Deuteronomy 1:28
in Deuteronomy 1Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseCities - walled up to heaven - That is, with very high walls which could not be easily scaled. High walls around houses, etc., in these parts of Arabia are still deemed a sufficient defense against the Arabs, who scarcely ever attempt any thing in the way of plunder but on horseback.
This site's exposition
Notwithstanding ye would not go up
on Deuteronomy 1:26-28
Because the LORD hated us in verse 27 is the exact inversion of what 7:8 will say, because the LORD loved you, and the two verses repay being read together. Cities walled up to heaven is a figure this book uses again at 9:1, and the sons of the Anakims are the giants of Numbers 13:33, described at 2:10-11 and 3:11 and left as a remnant in Gath at Joshua 11:21-22. Verse 26 calls the refusal rebellion against the commandment of the LORD, and verse 43 will lay the same charge on the opposite mistake.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Those places only are walled up to heaven that are compassed with God's favour as with a shield. He tells them what pains he took with them to encourage them, when their brethren had said so much to discourage them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Whither shall we go up?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
ye came . . . and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land--The proposal to despatch spies emanated from the people through unbelief; but Moses, believing them sincere, gave his cordial assent to this measure, and God on being consulted permitted them to follow the suggestion (see on Nu 13:1).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the cities are great, and walled up to heaven--an Oriental metaphor, meaning very high. The Arab marauders roam about on horseback, and hence the walls of St. Catherine's monastery on Sinai are so lofty that travellers are drawn up by a pulley in a basket.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָנָ֣ה׀ | ʾanah | where? | H575 → | |
| אֲנַ֣חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | [are] we | H587 → | 120 times |
| עֹלִ֗ים | ʾolim | going up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אַחֵינוּ֩ | ʾacheinu | countrymen our | H251 → | 630 times |
| הֵמַ֨סּוּ | hemasu | they have made melt | H4549 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְבָבֵ֜נוּ | levavenu | heart our | H3824 → | 252 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַ֣ם | ʾam | [the] people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| גָּד֤וֹל | gadol | [is] great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וָרָם֙ | varam | and lofty | H7311 → | 190 times |
| מִמֶּ֔נּוּ | mimenu | more than us | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| עָרִ֛ים | ʾarim | [the] cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| גְּדֹלֹ֥ת | gedolot | [are] large | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וּבְצוּרֹ֖ת | uvetzurot | and fortified | H1219 → | 37 times |
| בַּשָּׁמָ֑יִם | bashamayim | in the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֲנָקִ֖ים | ʾanakim | [the] Anakites | H6062 → | 9 times |
| רָאִ֥ינוּ | rainu | we saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| שָֽׁם׃ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
אָנָ֣ה׀where?
ʾanahH575 →
אֲנַ֣חְנוּ[are] we
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
עֹלִ֗יםgoing up
ʾolimH5927 →890 times
אַחֵינוּ֩countrymen our
ʾacheinuH251 →630 times
הֵמַ֨סּוּthey have made melt
hemasuH4549 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
לְבָבֵ֜נוּheart our
levavenuH3824 →252 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
עַ֣ם[the] people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
גָּד֤וֹל[is] great
gadolH1419 →526 times
וָרָם֙and lofty
varamH7311 →190 times
מִמֶּ֔נּוּmore than us
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
עָרִ֛ים[the] cities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
גְּדֹלֹ֥ת[are] large
gedolotH1419 →526 times
וּבְצוּרֹ֖תand fortified
uvetzurotH1219 →37 times
בַּשָּׁמָ֑יִםin the heavens
bashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] descendants of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עֲנָקִ֖ים[the] Anakites
ʾanakimH6062 →9 times
רָאִ֥ינוּwe saw
rainuH7200 →1300 times
שָֽׁם׃there
shamH8033 →834 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 14:8Although my brothers who went with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear, I remained loyal to the LORD my God.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:24
But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
- Deuteronomy 1:36
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
- Numbers 13:31
But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
- Joshua 14:14
Therefore Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Numbers 14:24
Through
Joshua 11:22No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
- Joshua 15:46
from Ekron to the sea, all the cities near Ashdod, along with their villages;
- 1 Chronicles 18:1
Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from the hand of the Philistines.
- 1 Chronicles 8:13
Eber, Misham, Shemed (who built Ono and Lod with its villages), and Beriah and Shema (who were the heads of families of the inhabitants of Aijalon and who drove out the inhabitants of Gath).
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.