page_title: The Twelve Spies
section_title: About the spies
hierarchical_section_title: The Twelve Spies / About the spies
caption_attribution_description: English: Woodcut for "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860. Deutsch: Holzschnitt aus "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860. Français&#160;: Gravure en bois pour «Die Bibel in Bildern», 1860. Português: Povo de Israel celebra a Páscoa. Nm. 9:10.
context_page_description: The Twelve Spies, as recorded in the Book of Numbers, were a group of Israelite chieftains, one from each of the Twelve Tribes, who were dispatched by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan for 40 days as a future home for the Israelite people, during the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness following their Exodus from Ancient Egypt. The account is found in Numbers 13:1-33, and is repeated with some differences in Deuteronomy 1:22-40.
  God had promised Abraham that there would be a Promised Land for the nations to come out of his son, Isaac. The land of Canaan which the spies were to explore was the same Promised Land. Moses asked for an assessment of the geographical features of the land, the strength and numbers of the population, the agricultural potential and actual performance of the land, civic organization, and forestry conditions. He also asked them to be positive in their outlook and to return with samples of local produce.
  When ten of the twelve spies showed little faith, in the doom and gloom report they gave about the land, they were slandering what they believed God had promised them.
context_section_description: God had promised the Israelites that they would be able to conquer the land with its indigenous Canaanite nations. Moses instructed the spies to report back on the agriculture and lay of the land. However, during their tour, the spies saw fortified cities and resident giants, which frightened them and led them to believe that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the land as God had promised. Ten of the spies decided to bring back an unbalanced report, emphasizing the difficulty of the task before them.
  They gave Moses this account, "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are very powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there."
  — Numbers, 13:27-28
  Two of the spies — Joshua and Caleb — did not go along with the majority and tried to convince the Israelites that they could conquer the land:
  Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
  — Numbers, 13:30
  However, the Israelite community believed the majority's conclusions. All of the spies, except Joshua and Caleb, were struck down with a plague and died.
  Joshua was at first a fierce warrior. He was chosen as the representative from his tribe, Ephraim, to explore the land of Canaan, and was in agreement with Caleb that the Promised Land could be conquered. After the incident with the 12 spies, Joshua lived through the 40 year wandering period, and was named successor to Moses as instructed by God. Joshua completed the task of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land and of taking possession of it. Joshua also was the leader in renewing the Mosaic covenant with their God.
  Caleb was from the tribe of Judah. He was also chosen to explore the land of Canaan, and he was (along with Joshua) the other man who said that the God of Israel could help the Israelite people to victory against the Canaanites. God promised Caleb and Joshua that they would receive the land which they had explored for themselves and their descendants. Caleb was also told that he would live to go into the Promised Land.
  The names of the twelve spies were:
  Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben
  Shaphat son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon
  Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah
  Igal son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar
  Hoshea (Joshua) son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim
  Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin
  Gaddiel son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun
  Gaddi son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh
  Ammiel son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan
  Sethur son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher
  Nahbi son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali
  Geuel son of Maki, from the tribe of Gad
  The word "spies" may be an incorrect translation. The Hebrew word that the Torah uses is מרגלים ("meraglim"), which can also mean "traitors" or "deserters". In Numbers 13:, the Hebrew word describing the group is also the word usually translated as "men" or the word usually translated as "princes". In addition, the twelve were clearly not trained as spies, nor did they conduct any covert activity, nor did they enlist any indigenous people for later help. Thus, the phrase "Twelve Scouts" or "Twelve Observers" might be an alternative way of describing the group. However, the final point remains that their "report" resulted in a great outcry and the Israelites despaired of entering the promised land and were punished by God accordingly, as outlined above.
caption: Return of the Spies, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld
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