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Numbers 13:17

King James Version (KJV)

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— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this [way] southward, and go up into the mountain:

Numbers 13:17 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Numbers 13:17

Theological / Devotional

Southward. Literally, “into the Negeb,” the south country of Palestine (see on Gen. 12:9). The spies actually went northward from Kadesh to reach the “south” country. This word, from a root meaning “dry” or “parched,” is generally applied to the desert country on the southern border of Palestine. This was a transition area between the southern desert and more arable land to the north, and therefore good for cattle grazing.

This area is known by the same name today. In view of the fact that the Negeb lay to the south of Palestine, the word came to be the usual Hebrew term for “south,” as it is commonly translated in the KJV.

The mountain. The hill country of central Palestine (see on v. 29).

By SdaBc