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!
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.
- BSB Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants 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.
- 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 are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!’”
- Deut 9:1–2Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,
- Josh 11:22There were none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain.
- Num 13:33There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
- Deut 2:10–11(The Emim lived therein before, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim.
- Deut 3:5All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides a great many villages without walls.
- Deut 2:21a great people, many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place;
- Josh 15:14Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
- Judg 1:20They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there.
- Num 13:22–23They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.