New International Version
Numbers 13:27
27They 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.
Numbers 13:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
- New Living Translation (NLT)This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces.
Context of Numbers 13:27
25At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. 26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 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. 28But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
Read all of Numbers 13Numbers 13:27 word by word
וַיְסַפְּרוּ־לוֹ֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ בָּ֕אנוּ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר שְׁלַחְתָּ֑נוּ וְ֠גַם זָבַ֨ת חָלָ֥ב וּדְבַ֛שׁ הִ֖וא וְזֶה־פִּרְיָֽהּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And they toldסָפַרsâphar · to recountH5608
- him, and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- We cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- unto the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- whither thou sentestשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- us, and surely it flowethזוּבzûb · to flow: flowingH2100
- with milkחָלָבchâlâb · milkH2461
- and honeyדְּבַשׁdebash · honeyH1706
- the fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
Cross-references for Numbers 13:27
- Numbers 14:8If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
- Exodus 3:8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
- Exodus 13:5When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month:
- Exodus 33:3Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
- Leviticus 20:24But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.
- Deuteronomy 1:25Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
- Deuteronomy 6:3Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
- Deuteronomy 11:9and so that you may live long in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Deuteronomy 26:9He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
- Deuteronomy 27:3Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
- Deuteronomy 31:20When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.
- Joshua 5:6The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Jeremiah 11:5Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
- Jeremiah 32:22You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- Ezekiel 20:6On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.
Commentaries on Numbers 13:27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27We came unto the land, etc. - It is astonishing that men so dastardly as these should have had courage enough to risk their persons in searching the land. But probably though destitute of valor they had a sufficiency of cunning, and this carried them through. The report they brought was exceedingly discouraging, and naturally tended to produce the effect mentioned in the next chapter. The conduct of Joshua and Caleb was alone magnanimous, and worthy of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 26-33Verses 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 people from going forward…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27The promised land is also known as land flowing with milk and honey. In biblical times, milk and dairy were key parts of the diet. Milk symbolized abundance (see Deuteronomy 32:14; Isaiah 55:1; Joel 3:18). Honey added sweetness (see Psalms 19:10; 119:103; Ezekiel 3:3; Revelation 10:9–10). The phrase describes a desirable place with plenty of food and resources (compare Numbers 16:13–14; see also Exodus 3:8; Deuteronomy 6:3; 26:15; Jeremiah 11:4–5; Ezekiel…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 27-2827-28. they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey--The report was given publicly in the audience of the people, and it was artfully arranged to begin their narrative with commendations of the natural fertility of the country in order that their subsequent slanders might the more readily receive credit.Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 13:27
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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