Parashat Shlach

Twelve Scouts and the Bad Report

13 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Send some men on your behalf to investigate the land of Canaan, which I am giving to Bnei-Yisrael. Each man you are to send will be a prince of the tribe of his fathers, a man from each tribe.”

³ So according to the word of Adonai, Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran. All the men were princes of Bnei-Yisrael. ⁴ These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur. ⁵ From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori. ⁶ From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. ⁷ From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph. ⁸ From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun. ⁹ From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu. ¹⁰ From the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi. ¹¹ From the tribe of Manasseh, part of the tribe of Joseph, Gaddi son of Susi. ¹² From the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli. ¹³ From the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael. ¹⁴ From the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi. ¹⁵ From the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to investigate the land. (Now he gave Hoshea son of Nun, the name Joshua.) ¹⁷ As he sent them to explore the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there through the Negev, then go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and the people living there, whether they might be strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ In what kind of land are they living? Is it good or bad? Also, what about the cities in which they are living? Are they unwalled or do they have fortifications? ²⁰ How is the soil—fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)