So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
Parallel translations
- WEB So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath.
- BSB So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
- NKJV So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath.
- NASB So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath.
- NLT So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.
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 spies surveyed the entire land, from the southern wilderness of Zin to Rehob near the northern entrance of Hamath. It shows they thoroughly examined the whole inheritance God was giving Israel.
Overview
The twelve men covered the full extent of Canaan, from its southern desert to its northern reaches. Their comprehensive survey left them without excuse: they saw firsthand the goodness of the land God had sworn to the patriarchs. The breadth of the journey underscores the seriousness of the report they would bring back.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Num 33:36And they removed from Eziongaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
- Num 20:1Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
- Num 27:14For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
- Josh 15:1This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast.
- Josh 13:5And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.
- 2 Sam 8:9When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
- Deut 32:51Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
- Amos 6:2Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?
- Num 34:3–4Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 13:21 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.