Discovery BoxNumbers 13:26-30 
Context13:26 They came back 1 to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. 2 They reported 3 to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land. 13:27 They told Moses, 4 “We went to the land where you sent us. 5 It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, 6 and this is its fruit. 13:28 But 7 the inhabitants 8 are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 13:29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks 9 of the Jordan.” 10
13:30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up 11 and occupy it, 12 for we are well able to conquer it.” 13
1 tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.
2 sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.
3 tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).
4 tn Heb “told him and said.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The relative clause modifies “the land.” It is constructed with the relative and the verb: “where you sent us.”
6 sn This is the common expression for the material abundance of the land (see further, F. C. Fensham, “An Ancient Tradition of the Fertility of Palestine,” PEQ 98 [1966]: 166-67).
7 tn The word (אֶפֶס, ’efes) forms a very strong adversative. The land was indeed rich and fruitful, but….”
8 tn Heb “the people who are living in the land.”
9 tn Heb “by the side [hand] of.”
10 sn For more discussion on these people groups, see D. J. Wiseman, ed., Peoples of Old Testament Times.
11 tn The construction is emphatic, using the cohortative with the infinitive absolute to strengthen it: עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה (’aloh na’aleh, “let us go up”) with the sense of certainty and immediacy.
12 tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive brings the cohortative idea forward: “and let us possess it”; it may also be subordinated to form a purpose or result idea.
13 tn Here again the confidence of Caleb is expressed with the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense: יָכוֹל נוּכַל (yakhol nukhal), “we are fully able” to do this. The verb יָכַל (yakhal) followed by the preposition lamed means “to prevail over, to conquer.”
