Limitless Word

Numbers 13:1

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
The Lord now said to Moses,
Numbers 13:1 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
  • KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  • BSB And the LORD said to Moses,
  • NKJV And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
  • NASB Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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

The LORD speaks to Moses to initiate the sending of spies. God himself sets the mission in motion.

Overview

This verse opens the spy narrative with God's command to Moses. Read with Deuteronomy 1:22, where the people request the spies, faithful interpreters understand God as permitting and ordering what the people desired. The episode will test whether Israel trusts the God who is giving them the land.

Cross-references & the web

No cross-references recorded for this verse.

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 13:1YouTube · 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 13:1 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.

And the LORDיְהֹוָהspakeדָבַרunto Mosesמֹשֶׁהsayingאָמַר
Whole chapterNumbers 13:2 →