Numbers 13:20
in Numbers 13Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous, and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.
KJV
And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
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This verse in Numbers 13
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Now the time was the time of the first grapes--This was in August, when the first clusters are gathered. The second are gathered in September, and the third in October.
This site's exposition
Get you up this way southward
on Numbers 13:17-20
The brief is a set of questions about the country and the people in it, strong or weak, few or many, good or bad, walled cities or tents, fat land or lean. Every one of those questions is answered accurately at verses 27 to 29, and the quarrel at verse 31 is over what the answers mean. Moses adds be ye of good courage and asks for fruit, and the writer dates the errand to the time of the firstripe grapes, which Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place in August.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean,....
Moses himself was well satisfied that Canaan was a very good land, but he sent these spies to bring an account of it for the satisfaction of the people; as John Baptist sent to Jesus, to ask whether he was the Christ, not to inform himself, but to inform those he sent.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The land - whether it be fat or lean - Whether the Soil be rich or poor; which might be known by its being well wooded, and by the fruits it produced; and therefore they were desired to examine it as to the trees, etc., and to bring some of the fruits with them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The time ... of the firstripe grapes - The first grapes ripen in Palestine in July and August: the vintage is gathered in September and October. This indication of date tallies with what we should have inferred from the previous narrative. For the Israelite host had quitted Sinai on the 20th day of the second month Num 13:10, Num 13:11, or about the middle of May: since then they had spent a month at Kibroth-hattaavah and a week at Hazeroth, and had accomplished, in all, from 150 to 200 miles of march: it therefore must have been at least the beginning of July, and may have been a month later, when the spies were despatched into the land of promise.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
היש בה עץ WHETHER THERE ARE TREES IN IT [OR NOT] — i.e. whether there is a righteous man amongst them who will protect them by his merits (cf. Bava Batra 15a).
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented [that the meaning thereof is that they are to see] “if the Land is good, namely that its air is good, and its waters are good.” Then Moses continued, whether it is fat, 24 Further, Verse. meaning “capable of producing wheat” and many fruits.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמָ֣ה | umah | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| הָ֠אָרֶץ | haaretz | [is] the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַשְּׁמֵנָ֨ה | hashemenah | ¿ fat | H8082 → | |
| הִ֜וא | hi' | [is] it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| רָזָ֗ה | razah | lean | H7330 → | |
| הֲיֵֽשׁ־ | hayesh- | ¿ [is] there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| בָּ֥הּ | bah | in <the> it | ||
| עֵץ֙ | ʾetz | wood | H6086 → | 328 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אַ֔יִן | ʾayin | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| וְהִ֨תְחַזַּקְתֶּ֔ם | vehitchazaktem | and you will show yourselves strong | H2388 → | |
| וּלְקַחְתֶּ֖ם | ulekachtem | and you will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מִפְּרִ֣י | miperi | some of [the] fruit of | H6529 → | 119 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְהַ֨יָּמִ֔ים | vehaiyamim | and the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| יְמֵ֖י | yemei | [were the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בִּכּוּרֵ֥י | bikurei | [the] first-fruits of | H1061 → | 17 times |
| עֲנָבִֽים׃ | ʾanavim | grapes | H6025 → | 19 times |
וּמָ֣הand what?
umahH4100 →752 times
הָ֠אָרֶץ[is] the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
הַשְּׁמֵנָ֨ה¿ fat
hashemenahH8082 →
הִ֜וא[is] it
hi'H1931 →1879 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
רָזָ֗הlean
razahH7330 →
הֲיֵֽשׁ־¿ [is] there
hayesh-H3426 →140 times
בָּ֥הּin <the> it
bah
עֵץ֙wood
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אַ֔יִןnot
ʾayinH369 →789 times
וְהִ֨תְחַזַּקְתֶּ֔םand you will show yourselves strong
vehitchazaktemH2388 →
וּלְקַחְתֶּ֖םand you will take
ulekachtemH3947 →966 times
מִפְּרִ֣יsome of [the] fruit of
miperiH6529 →119 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְהַ֨יָּמִ֔יםand the days
vehaiyamimH3117 →2304 times
יְמֵ֖י[were the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
בִּכּוּרֵ֥י[the] first-fruits of
bikureiH1061 →17 times
עֲנָבִֽים׃grapes
ʾanavimH6025 →19 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
Ezekiel 34:14I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture…
it leads to
- John 10:9
I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.
- Jeremiah 31:25
for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”
- Psalms 23:1–2
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- Jeremiah 31:12–14
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and…
- John 10:9
Through
Nehemiah 9:25They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Nehemiah 9:35
For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve…
- Deuteronomy 32:15
Through
Nehemiah 9:35For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:47
Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- Deuteronomy 28:47
Through
Deuteronomy 31:23Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to give them, and I will be with…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:14
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the time of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua…
- Deuteronomy 31:14
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.