🔢WEB · Numbers 13:29
What does Numbers 13:29 mean?
"Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”"
— Numbers 13:29 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land.
They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.
Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”
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 who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”
They 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.
Explanation
Numbers 13:29 comes in the middle of a report given by the spies whom Moses sent to scout out the land of Canaan before Israel's planned entry into it. In plain language, the verse is simply a geographical and ethnographic survey: it names the peoples already living in the land and locates them by region. Amalek occupies the Negev (the southern desert region); the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country (the central highlands, including the area around Jerusalem, which was a Jebusite stronghold); and the Canaanites live along the coastal plain by the Mediterranean Sea and in the Jordan Valley. It reads almost like a map description, giving Israel a clear picture of who controls what part of the land.
The context is crucial for understanding why this verse is here. Moses had sent twelve spies, one from each tribe, to scout the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:1-20). They traveled through it for forty days and returned with a report to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation at Kadesh. This verse is part of that factual report, given before the spies diverge in their interpretation of the facts. Verses 27-28 describe the land's fruitfulness (it does "flow with milk and honey," confirmed by the enormous cluster of grapes they carried back), but then the spies note the difficulty: the land is inhabited by strong peoples living in fortified, large cities, including the intimidating "descendants of Anak."
Theologically, this verse sets up one of the most significant turning points in Israel's wilderness journey.
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.