles vol. II of the Library of the Holy Fathers, and which Cicero cites, lib. II De Divin., and from it proves that the poem of the Sibyl is not that of a frenzied person, but of an attentive mind, of art and reflection. The same is cited also by Constantine the Emperor in Eusebius, at the end of his Life, and at length by St. Augustine, lib. XVIII De Civit. XXIII.
The Sibyl Cumana foretold the same, but enigmatically, who, as Sixtus Senensis relates, lib. II, under the word Sibylla, prophesied that the number of the letters of the name of the Messiah would be 888, when she sang thus: But what the sum of the whole number may be I will teach: For eight monads, as many decades over these, And eight hecatontades, to the unfaithful shall signify The name: but do thou keep it in mind. For this number is contained in the four Greek letters of the name Jesus, whose numerical mystery the Venerable Bede explains, in cap. II Luc.: "Namely that by Jesus is signified resurrection, and that the way to heaven is made open. For the number eight, whether simple, or multiplied by ten, that is eighty, or by a hundred, that is 800, signifies the eighth of resurrection." And hence perhaps the demon, who is the ape of God, and so great an emulator of our Saviour, among the Romans and Greeks put on the masks of Jupiter and Minerva Soteres, Jupiter Eleutherius, Health the goddess, Minerva Sospes, and similar phantoms of gods, concerning which much is written by Giraldus, lib. De Diis Gentium, syntagm. I, p. 35, and syntagm. II, p. 406 and 407, and syntagm. III, pag. 121. Finally Justin, Apolog. 1 for Christians, near the end, writes that Christians in his time were accustomed to cure the possessed and to free them from demons by the invocation of the name of Jesus; see Gretserus, lib. III De Cruce, cap. XXVII.
For this name Jesus is most holy and most august, and therefore more venerable than the name of the tetragrammaton, as Abulensis rightly proves, Quaest. VII, in cap. XX Exodi. For it is the proper name of the incarnate Word, as St. Augustine teaches, tract. 3 in I epist. S. Joan., tom. IX, and therefore all other names of Christ, which are very many and most excellent and which Scripture attributes to Him, it comprehends in itself. For it signifies the whole economy of the Lord's incarnation (in which above all other works, all the attributes of God shine forth), and all the goods which from it come to us either in soul or in body, both in this life and in the future through all eternity. See Origen, hom. 22 here, and hom. 1 in Josue, Bernard, serm. 15 in Cant., where he says the ancients gloried in empty names of Jesus; for they did not provide true salvation, but only foreshadowed it: this alone our Jesus provided. Concerning the name of Jesus I have said more Philip. II, 10.
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20. WHAT KIND OF CITIES, WALLED OR WITHOUT WALLS. -- The Clear Interpreter translates the Hebrew words, which read thus: Whether the inhabitants dwell in camps or in fortifications, or in enclosed places. Camps here are opposed to places enclosed by a wall: camps therefore here are open places, or municipalities, in which the inhabitants dwell in troops; for thus soldiers in camps are not enclosed by walls, but dwell in field tents. Thus Oleaster. Enclosed places are what we commonly call Burgos; whence the Burgundians are said to be named, because they contained themselves in burgs, so that they might be safe from the incursions of enemies.
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21. NOW IT WAS THE TIME WHEN THE FIRST RIPE (that is, early ripened) GRAPES COULD BE EATEN, -- as if to say, The spies sent by Moses explored Chanaan when it was the time of the first grapes: whence they also brought back a cluster to the Hebrews. This exploration therefore took place at the beginning of June (for then in Palestine, as a warm region, ripe grapes in Chanaan are), in the second year of the exodus from Egypt, in the month of June. For one year and three months had already passed from this exodus, and then after a few days the Hebrews would have entered Chanaan, had they not murmured. For this murmuring delayed their entrance to 38 years: thus Abulensis.
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Verse 22. THEY EXPLORED THE LAND FROM THE DESERT OF SIN, UNTO ROHOB, ENTERING INTO EMATH, -- that is to say, by the way which leads and enters into the region of Emath, in which was a powerful city, which was afterwards called Epiphania by Antiochus Epiphanes, as St. Jerome says in Amos VI; and it was on the borders of Syria, bounding the holy land from the north; whence Emath is often mentioned in Scripture among the boundaries of the promised land. There was also another great Emath, which was afterwards called Antioch, a most celebrated city of Syria.
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23. WHERE WERE THE SONS OF ENAC. -- "Sons," that is, grandsons and descendants of Enac the giant: see verse 30; whence from this giant Enac, giants in Scripture are called the sons of Enakim.
FOR HEBRON WAS BUILT SEVEN YEARS BEFORE TANIS, THE CITY OF EGYPT. -- All agree, says Adrichomius, Cajetan and Oleaster, that Tanis is a noble city of Egypt, situated not far from Memphis, which was formerly called Titannis, built by ten, or, as Adrichomius says, seventeen Titans, sons of Noah, but with the first syllable cut off it was called Tanis, or the city of Taneos, and it is celebrated in Scripture, inasmuch as Moses wrought his signs before Pharaoh there, and sent the ten plagues upon Egypt, as is evident from Psalm LXXVII, 12, where it is said: "He wrought wonders in the land of Egypt, in the field of Taneos;" and verse 43: "He set his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Taneos." Whence it appears that Tanis was then the royal city of the kings of Egypt; the same is gathered from Isaiah XIX, 11. It was situated near the mouth of the Nile, which was called Tanitic from it, and is near the Pelusiac mouth. To this Tanis the Jews fled with the prophet Jeremiah after Godolias was slain, and there Jeremiah was stoned by the Jews, whose idolatry he was correcting: whence Tanis, or Taphnis, is frequently mentioned in Jeremiah, as in chapters II, XLIII, XLIV and XLVI. In Tanis therefore the Hebrews also saw a race of giants, which the conjunction for indicates in this verse, that is to say, It is no wonder that there are giants in Hebron, such as you saw in Tanis, since Hebron is more ancient than the city of Tanis, so that it could have been inhabited from the first giants, as Lyran and Abulensis say.
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24. THEY CUT DOWN A BRANCH WITH ONE CLUSTER OF GRAPES. -- Philo also expressly asserts that there was not more than one, but only a single cluster. The Hebrew and Chaldean have a branch and one cluster of grapes, that is one branch with one cluster; but he says of grapes, because there are also clusters of cypress and other fruits. Wherefore it is necessary to say that the grapes in Chanaan were exceedingly large: so much so that one of them had to be carried on a pole by two men, which was an indication that that land was most fertile. Thus Pliny, lib. XIV, cap. 1, says that in inner Asia grapes are born of the size of a cow's udder, a pot, indeed of an infant child. Furthermore, Euphorus and Metrophanes relate, according to Stephen, lib. De Urbibus, namely in the town of Eucarpia in lesser Asia, that such immense clusters are born there, that individual ones are equal in weight to individual wagons, so that sometimes the carrying of a single cluster broke and overturned a wagon, and from this the city Eucarpia, that is fertile, was said to be named, and therefore the ancients used to say that this city was given by Jupiter to Ceres and Bacchus to inhabit; but I think that wagon laden with that grape has long since collapsed with a grosser falsehood, and vanished. What wonder is it? The faith of the Greeks is well known, and we know that Greeks are accustomed to play the Greek and to fable. More credibly Strabo, lib. II, mentions clusters of grapes, which individually are two feet in length. The same, lib. XI and lib. XV, relates that in Mauritania and Carmania clusters are born, which extend to two cubits in length.
Allegorically, just as the bride says to Christ: "A cluster of cypress is my beloved to me in the vineyards of Engaddi," and that on account of the sweetness and glory of the resurrection of Christ: so likewise here a cluster hanging on a pole is Christ hanging on the cross: this was born from the promised land, that is the Blessed Virgin, whom Isaiah promised in chapter VII, verse 14: "Two bearers are the two testaments: the Jews go before, the Christians follow; the Christian carries salvation before his sight, the Jew behind his back: the Christian shows obedience, the Jew contempt. Let us labour therefore, lest we lay down from our shoulders so holy a burden." Thus St. Augustine, serm. 100 De Tempore; St. Ambrose, serm. 72 De S. Cypriano; St. Jerome to Fabiola, in mansion 15; Prosper, par. II Praed. cap. IX; Rupertus here, and St. Bernard, serm. 44 in Canticles. WHICH TWO MEN CARRIED. -- St. Ambrose, in the place already cited, says that these two bearers of the cluster were Joshua and Caleb: which is favoured by the fact that these two alone commended the land of Chanaan to the Hebrews, as is evident from verse 31, and the following chapter, verse 6.
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26. AND THE EXPLORERS OF THE LAND RETURNED AFTER FORTY DAYS. -- For forty days therefore the explorers traversed the land of Chanaan, during which they did not eat manna; for that was found only in the camps of the Hebrews: but they fed on the fruits of the land of Chanaan, which they either plucked in the fields, as they plucked this cluster here, or bought from the Chanaanites in their villages. Thus Abulensis.
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27. THEY CAME TO MOSES, etc., INTO THE DESERT OF PHARAN, WHICH IS IN CADES, -- that is to say, The spies came returning to their people in Cades, or Cadesbarne, which is in the desert of Pharan; this is a hypallage. It is doubtful whether this Cades, from which the spies were sent, is the same as Cades the thirty-third encampment, of which Num. XX, 1, and cap. XXXIII, vers. 36. Abelensis thinks it to be the same place, and the same encampment, and consequently that the spies were sent not from the fifteenth, but from the thirty-third encampment, and that in it, or near it, the Hebrews remained 38 years, namely until the death of Mary, who died in Cades, at the beginning of the fortieth year of the exodus from Egypt, Num. XX, 1. He proves this from Deut. 1, 46, where it is said: "You sat therefore in Cadesbarne a long time." Abelensis therefore thinks that the Hebrews in the second year most swiftly traversed all the encampments from Sinai, which was the twelfth, up to Cades, which was the thirty-third, and remained in Cades from the second year until the fortieth. But it is not likely that the Hebrews remained so long in one encampment, especially since Scripture says they wandered 40 years in the desert, vers. 33. Secondly, because in Num. XX, 1, they are said to have come at last to Cades, the thirty-third encampment; therefore this chapter is another encampment. Thirdly, because in Deut. II, 14, the Hebrews are said to have walked 38 years in the desert: therefore they did not remain in Cades. I say therefore that this encampment is different from that of which cap. XX and XXXIII speak, and consequently this Cades is different from that Cades, as Zieglerus, Wolfgangus, and Adrichomius teach in the Description of the Holy Land. If however you wish the same Cades to be in both places, as Cajetanus, Oleaster and Andreas Masius wish in Josue cap. XV, it must be said that the Hebrews came to Cades twice, namely first here; secondly, Num. XX, 1. For the Hebrews wandered, and were led about by God, especially after this murmuring of the spies, through the pathless wilderness in perplexed circuits and meanders. Whence it is not surprising that they returned to the place from which they had departed, namely to Cades. Hence also the Chaldee paraphrast for both instances of Cades renders Recem, by which name he is accustomed to call Petra, a noble city of Arabia, or certainly a place near to that city. But the former is more true, as I shall say at cap. XX, vers. 1. These spies therefore were sent from the fifteenth encampment, which was in Rethma, Num. XXXIII, 18; moreover Rethma was near the city of Cades: whence the spies are said to have returned here to Cades, or, as it is said in Josue XIV, 7, Deut. 1, 20 and 22, to Cadesbarne.
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28. WHICH TRULY FLOWS WITH MILK AND HONEY, -- that is to say, The land of Chanaan is most fertile; this is a hyperbole.
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29. GREAT CITIES AND WALLED -- very much so, as the Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek and Rabanus add. In Deut. cap. 1, 28, they are said to have been fortified, that is walled, reaching to heaven, that is to have had the highest walls; this is a hyperbole. These walls terrified the faint-hearted Hebrews: for the magnanimous do not care for walls, but for strong warriors and defenders. Whence Agesilaus the king, when asked why Sparta lacked walls: "These," said he, "are the walls of Sparta," pointing out the armed citizens. To another asking about the same matter he replied: "Cities ought to be fortified by the virtue of their inhabitants, not by stones and wood." Someone was showing him the walls of a certain city, very strong, and asking whether he judged them beautiful, he answered: "Yes indeed, but not as for men, but as for women to dwell within." Thus Agis king of the same Lacedaemonians, walking around the walls of the Corinthians, when he had seen them lofty and strong: "What women," said he, "dwell in this gyneceum?" Thus Antalcidas said the walls of Sparta were young men, but the boundaries were the points of spear-tips. So also Scipio Africanus to a soldier carrying a rampart, and saying he was pressed down very much: "Not without reason," said he: "for you trust more in this wood than in your sword." The same to a young man displaying a beautiful shield: "The shield indeed, O young man, is beautiful, but it is more fitting for a Roman man to place his confidence in his right hand than in his left." Plutarch is witness in their Lives.
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30. AMALEC DWELLS IN THE SOUTH. -- The spies say this, not as if the land of the Amalecites belonged to the land promised to the Hebrews; but because it was near to it, so that the Amalecites could easily hinder the entrance of the Hebrews into it, and could attack and harass the Hebrews in wars. And they had attempted this in Exodus XVII. For the spies here propose to the people this difficulty of the strongest enemies dwelling in the promised land and in its vicinity, so that they might deter them from entering into Chanaan.
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31. AMONG THESE CALEB RESTRAINING THE MURMURING OF THE PEOPLE. -- While Joshua is silent, Caleb alone opposes all, and strives to calm the murmuring: because Caleb was more spirited and full of zeal; wherefore God alone praises him wonderfully for this heroic deed in the following chapter, verse 24, saying: "My servant Caleb, who being full of another spirit hath followed me, I will bring into this land." For the same reason, God Himself, through Moses, promised to the same Caleb a certain particular part of the land of Chanaan, namely the mountains of Hebron, where these giants were, under oath, which Caleb himself also asked of Joshua, and obtained, as is evident from Joshua XIV, 6, 9 and 12, and Joshua XV, 13. MURMUR WHO, -- murmur which: is an antiptosis.
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32. IN NO WAY ARE WE ABLE TO GO UP TO THIS PEOPLE. -- Hence it is evident that these spies sinned in their report to the people, first, by dissuading and turning away the people from entering into Chanaan, and thus resisting the promises and will of God, who wished to lead the Hebrews into it. They did this from cowardice and fear of wars with the Chanaanites, since they themselves preferred to lead a quiet, idle and luxurious life in Egypt, even under the yoke of Pharaoh; secondly, by lying, and that in many ways: First, because they asserted that the Chanaanites were so powerful that the Hebrews could not prevail against them; for they say: "In no way are we able to go up to this people, because it is stronger than we." Secondly, by imposing false charges against the land of Chanaan, saying: "The land which we surveyed devours its inhabitants." Thirdly, by amplifying what they had seen, beyond the truth, as when they say: "There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, compared to whom we seemed as locusts." Fourthly, by asserting that all the Chanaanites indiscriminately were of tall stature compared to the Hebrews: "The people," they say, "whom we saw, is of tall stature," whereas nevertheless the Chanaanites were not ordinarily taller than the Egyptians, Hebrews and other peoples neighboring them. Fifthly, because they suppressed the truth, in that they had seen only three giants in Chanaan, and many other things which could have raised the people in hope of obtaining Chanaan, and could have taken away or diminished their fear of the Chanaanites. Thus Abulensis.
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33. THE LAND WHICH WE SURVEYED DEVOURS ITS INHABITANTS. -- Some understand this of the goodness of the land, as if they were to say: The land of Chanaan is so fertile that all there desire it, and its possessors in turn cast out and kill one another. Others explain it thus, as if they were to say: The land of Chanaan is so good that no one from it wishes to depart; wherefore whoever is born in it wishes to live and die in the same; and thus as it were they are devoured by their land. But truly this would not have been a detraction, but rather a praise of the land. I say therefore: "The land devours its inhabitants," that is, the land of Chanaan from the unhealthiness of its air is noxious and pestilent, so that it generates diseases and brings swift death to its inhabitants. They said this, perhaps because in surveying the land, they found a plague then raging in it, and attributed it to the condition and bad quality of the land, when it ought rather to have been attributed to God, who in Leviticus chapter XVIII, 24, had promised the Hebrews that He would cause the land itself to vomit out the Chanaanites on account of their crimes. Whence some of the Hebrews, to whom credence is due, relate that at that time there was so great a plague in Chanaan, and so many dying, that the Chanaanites, occupied with the funerals of their own, although they saw these spies, nevertheless did not capture them, did not examine them, indeed did not care about them.
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THERE WE SAW MONSTERS. -- In Hebrew, there we saw nephilim, that is giants, who are called nephilim, that is falling ones, because they were so tall that whoever saw them would fall from terror: or rather falling ones, that is causing to fall (as cal is put for hiphil), prostrating and killing other men everywhere; for these giants were fierce and truculent tyrants. It is therefore ridiculous what R. Solomon says, that these giants are called nephilim, that is falling ones, because, he says, the giants were of the race of two angels falling from heaven, namely Aza and Azael. WE SEEMED AS LOCUSTS. -- It is an excessive and false hyperbole, to deter the people from entering into Chanaan. Josephus adds, from his own, as it seems, genius and paraphrastic spirit, by which he is accustomed to adorn and color the affairs of his nation, that the spies said the Hebrews could not overcome the Chanaanites, who were equipped with riches and arms, on account of their poverty and lack of arms and resources, and that they would first have to cross impassable rivers and insurmountable mountains. He adds moreover that the Hebrews were stirred up to such great murmuring by these words that they wished to kill Moses and Aaron, and thus to return to Egypt.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
13:2
… But he did not succeed in instilling the optimism of his faith into the demoralized and tumultuous people, who were therefore entirely excluded from entering the Promised Land; only C. was exempted, together with Joshua, from this punishment, as a reward for his faith (Num. 13:2; 14:38).
IV. BEARERS OF CANAAN AND THE CANAANITES. — In ancient Christian art, the scene was depicted of two scouts returning from the land of C., where Moses had sent them, carrying on a pole a branch with a cluster of grapes (Num. 13:2 ff.).
13:4
… was on the road that leads from Horeb (Sinai) to the mountain of the Amorites (Deut. 1:19), that is, to the land of Canaan (Num. 13:30), south of the Negeb (Num. 13:17), in the desert of Pharan, the present-day Badjed et-Tih, or "desert of solitude" (Num. 13:4), or also in the desert of Sin (Num. 13:22; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51) — the boundaries between the two deserts were not clearly determined, unless indeed one wishes to consider …
13:8
… 46:13; Num. 26:23; I Chron. 7:1), I. went down with Jacob into Egypt, where the descendants of his sons multiplied so greatly that at the time of the exodus the tribe counted 54,400 warriors in the first census (Num. 1:28-29) and 64,300 in the second (Num. 13:8). Igal represented the tribe in the exploration of Canaan (Num. 13:8) and Phaltiel in the commission for the partition of the territory (Num. 34:26).
The Hebrew name is Jēhōfāa', Jēhōfūa', earlier in the form Hōfēa' (cf. Num. 13:8 with 13:16), abbreviated to Jēfāa' (Neh. 8:17), whence the name of "Jesus," from the probable sense of "Yahweh (is) salvation," cf. Josh. 1:9.
13:9
JOSUE. - I. THE PERSONAGE. - Son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim (Num. 13:9, 17; 1 Chron. 7:22-27), successor of Moses as theocratic leader (cf. "the man in whom there is spirit," Num. 27:18) of the people of Israel during the period of the conquest of the land …
13:13
Anakim (Num. 13:13, 28; Deut. 1:28; 2:10 f., 21;
… The neghebh was ceded to Simeon (Josh. 19:2-7). A fertile territory, famous for its vineyards (Num. 13:13, 25; Song 1:13; II Chron. 26:10; cf. Gen. 49:11 ff.), for its extensive pastures and numerous flocks (I Sam. 25:2; Am. 1:1 ff.). …
Michael (Hebrew Mikhā'el « Who [is] like God? »)
1. Member of the tribe of Asher, father of Sthur (Num. 13:13). 2. Member of the tribe of Gad, descendant of another M. and inhabitant of Bashan (1 Chron. 5:13-14). 3. Ancestor of Asaph the singer (ibid. 6:25). 4. Son of Izrahiah of the tribe …
13:17
Numerous texts describe the site of K. with sufficient precision: it was on the road that leads from Horeb (Sinai) to the mountain of the Amorites (Deut. 1:19), that is, to the land of Canaan (Num. 13:30), south of the Negeb (Num. 13:17), in the desert of Pharan, the present-day Badjed et-Tih, or "desert of solitude" (Num. 13:4), or also in the desert of Sin (Num. 13:22; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51) — the boundaries …
13:20
… "low plain" sēphēlāh and the "depression" 'ārabhāh, it designates the region now flat now mountainous, monotonous, furrowed by broad beds of watercourses almost always dry, from Hebron as far as Kadesh-barnea, today 'Ajn Qudeis (cf. Gen. 18, 1; Num. 13, 20). Subsequently, it came to mean the south of Palestine (Gen. 12, 9; 13, 1; Ios. 15, 8; 18, 5).
13:21
2. The expression "pass of E." (Vulg. introitus E.; Heb. lēbhō Hāmāth) in the Old Testament marks the northern boundary of the Promised Land (Num. 13:21; 34:8; Josh. 13:5; I Kings 8:65; Ezek. 47:16; 48:1). It refers in all probability to the mouth of the pass between Mount Hermon and Lebanon, which constituted the natural route "to …
3. Desert (Heb. Sin) that marked the southern frontier of Canaan, crossed by the spies in the Promised Land (Num. 13:21). Kadesh-Barnea was included within the borders at the southwestern edge of the desert (ibid. 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51), it bounded Edom to the west and the tribe of Judah …
13:22
… (Sinai) to the mountain of the Amorites (Deut. 1:19), that is, to the land of Canaan (Num. 13:30), south of the Negeb (Num. 13:17), in the desert of Pharan, the present-day Badjed et-Tih, or "desert of solitude" (Num. 13:4), or also in the desert of Sin (Num. 13:22; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51) — the boundaries between the two deserts were not clearly determined, unless indeed one wishes to consider the desert of Sin as the northern part …
… The texts that require the proximity of Rohob to Lais-Dan (Num. 13:22; Judg. 18:28) do not have in view a fixed and determined point, but place the boundary south of the Beqā' (= Coele-Syria) and north of Merq' Ajūn.
… The E. are considered "giants" (Num. 13:22, 28, 33; Deut. 1:28; 2:10 f.; 21; 9:2).
13:23
Escol ('Eshōl' 'Grape Cluster')
The "valley of E." (Vulg. torrens botri), given the aforementioned kinship with Mamre, is to be sought in the vicinity of Hebron (Gen. 13:18), a little to the north (Num. 13:23 ff.); today it is the valley el-Haskeh. …
Hebron (Hebrew: Hebrōn «Union, league»; Septuagint: Χέβρων)
… Moses sent the spies there (Num. 13:23) and when the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, occupied Palestine, H. was taken, its king Oham killed and the population exterminated or dispersed (Josh.
According to Num. 13:23, T. (Heb. Şo'an) was founded seven years after Hebron; but its origins must be more remote. …
13:24
Escol ('Eshōl' 'Grape Cluster')
… The Israelite scouts found there the marvelous grapes that they brought back as a sample of the fertility of the Promised Land (Num. 13:24 ff.; 32:9; Deut. 1:24).
13:29
edited by K. Sethe, 1926; Brussels texts edited by G. Posener, 1940). At the same epoch Abraham found them in Palestine (Gen. 14:7, 13; 48:22), at least in the mountainous zone (Num. 13:29), from which the Hittite invasion, around 1600 B.C., putting an end to their Babylonian dynasty, pushed them further south, as far as the Arnon east of the Jordan.
… also a part of the inhabitants of Palestine proper, that is, those dwelling in the mountain (Deut. 1, 7.19.20.44: people dwelling in the south of Palestine; Ios. 10, 5 ff.), while to the Canaanites are attributed the plain and the valley of the Jordan (Num. 13, 29; Ios. 11, 3). Not rarely the Bible calls the whole pre-Israelite population Amorites (cf. Gen. 15, 16; Ios. 24, 15.18; Iudc. 6, 10); but in later times the Amorites, either exterminated …
… In the covenant made with Abraham (Gen. 15:18-21), and in the numerous texts where the inhabitants of the Promised Land are mentioned, the H. are mentioned alongside the Amorites and other peoples, immigrant or native, in Canaan. Num. 13:29 determines the geographical position of the populations that would be subjected to the chosen people: the H., the Jebusites, the Amorites (v.) dwell in the mountains, while the Canaanites …
13:30
… (5:1) thus distinguishes them from the Canaanites "of the regions by the great sea" (cf. Deut. 1:44; Josh. 10:6; 11:3); hence the "mountain of the A." was the southern Palestinian massif (Deut. 1:7, 19, 20; cf. Num. 13:30). At Israel's entry, the Transjordanian kingdoms of Heshbon and Bashan are Amorite (Num. 21:21 ff.). …
Numerous texts describe the site of K. with sufficient precision: it was on the road that leads from Horeb (Sinai) to the mountain of the Amorites (Deut. 1:19), that is, to the land of Canaan (Num. 13:30), south of the Negeb (Num. 13:17), in the desert of Pharan, the present-day Badjed et-Tih, or "desert of solitude" (Num. 13:4), or also in the desert of Sin (Num. 13:22; 20:1; 27:14; …
… Together with the Amorites and the Hittites they dwelt in the mountainous region (Num. 13:30), but their center was the slope of the hill (kheteph ha-Jēbhūti) of the city of Jerusalem, which they designated, according to an ancient usage, Jēbhūs (Judg. 19:10; I Chron. 11:4). …
13:33
nēphilim seen in Canaan (Num. 13:33), in comparison with whom
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.