Numbers 13 · Verse 32

Numbers 13:32

And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
Numbers 13:32, King James Version

Numbers 13:32 in other translations

BSBSo they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.
WEBThey brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.
ASVAnd they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
YLTand they bring out an evil account of the land which they have spied unto the sons of Israel, saying, ‘The land into which we passed over to spy it, is a land eating up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in its midst are men of stature;
DARBYAnd they brought to the children of Israel an evil report of the land which they had searched out, saying, The land, which we have passed through to search it out, is a land that eateth up its inhabitants; and all the people that we have seen in it are men of great stature;
BBEAnd they gave the children of Israel a bad account of the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there are men of more than common size.
WebsterAnd they brought an evil report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have passed to search it, is a land that eateth up its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it, are men of a great stature.

What does Numbers 13:32 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
32. a land that eateth up the inhabitants--that is, an unhealthy climate and country. Jewish writers say that in the course of their travels they saw a great many funerals, vast numbers of the Canaanites being cut off at that time, in the providence of God, by a plague or the hornet (Jos 24:12). men of a great stature--This was evidently a false and exaggerated report, representing, from timidity or malicious artifice, what was true of a few as descriptive of the people generally.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 32 Men of a great stature - אנשי מדות anshey middoth, men of measures - two men's height; i. e., exceedingly tall men.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 13:26-33

We may wonder that the people of Israel staid forty days for the return of their spies, when they were ready to enter Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from the Divine power, and the miracles that had hitherto attended them. But they distrusted God's power and promise. How much we stand in our own light by our unbelief! At length the messengers returned; but the greater part discouraged the…

Read the full comment on Numbers 13:26-33 →

Numbers 13:32 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.

וַיּוֹצִ֜יאוּvai.yo.Tzi.'uand they brought outH3318
דִּבַּ֤תdi.Bat<the> bad report ofH1681
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ha.'A.retzthe landH776
אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834
תָּר֣וּta.Ruthey had spied outH8446
אֹתָ֔הּ'o.Tah<obj.> itH853
אֶל\־'el-toH413
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei[the] people ofH1121
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
לֵאמֹ֑רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
הָאָ֡רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
אֲשֶׁר֩'a.SherwhichH834
עָבַ֨רְנוּ'a.Var.nuwe passedH5674
בָ֜הּvahin <the> it
לָת֣וּרla.Turto spy outH8446
אֹתָ֗הּ'o.Tah<obj.> itH853
אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retz[is] a landH776
אֹכֶ֤לֶת'o.Khe.let[which] devoursH398
יוֹשְׁבֶ֙יהָ֙yo.she.Vei.hainhabitants itsH3427
הִ֔ואhi'itH1931
וְכָל\־ve.kholand allH3605
הָעָ֛םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whichH834
רָאִ֥ינוּra.'I.nuwe sawH7200
בְתוֹכָ֖הּve.to.Khahin [the] midst of itH8432
אַנְשֵׁ֥י'an.Shei[were] men ofH582
מִדּֽוֹת\׃mi.Dotstature<s>H4060

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

Cross references for Numbers 13:32

  • Amos 2:9

    Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

  • Numbers 14:36-37

    And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

  • Ezekiel 36:13-14

    Thus saith the Lord God; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations; Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God.

  • Matthew 23:13

    But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

  • 2 Samuel 21:20

    And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

  • 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.

  • Numbers 13:28

    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.

  • 1 Chronicles 20:6

    And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
brought.
14:36,37; De 1:28; Mt 23:13
a land.
28; Eze 36:13; Am 2:9
men of a great stature. Heb. men of statures.
2Sa 21:20; *Heb:
1Ch 20:6; *marg:

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

Context

  • Numbers 13:31

    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.

  • Numbers 13:32

    And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

  • Numbers 13:33

    And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Read all of Numbers 13

Numbers 13:32 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Mas los varones que subieron con él, dijeron: No podremos subir contra aquel pueblo; porque es más fuerte que nosotros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et ils décrièrent devant les fils d’Israël le pays qu’ils avaient reconnu, disant: Le pays par lequel nous avons passé pour le reconnaître est un pays qui dévore ses habitants, et tout le peuple que nous y avons vu est de haute stature.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und sie brachten unter die Kinder Israel ein böses Gerücht über das Land aus, das sie ausgekundschaftet hatten, und sprachen: Das Land, welches wir durchzogen haben, um es auszukundschaften, ist ein Land, das seine Bewohner frißt; und alles Volk, das wir darin gesehen haben, sind Leute von hohem Wuchse;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Alii vero, qui fuerant cum eo, dicebant: Nequaquam ad hunc populum valemus ascendere, quia fortior nobis est.