Numbers 13

Farmers harvested grapes anywhere from June through September. This was one of the last crops harvested, along with figs. Farmers harvested grain much earlier. Barley in March to May. Wheat in May to July. They plowed in September to October and then planted seeds for their next crop in November to December.

Most scholars say Zin Desert was in what is now Israel’s southern wasteland called the Arabah, and along with parts of the Negev. Arabah is a below-sea-level basin south of the Dead Sea. It’s along Israel’s border with Jordan. In earlier centuries, it referred to the entire Jordan Rift Valley, from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba at the north tip of the Red Sea.

Possibly the city of Beth-rehob, west of Mount Hermon.

The Hebrew language calls the location lebo Hamath. This could mean the city of Lebo-hamath, in Lebanon, near where the Orontes River begins and the foot of Mount Hermon and Mount Lebanon. Or it could mean “entrance into Hamath” since lebo means “entrance.” Hamath was the name of a gateway into a mountain pass near Mount Hermon and Mount Lebanon. With either location, the idea was that the scouts traveled through all of Canaan, north to south.

We’re left guessing why the writer added this note about the ancient Egyptian city of Zoan, which once served as the capital of Egypt. One theory is that the writer was bragging that Hebron, the city that first declared David king of Israel, was older and richer in tradition and honor than the capital of Egypt.

Descendants of Anak—the Anakites—are described as giants (Deuteronomy 2:10-11).

Caleb, one of the 12 scouts, later drove out all three of these families, during the Israelite conquest of Canaan (Joshua 15:14). Joshua had given Caleb the land, but Caleb had to take it from the locals.

In Hebrew, it’s literally the valley of Eschol, a word that means “cluster,” as in cluster of grapes. Location of the ancient valley is unknown. Some have guessed Beit Ishkahil, about four miles (6 km) northwest of Hebron. But that location is uncertain. Scouts would have had to carry those grapes about 75 miles (120 km) to reach the Israelite camp, just beyond the southern border of what is now Israel. Typically, 20 miles (32 km) was a reasonable day’s walk.

“Forty days” was a way of saying several weeks, or a stretch of time much longer than most folks would want relatives to visit.

Scholars most often identify Kadesh, also called Kadesh Barnea, as the spring-fed oasis at Tel el-Qudeirat, on Egypt’s side of the border with Israel. Another contender is Ain Qadeis, also on Egypt’s side of the border. Bible writers put the location in different deserts: Zin Desert (Numbers 20:1) and Paran Desert (Numbers 13:26). Some theorize there were two Kadesh oases. West Kadesh and East Kadesh. Not many scholars seem to buy into that.

Amalekites were aggressive nomadic herders who would later raid the Israelites at harvesttime. Gideon put a stop to that (Judges 7).

Jebusites were the first people on record to live in what is now Jerusalem. David defeated them and chose Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Amorites were nomadic herders who seem to have migrated to Canaan from the river valleys in what is now Iraq. Scholars know very little about them, so far.