Chapter commentary
Numbers Chapter 13
1
Nu 13:1-33.
简体中文
English original
Nu 13:1-33.
THE NAMES OF THE MEN WHO WERE SENT TO SEARCH THE LAND.
1, 2. The Lord spake unto Moses, Send thou men, that they may search the land, of Canaan--Compare
De 1:22,
whence it appears, that while the proposal of delegating confidential men from each tribe to explore the land of Canaan emanated from the people who petitioned for it, the measure received the special sanction of God, who granted their request at once as a trial, and a punishment of their distrust.
3
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简体中文
3. 那些人是以色列人的首领——并非
(Nu 10:14-16, 18-20, 22-27)
所列名的那些首领，而是次一等的族长，是民中的领袖人物，却非最高品级。
English original
3. those men were heads of the children of Israel--Not the princes who are named
(Nu 10:14-16, 18-20, 22-27),
but chiefs, leading men though not of the first rank.
16
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16. 何西阿——意即“拯救的愿望”。约书亚（Jehoshua）则因加上神之名，意为“神所立的”“拯救之元首”“救主”，即与耶稣同名
[Mt 1:21，
旁注]。
English original
16. Oshea--that is, "a desire of salvation." Jehoshua, by prefixing the name of God, means "divinely appointed," "head of salvation," "Saviour," the same as Jesus
[Mt 1:21,
Margin].
17
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17. 你们从这条路……上山地去——即西珥山
(De 1:2)，
此山正从西奈横越巴兰旷野，朝东北方向通往应许之地的南部。
English original
17. Get you up this way . . . , and go up into the mountain--Mount Seir
(De 1:2),
which lay directly from Sinai across the wilderness of Paran, in a northeasterly direction into the southern parts of the promised land.
20
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20. 那时正是葡萄初熟的时候——这是在八月，即初熟的葡萄串收成之时。第二次在九月，第三次在十月。探子们外出四十天，这表明他们从以实各谷带回的葡萄属于第二次的收成。
English original
20. Now the time was the time of the first grapes--This was in August, when the first clusters are gathered. The second are gathered in September, and the third in October. The spies' absence for a period of forty days determines the grapes they brought from Eshcol to have been of the second period.
21
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简体中文
21-24. 他们……窥探那地——他们从南到北推进，侦察了全地。
汛的旷野——一片漫长平坦的平原，或深陷的沙谷，其单调因几棵柽柳和金雀花树而略有变化。它以 El Ghor 和 El Araba 之名为名，构成约旦河谷的延伸，从死海一直延伸到亚喀巴湾。
利合——或作伯利合，是一座城和一片地区；有人认为位于西顿以东；另有人认为即 El Hule，是反黎巴嫩山脚下、帕尼亚斯以南数里格处一片广阔肥沃的平原。
哈马口——或作“进入哈马之路”
(2Ki 14:25)，
即今日的巴尔贝克谷，是北部边界的一处山隘或通道，构成以色列产业在那个方向的极限。从这些地名可知，探子们前进的路线似乎是沿约旦河的河道而上；而他们归程则取西边边界，经西顿人和非利士人的境地。
English original
21-24. So they . . . searched the land--They advanced from south to north, reconnoitering the whole land.
the wilderness of Zin--a long level plain, or deep valley of sand, the monotony of which is relieved by a few tamarisk and rethem trees. Under the names of El Ghor and El Araba, it forms the continuation of the Jordan valley, extending from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba.
Rehob--or, Beth-rehob, was a city and district situated, according to some, eastward of Sidon; and, according to others, it is the same as El Hule, an extensive and fertile champaign country, at the foot of Anti-libanus, a few leagues below Paneas.
as men come to Hamath--or, "the entering in of Hamath"
(2Ki 14:25),
now the valley of Balbeck, a mountain pass or opening in the northern frontier, which formed the extreme limit in that direction of the inheritance of Israel. From the mention of these places, the route of the scouts appears to have been along the course of the Jordan in their advance; and their return was by the western border through the territories of the Sidonians and Philistines.
22
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22. 到了希伯仑——位于犹大山地的心脏地带，巴勒斯坦的南端。希伯仑的城或“城邑”——希伯来文如此表达——由若干彼此独立的酋长领地组成，立于围成碗状、将它围拢的群山之一的山脚下。本节所提到的“亚衲族人”似乎也是各乡镇的首领；这政治体制在彼此相距如此遥远的年代中竟如此吻合，实属不凡 [VERE MONRO]。 希伯仑（基列亚巴，
Ge 23:2）
是世界上最古老的城邑之一。
琐安——（希腊人所称的塔尼斯）位于尼罗河东部的一条支流上，靠近门扎拉湖，是法老早期的王宫所在地。它所夸耀的古老超过埃及任何其他城邑。其名意为平坦，描述了它在三角洲低洼地带的位置。
English original
22. unto Hebron--situated in the heart of the mountains of Judah, in the southern extremity of Palestine. The town or "cities of Hebron," as it is expressed in the Hebrew, consists of a number of sheikdoms distinct from each other, standing at the foot of one of those hills that form a bowl round and enclose it. "The children of Anak" mentioned in this verse seem to have been also chiefs of townships; and this coincidence of polity, existing in ages so distant from each other, is remarkable [VERE MONRO]. Hebron (Kirjath Arba,
Ge 23:2)
was one of the oldest cities in the world.
Zoan--(the Tanis of the Greeks) was situated on one of the eastern branches of the Nile, near the lake Menzala, and was the early royal residence of the Pharaohs. It boasted a higher antiquity than any other city in Egypt. Its name, which signifies flat and level, is descriptive of its situation in the low grounds of the Delta.
23
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23. 到了以实各谷——意即“葡萄串之溪”。其位置在希伯仑的西南稍远处。那谷及其山坡至今仍布满葡萄园，其果实的品质与古代的盛名相符。
从那里砍下一挂葡萄枝和一挂葡萄——这地所产的葡萄至今仍如从前那样壮观——据一人所述，其大小可与李子相当；另一人将其比作人的拇指。一挂葡萄有时重达十至十二磅。探子们砍下一挂葡萄后搬运的方式，虽非因其重量所必需，却显然是为了保持其完整，作为应许之地出产的样品；其景象所生的印象必然更深，因以色列人所熟悉的只是埃及那稀疏的葡萄树和细小的葡萄。
English original
23. they came unto the brook of Eshcol--that is, "the torrent of the cluster." Its location was a little to the southwest of Hebron. The valley and its sloping hills are still covered with vineyards, the character of whose fruit corresponds to its ancient celebrity.
and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes--The grapes reared in this locality are still as magnificent as formerly--they are said by one to be equal in size to prunes, and compared by another to a man's thumb. One cluster sometimes weighs ten or twelve pounds. The mode of carrying the cluster cut down by the spies, though not necessary from its weight, was evidently adopted to preserve it entire as a specimen of the productions of the promised land; and the impression made by the sight of it would be all the greater because the Israelites were familiar only with the scanty vines and small grapes of Egypt.
26
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26. 他们到了……加低斯——以色列人一处重要的安营之地。但其确切位置尚未确定，也无从断定它是否就是加低斯巴尼亚，还是与之不同的另一处。有人认为它就是位于旷野东侧的著名泉源 Ain-el-Weibeh[罗宾逊]，也有人认为就是彼特拉[斯坦利]。
English original
26. they came . . . to Kadesh--an important encampment of the Israelites. But its exact situation is not definitely known, nor is it determined whether it is the same or a different place from Kadesh-barnea. It is supposed to be identical with Ain-el-Weibeh, a famous spring on the eastern side of the desert [ROBINSON], or also with Petra [STANLEY].
27
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27, 28. 他们告诉他说：我们到了你所打发我们去的那地，果然是流奶与蜜之地——这报告是在百姓面前当众说的；他们巧妙地先以该国天然肥沃的称赞开始叙述，好叫他们随后所加的毁谤更容易被人相信。
English original
27, 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.
29
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29. 亚玛力人住在南地——他们的疆域在死海与红海之间，沿着迦南的边界。
赫人……住在山地——他们定居在巴勒斯坦南部多山之地
(创 23:7)。
迦南人住在海边——原住民中被非利士人驱逐的余民分为两支游牧群体——一支在东边靠近约但河之地定居；另一支在西边，靠近地中海。
English original
29. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south--Their territory lay between the Dead and the Red Seas, skirting the borders of Canaan.
Hittites . . . dwell in the mountains--Their settlements were in the southern and mountainous part of Palestine
(Ge 23:7).
the Canaanites dwell by the sea--The remnant of the original inhabitants, who had been dispossessed by the Philistines, were divided into two nomadic hordes--one settled eastward near the Jordan; the other westward, by the Mediterranean.
32
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简体中文
32. 吞吃居民之地——即气候与国土不健康。犹太作者说，他们在行程中看见许多丧事，那时在神的护理下，大量迦南人被瘟疫或黄蜂所灭
(书 24:12)。
身量高大的人——这显然是虚假而夸大的报告，或出于胆怯或出于恶意的诡计，把少数人的情形说成全百姓普遍如此。
English original
32. a land that eateth up the inhabitants--that is, an unhealthy climate and country. Jewish writers say that in the course of their travels they saw a great many funerals, vast numbers of the Canaanites being cut off at that time, in the providence of God, by a plague or the hornet
(Jos 24:12).
men of a great stature--This was evidently a false and exaggerated report, representing, from timidity or malicious artifice, what was true of a few as descriptive of the people generally.
33
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33. 我们在那里看见亚衲族人，就是巨人——这名字源于亚巴，他在亚拉伯人中是个伟人
(书 15:14)，
大概因为颈上戴着华丽的项圈或链子而得名，这名字正是此意。"巨人"这称呼显然在此指身量。（参见
创 6:4 的注释。）
亚衲族人大概是一个杰出的家族，或者是一队因身量特高而被选出的战士。
我们看自己就如蚱蜢一样——这是一种强烈的东方夸张说法，那些诡诈的探子借以夸大迦南人体力的强壮。
English original
33. there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak--The name is derived from the son of Arba, a great man among the Arabians
(Jos 15:14),
who probably obtained his appellation from wearing a splendid collar or chain round his neck, as the word imports. The epithet "giant" evidently refers here to stature. (See on
Ge 6:4).
And it is probable the Anakims were a distinguished family, or perhaps a select body of warriors, chosen for their extraordinary size.
we were in our own sight as grasshoppers--a strong Orientalism, by which the treacherous spies gave an exaggerated report of the physical strength of the people of Canaan.
Nu 13:1-33.
被打发 去窥探 那地之人的 名字。
1, 2. 耶和华对摩西说：你打发人去窥探迦南地——对照
De 1:22，
可见从各支派委派可信赖之人去探查迦南地的提议，原出自百姓的请求，而这举措得到了神的特别认可；神随即允准其请求，既作为试验，也作为对其不信的惩罚。