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These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
Numbers 13:16 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
  • BSB These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
  • NKJV These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.
  • NASB These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.
  • NLT These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

These are the named spies, and Moses renames Hoshea ("salvation") as Joshua ("the LORD saves"). The new name marks Joshua's role in God's saving plan.

Overview

Summarizing the list, the text notes that Moses gave Hoshea the name Joshua, meaning "the LORD is salvation." The name change signals his calling to lead Israel into the land. Joshua bears the Hebrew form of the name Jesus, making him a striking type of Christ, who saves and brings his people into their inheritance (Heb. 4:8-9).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Num 13:8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
  • Exod 17:9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
  • Deut 32:44And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
  • Hos 1:1The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
  • Num 14:30Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
  • Matt 1:21–23And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
  • Num 14:6And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
  • Heb 4:8For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
  • Acts 7:45Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
  • Rom 9:25As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 13:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 13:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.