So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh. All them were men who were heads of the children of Israel.
- KJV And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
- BSB So at the consent of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,
- NASB So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.
- NLT So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.
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
Moses sends the chosen tribal heads from Paran at God's command. Israel's leaders set out in obedience to begin the mission.
Overview
In accordance with the LORD's word, Moses dispatches the twelve men, all heads of their tribes. Their high standing makes their later failure of faith more serious, since the people's leaders should have led in trust. The verse stresses obedience to God's command at the outset.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Num 32:8Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.
- Num 12:16Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.
- Deut 9:23When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn’t believe him, nor listen to his voice.
- Deut 1:19We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea.
- Deut 1:23The thing pleased me well. I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe.
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 13:3 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
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