Numbers 14:7
in Numbers 14and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and they spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.
KJV
And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The land, which we passed through to search it
on Numbers 14:7-9
Joshua and Caleb dispute none of the facts the other ten reported and draw the opposite conclusion from them. Their argument has three parts: the land is good, the LORD is able if he delight in us, and the people of it are bread for us because their defence is departed from them. The one thing they ask is that Israel not rebel, so they name the danger as the camp rather than as Canaan.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), and they spoke as with authority. (1.) They assured them of the goodness of the land they had surveyed, and that it was really worth venturing for, and not a land that ate up the inhabitants, as the evil spies had represented it. It is an exceedingly good land (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
); it is very, very good, so the word is; so that they had no reason to despise this pleasant land. Note, If men were but thoroughly convinced of the desirableness of the gains of religion, they would not stick at the services of it. (2.) They made nothing of the difficulties that seemed to lie in the way of their gaining the possession of it: " Fear not the people of the land,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 197: “The Spies” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1858)
proposed
THE UNBELIEF OF THE CHILDREN of Israel, prompted them to send spies into Canaan. God had told them that it was a good land, and he had promised to drive out their enemies, they ought therefore to have marched forward with all confidence to possess the promised heritage. Instead of this, they send twelve princes to spy out the land, and “alas, for human nature,” ten of these were faithless, and only two true to the Lord. Read over the narrative, and mark the ill effect of the lying message, and the holy boldness of the true spies.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 197: “The Spies” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1858)
proposed
THE UNBELIEF OF THE CHILDREN of Israel, prompted them to send spies into Canaan. God had told them that it was a good land, and he had promised to drive out their enemies, they ought therefore to have marched forward with all confidence to possess the promised heritage. Instead of this, they send twelve princes to spy out the land, and “alas, for human nature,” ten of these were faithless, and only two true to the Lord. Read over the narrative, and mark the ill effect of the lying message, and the holy boldness of the true spies. Now I must take up my parable. The land of Canaan is a picture of religion; I do not think it was ever intended to be a picture of heaven, for there are no Canaanites in heaven, certainly in heaven there are no sons of Anak, no giants to be driven out, no walled cities, and no kings with chariots of iron. Canaan is, however, a very excellent picture of religion. The children of Israel must stand this morning as the representatives of the great mass of mankind. The great mass of mankind never try for themselves what religion is; they neither search our sacred books, nor taste and try our religion. But this is what they do; they consider those who make a profession of religion as spies who have entered the land, and they look upon our character and our conduct as the message which we bring back to them. The ungodly man does not read his Bible in order to discover whether the religion of Christ is holy and beautiful, no, he reads the living Bible—Christ’s church—and if the church is inconsistent he condemns the Bible, though the Bible is never to be accountable for the sins of those who profess to believe it.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲדַ֥ת | ʾadat | [the] congregation of | H5712 → | 149 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הָאָ֗רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָבַ֤רְנוּ | ʾavarnu | we passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בָהּ֙ | vah | in <the> it | ||
| לָת֣וּר | latur | to spy out | H8446 → | 24 times |
| אֹתָ֔הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| טוֹבָ֥ה | tovah | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מְאֹ֥ד | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
| מְאֹֽד׃ | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲדַ֥ת[the] congregation of
ʾadatH5712 →149 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הָאָ֗רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָבַ֤רְנוּwe passed
ʾavarnuH5674 →556 times
בָהּ֙in <the> it
vah
לָת֣וּרto spy out
laturH8446 →24 times
אֹתָ֔הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
טוֹבָ֥ה[is] good
tovahH2896 →538 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
מְאֹ֥דvery
meodH3966 →300 times
מְאֹֽד׃very
meodH3966 →300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Numbers 13:27And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!
it leads to
- Exodus 3:8
I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and…
- Exodus 3:17
And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
- Exodus 13:5
And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and…
- Exodus 33:3
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”
- Deuteronomy 26:9
And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Exodus 3:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 197: “The Spies” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.