Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 1:24-28 
Context1:24 They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley, 1 which they scouted out. 1:25 Then they took 2 some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”
1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. 3 1:27 You complained among yourselves privately 4 and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! 1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage 5 by describing people who are more numerous 6 and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven 7 itself! Moreover, they said they saw 8 Anakites 9 there.”
1 tn Or “the Wadi Eshcol” (so NAB).
sn The Eshcol Valley is a verdant valley near Hebron, still famous for its viticulture (cf. Num 13:22-23). The Hebrew name “Eshcol” means “trestle,” that is, the frame on which grape vines grow.
2 tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.
3 tn Heb “the mouth of the
4 tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.
5 tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”
6 tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).
7 tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
8 tn Heb “we have seen.”
9 tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”
sn Anakites were giant people (Num 13:33; Deut 2:10, 21; 9:2) descended from a certain Anak whose own forefather Arba founded the city of Kiriath Arba, i.e., Hebron (Josh 21:11).
