Deuteronomy 1 · Verse 28

Deuteronomy 1:28

Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
Deuteronomy 1:28, King James Version

Deuteronomy 1:28 in other translations

BSBWhere can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”
WEBWhere 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!’”
ASVWhither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
YLTwhither are we going up? our brethren have melted our heart, saying, A people greater and taller than we, cities great and fenced to heaven, and also sons of Anakim--we have seen there.
DARBYWhither shall we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, They are a people greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
BBEWhere are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts feeble with fear by saying, The people are greater and taller than we are, and the towns are great and walled up to heaven; and more than this, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
WebsterWhither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

What does Deuteronomy 1:28 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 1:22-33

22-33. ye came ... and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land--The proposal to despatch spies emanated from the people through unbelief; but Moses, believing them sincere, gave his cordial assent to this measure, and God on being consulted permitted them to follow the suggestion (see on Nu 13:1). The issue proved disastrous to them, only through their own sin and folly.

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 1:22-33 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 28 Cities - walled up to heaven - That is, with very high walls which could not be easily scaled. High walls around houses, etc., in these parts of Arabia are still deemed a sufficient defense against the Arabs, who scarcely ever attempt any thing in the way of plunder but on horseback. The monastery on Mount Sinai is surrounded with very high walls without any gate; in the upper part of the wall there is a sort of window, or opening, from which a basket is suspended by a pulley, by which both persons and goods are received into and sent from the place. It is the same with the convent of St. Anthony, in Egypt; and this sort of wall is deemed a sufficient defense against the Arabs, who, as we have already observed, scarcely ever like to alight from their horses.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:19-46

Moses reminds the Israelites of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, through that great and terrible wilderness. He shows how near they were to a happy settlement in Canaan. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites, that they were not far from the kingdom of God. As if it were not enough that they were sure of their God before them, they would send men before them. Never any looked into the Holy Land…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 1:19-46 →

Deuteronomy 1:28 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אָנָ֣ה\׀'a.Nahwhere?H575
אֲנַ֣חְנוּ'a.Nach.nu[are] weH587
עֹלִ֗ים'o.Limgoing upH5927
אַחֵינוּ֩'a.chei.Nucountrymen ourH251
הֵמַ֨סּוּhe.Ma.suthey have made meltH4549
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
לְבָבֵ֜נוּle.va.Ve.nuheart ourH3824
לֵאמֹ֗רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
עַ֣ם'am[the] peopleH5971
גָּד֤וֹלga.Dol[is] greatH1419
וָרָם֙va.Ramand loftyH7311
מִמֶּ֔נּוּmi.Me.numore than usH4480
עָרִ֛ים'a.Rim[the] citiesH5892
גְּדֹלֹ֥תge.do.Lot[are] largeH1419
וּבְצוּרֹ֖תu.ve.tzu.Rotand fortifiedH1219
בַּשָּׁמָ֑יִםba.sha.Ma.yimin the heavensH8064
וְגַם\־ve.gam-and alsoH1571
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei[the] descendants ofH1121
עֲנָקִ֖ים'a.na.Kim[the] AnakitesH6062
רָאִ֥ינוּra.'I.nuwe sawH7200
שָֽׁם\׃ShamthereH8033

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 1:28

  • Deuteronomy 9:1-2

    Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!

  • Numbers 13:28-33

    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. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 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. …

  • Joshua 11:22

    There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.

  • Judges 1:20

    And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.

  • Joshua 15:14

    And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

  • 2 Samuel 21:16-22

    And Ishbi–benob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel. And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare–oregim, a Beth–lehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. …

  • Joshua 14:8

    Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.

  • Deuteronomy 20:8

    And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.

  • Joshua 2:11

    And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

  • Joshua 2:9

    And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

  • Isaiah 13:7

    Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

  • Joshua 2:24

    And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
discouraged. Heb. melted.
20:8; *marg:
Ex 15:15; Jos 2:9,11,24; *marg:
Jos 14:8; Isa 13:7; Eze 21:7
The people.
9:1,2; Nu 13:28-33
walled.That is, with very high walls, which could not be easily scaled. Harmer says, high walls are still to be seen in Arabia, and are deemed a sufficient defence against the Arabs, who scarcely ever attempt to plunder except on horseback. The monastery on Mount Sinai, and the convent of St. Anthony in Egypt, are surrounded with a very high wall, without gates; the persons and things being taken up and let down through an opening in the upper part, by means of a pulley and a basket. This kind of walling is a sufficient defence.
we have seen.
9:2; Jos 11:22; 15:14; Jud 1:10,20; 2Sa 21:16-22

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 1:27

    And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

  • Deuteronomy 1:28

    Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

  • Deuteronomy 1:29

    Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

Read all of Deuteronomy 1

Deuteronomy 1:28 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¿A dónde subimos? Nuestros hermanos han hecho desfallecer nuestro corazón, diciendo: Este pueblo es mayor y más alto que nosotros, las ciudades grandes y muradas hasta el cielo; y también vimos allí hijos de gigantes.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Où monterions-nous? Nos frères nous ont fait fondre le cœur, en disant: C’est un peuple plus grand et de plus haute taille que nous; les villes sont grandes, et murées jusqu’aux cieux; et de plus nous avons vu là des fils des Anakim.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wohin sollen wir hinaufziehen? Unsere Brüder haben unser Herz verzagt gemacht, indem sie sagten: Ein Volk, größer und höher als wir, Städte, groß und befestigt bis an den Himmel, und auch die Kinder der Enakim haben wir dort gesehen!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quo ascendemus? nuntii terruerunt cor nostrum, dicentes: Maxima multitudo est, et nobis statura procerior; urbes magnæ, et ad cælum usque munitæ: filios Enacim vidimus ibi.