Messianic Education Trust
		"Living in Exile '     Sh'lakh L'cha   (Num 13:1 - 15:41)

B'Midbar/Numbers 13:28   ... nevertheless the people dwelling in the land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large, and also we saw the sons of Anak there!

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Our text comes in the middle of the first report brought by the men whom Moshe had sent out to investigate the land of Canaan. The nation is encamped at Kadesh Barnea and apparently at the instigation of The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem - "The L-RD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to scout the land of Canaan ...'" (B'Midbar 13:1-2, NJPS) - Moshe selects a man from each of the twelve tribes to assess the condition of the land and the soil, the strength and number of the people, the degree of fortification and, if possible, to bring back a sample of the produce of the land, it being currently "the season of the first ripe grapes" (v. 20, NJPS). Forty days later, the expedition returns, bearing "a single cluster of grapes -- it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them -- and some pomegranates and figs" (v. 23, NJPS). Showing the fruit and gathering "Moshe, Aharon and the whole Israelite community" (v. 26, NJPS), they affirm: "We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit" (v. 27, NJPS). In the very next breath, the report pivots around the two word adverb אֶפֶס כִּי, to condition or qualify the first part of the report with the less helpful second part spanning the next two verses (28-29).

Although both words are used freely by themselves - כִּי very frequently - the combination אֶפֶס כִּי is quite unusual; it appears only five times in Tanakh. Bruce Waltke and Michael O'Connor report that "[the adverbial combination אֶפֶס כִּי] restricts general preceding material, offering clarifications [translated 'nevertheless' or 'but' with the sense 'contrary to your expectations', stronger than 'however']."¹ Here it has the effect of entirely blocking and reversing what has gone before. The Ramban explains that "the word אֶפֶס implies a situation where there is no possibility at all of success. They were telling Moshe that the land was wonderful but it would be impossible to conquer because of the strength, might and sheer size of the people." Perhaps, we might say, with archaeological hindsight, not entirely without human reason. Jacob Milgrom reports that "the walls of ancient Canaanite cities were 30-50 feet high and sometimes 15 feet thick."

The Jewish commentators are uniform in understanding the message that the spies were sending. Rabbi Who Is ...

Hirsch: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888 CE), German rabbi, author and educator; staunch opponent of the Reform movement in Germany and one of the fathers of Orthodox Judaism
Hirsch says, "שֶׁפֶס, literally, nothing: but all this is nothing, it loses all value for us, for the people are too strong for us. Cities enormously strongly fortified, built by giants to resist giants, so that for ordinary people they are completely impregnable." The Who Is ...

Sforno: Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 CE), Italian rabbi, philosopher and physician; born in Cesena, he went to Rome to study medicine; left in 1525 and after some years of travel, settled in Bologna where he founded a yeshiva which he conducted until his death
Sforno writes, "it is impossible to conquer it because the people are fierce, and the cities are fortified and the inhabitants of the Land are our enemies." In more modern language, Who Is ...

Nechama Leibowitz: (1905-1997 CE), born in Riga, graduate of the University of Berlin, made aliyah in 1931; professor at Tel Aviv University; taught Torah for over 50 years
Nechama Leibowitz puts it this way: "The spies qualified their description of the conditions they saw by the significant word: 'nevertheless', the people are fierce." The Who Is ...

Abravanel: Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508 CE), Statesman and biblical commentator; born in Lisbon, died in Venice; wrote commentaries on the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures
Abravanel is blunt: "they had no business using this word." What is going on? Gordon Wenham suggests that "up to this point the phrase a land flowing with milk and honey has always been coupled with the promise that G-d would give the land and its inhabitants to Israel. The spies question this conclusion. They look at the presence of these other nations as an insurmountable obstacle to entry, not as a confirmation of G-d's purpose."²

Let's wind back a few verses to remind ourselves how the report started. The first thing the men did was to show Moshe, Aharon and the community the fruit of the land that they had brought back. Sarah Schwartz tells us that "rhetorical speeches often use external proofs, such as legal evidence, to support their claims, as the spies did in their presentation of the fruit of the land." This is exactly what the spies did: by showing the fruit they created both a reality and credibility: "presenting the fruit of the land to the nation makes the land where the spies visited a presence in the wilderness where the nation dwells. The fruit is a metonymy for the land, and seeing the fruit is tantamount to seeing the land itself."³ Michael Morales says that this is "making the land present within the wilderness where Israel sojourns."⁴ With that backdrop set in place, as it were, אֶפֶס כִּי, 'nevertheless', is that much more shocking: what looks so good - and you can see it for yourselves to show that we aren't lying or exaggerating in any way - is completely unattainable.

See then how the rest of our text is structured. The adjective עַז, 'strong' - far rarer than the more usual חָזָק - is placed in front of rather than following its noun for emphasis; two adjectives, 'fortified' and 'large' describe the cities in the land, amplified by the adverb מְאֹד, very or exceedingly. Schwartz suggests this is "attesting to a high language register and intensive semantic charge" and "linked to the physical as well as the abstract such as anger, love and impertinence, so the description of the inhabitants as עז may relate to both physical and spiritual might."⁵ Stephen Sherwood proposes that the last clause, introduced by וְגַם, 'moreover' or "and also", "puts emphasis on the Anakites as being the object of their (horrified) vision."⁶ Taking that idea a step further, Avivah Zornberg writes that "'moreover' sounds like an afterthought; or perhaps it is an intensification, intimating a secret terror? What intimidates them is not the strategic difficulties of this war, but the sheer mythic size of these giants, their mythic stock. This is what they really saw."⁷

Another alternative, exploring the reason why the spies might bring a bad report and so discourage the Israelites from entering the land at this time, could be that they were afraid - not of a new context per se - but of leaving their old context. For two years since leaving Egypt, the Israelites had been safe, well fed and watered; "the clothes on their backs did not wear out, nor did the sandals on their feet" (D'varim 29:4, paraphrase). They were being taken care of and perhaps they didn't want to go back to the old way of living: having to work to put bread on their own table, to say nothing of all the fighting and the uncertainty of the surrounding nations. They were afraid that the manna would stop and that they would lose the constant presence of HaShem in their midst, the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Whatever their reasons may have been, the Torah makes it clear that the majority of the spies brought a bad report of the land, repeated in their second report to the people (B'Midbar 13:32-33), that so discouraged the people that they talked of going back to Egypt.

Let's now put on a little height so that we can see the larger conversation in overview. It might go something like this: Here it is (v. 26), and it's a lovely place (v. 27), but we can't do it (vv. 28-29); oh yes we can (v. 31); oh no we can't (vv. 32-33). The arguments continue into the next chapter with the faithful spies - Joshua and Caleb - trying to reason with and persuade the people that it not only can but must be done, but the people just aren't interested and HaShem has to step in to prevent Joshua and Caleb being stoned. The people have become so irrational in their fear that reason doesn't work and they refuse to hear even eye-witness testimony; they are not interested in hearing the truth! The people have lost what faith they had in HaShem; they cannot trust Him to what He has promised to do.

It is easy for us, as exiles, to fall into the same pattern of behaviour. Separated from those around us by some or all of language, food, dress, aspirations and values, we are surrounded by the giants of the land - government, peer pressure, society disapproval, family, financial institutions, lawyers - and we fear isolation, persecution and worse; we fear for ourselves, for our families and even for our faith. We are afraid to go up against those giants, to cross the barriers of class, race, culture and political correctness. When given the opportunity to do or say something for the kingdom of G-d, what report do we give? Wow! How amazing! This is a wonderful project! BUT ... followed by a list all the reasons why we can't do it or it shouldn't be attempted? Whether thinking of embarrassment, shame or financial pressure, we are all too often hamstrung by fear and are unable to trust G-d's promises; we are unwilling to expose ourselves to risk and so we fail to respond in obedience to the calling of the Spirit and find ourselves wandering in the wilderness for our forty years.

But listen, here's the truth. In these last days - and I believe it has ever been thus - we cannot avoid these issues. Yeshua was very clear when He told the disciples, "you will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles" (Matthew 10:18, ESV). This is not an optional test, only for the super-committed; this is the track - the narrow way - that will be taken by all those who truly follow Yeshua. All of us, whether Jew or Gentile, will find ourselves challenged about our faith and our loyalty to Yeshua on multiple occasions, perhaps even every day; it is the way of the kingdom and "the one who endures to the end will be saved" (v. 22, ESV). But never fear, for not only "what you are to say will be given to you in that hour" (v. 19, ESV) but Yeshua promises that the Spirit of the Father, the same Holy Spirit who brooded over the face of the waters before creation (B'resheet 1:2), will speak through us to give us "wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict" (Luke 21:15, ESV).

1. - Bruce K. Waltke and M. O'Connor, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990), § 39.3.5e page 672.

2. - Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers, TOTC, (Nottingham, IVP, 1981), page 146.

3. - Sarah Schwartz, 'From Rhetoric to Demagoguery: A New Reading of the Spies' Report (Num 13,26-33)', ETL 96 (4) [October 2020], page 590.

4. - L. Michael Morales, Numbers 1-19, Apollos Old Testament Commentary, (London, Apollos, 2024), page 333.

5. - Schwartz, page 591.

6. - Stephen Sherwood, Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry - Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), page 158.

7. - Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Bewilderments - Reflections of the Book of Numbers, (New York, Shocken Books, 2015), page 121.

Further Study: Shemot 4:10-12; 2 Samuel 22:17-20; Romans 8:31-39; 1 John 4:4

Application: Are the giants in your world making a nuisance of themselves and intimidating you from taking action to proclaim the Good News of Yeshua? Remember that just as the walls of Jericho fell when the shofars blew and the people shouted, Yeshua will make the giants around you stumble and fall in His name so that His kingdom shall endure.

Buy your own copy of the Drash Book for Numbers/B'Midbar now at Amazon US or Amazon UK.

© Jonathan Allen, 2025

Messianic Trust Home Page	Join Weekly Email	More Weekly Drashot
Last Week	Support the work of producing this weekly commentary	Next Week
Last Year - 5784	Scripture Index	Next Year - 5786