But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”
Parallel translations
- KJV But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
- BSB But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
- NKJV But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
- NASB But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.”
- NLT But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”
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 other ten spies contradicted Caleb, insisting the inhabitants were too strong for Israel. They measured the task by human ability rather than divine promise.
Overview
The majority report declared the conquest impossible, comparing Israel's strength to the enemy's and leaving God out of the equation. This is the essence of unbelief: assessing God's calling by one's own resources. Their words spread fear through the camp and provoked the rebellion that followed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 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!’”
- Josh 14:8Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed Yahweh my God.
- Heb 3:19We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.
- Num 32:9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them.
- Deut 9:1Hear, 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,
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 13:31 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.