Numbers 13:1
in Numbers 13And the LORD said to Moses,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
KJV
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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This verse in Numbers 13
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And the LORD said to Moses
on Numbers 13:1-2
The LORD gives the order here, while Deuteronomy 1:22 records the people coming to Moses first and asking that men be sent. Adam Clarke reads the two accounts together, taking the command in verse 2 as God granting what the people had already asked.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And the Lord Spake unto Moses,....
But thus we ruin ourselves by giving more credit to the reports and representations of sense than to divine revelation; we walk by sight, not by faith; whereas, if we will receive the witness of men, without doubt the witness of God is greater.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the Lord spake - The mission of the spies was first suggested by the Israelites themselves. See Deu 1:22.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
SEND ‘LECHA’ (THEE) 1 Literally: “for thyself,” as explained by Rashi. MEN. “As you see fit. I do not command you [to send them], but if you wish [to do so], send them.
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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר | vaydaber | and he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֥ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| לֵּאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וַיְדַבֵּ֥רand he spoke
vaydaberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֥הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
לֵּאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
