Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.
Parallel translations
- WEB However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.
- KJV Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
- NKJV Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
- NASB Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw the descendants of Anak there!
- NLT But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!
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 pivoted with 'however,' stressing the strong people, fortified cities, and the giant Anakim. This shift from God's promise to the obstacles marked the turn toward unbelief.
Overview
The word 'however' redirects attention from God's gift to the human difficulties. The strength of the cities and the sight of Anak's descendants were real, but they were measured against Israel's own power rather than God's. Faith weighs obstacles in light of God's promises; unbelief lets the obstacles eclipse the promise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Deut 1:28Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”
- Deut 9:1–2Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.
- Josh 11:22No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.
- Num 13:33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
- Deut 2:10–11(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.
- Deut 3:5All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages.
- Deut 2:21They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,
- Josh 15:14And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
- Judg 1:20Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.
- Num 13:22–23They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
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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 13:28 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.