Numbers 13:25

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

Septuagint runs longer here — compare

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מִתּ֣וּר

tûwr

H8446

“from · to seek”

Preposition + Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct

Appears 23× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Numbers 10:33

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 2500

to seek, search out, spy out, explore - (Qal) - to seek out, select, find out how to do something - to spy out, explore - explorers, spies (participle) - to go about - merchant, trader (participle) - (Hiphil) to make a search, make a reconnaissance

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

6: words
6: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is מִתּ֣וּר to seek H8446 — appearing just 23 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

מִתּ֣וּר to seek H8446 occurs in 22 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
3 nouns
1 adjective

Verb forms

וַיָּשֻׁ֖בוּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
מִתּ֣וּר Qal · Infinitive Construct

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 13 words from the Hebrew and 23 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the Septuagint runs noticeably longer here. See the side-by-side →

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 6 Hebrew tokens and 9 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 13:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 34:28 He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Exodus 24:18 Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Numbers 14:33–34 Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

Here the Septuagint runs noticeably longer than the Hebrew — LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) 23 words vs World English Bible 13. A rough length comparison of the two English translations, not a word-level alignment — read both below.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 13:25 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיָּשֻׁ֖בוּ מִתּ֣וּר הָאָ֑רֶץ מִקֵּ֖ץ אַרְבָּעִ֥ים יֽוֹם

They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 13:25 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἀποστρέφω ἐκεῖθεν κατασκέπτομαι ὁ γῆ μετά τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρα

And they called that place, The valley of the cluster, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְתָבוּ מִלְאַלָלָא יָת אַרְעָא מִסוֹף אַרְבְּעִין יוֹמִין

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְתָבוּ מִלְאַלְלָא יַת אַרְעָא בִתְמַנְיָא יוֹמִין בְּיַרְחָא דְאָב מִסוֹף אַרְבְּעִין יוֹמִין

And they returned from exploring the land on the eighth day of the month Ab, at the end of forty days.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 13:25 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Num 13:25. They returned after forty days — It is a wonder the people had patience to stay forty days, when they were just ready to enter Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from the divine power, proved by a constant series of miracles, that had hitherto attended them. But they distrusted God, and chose to be held in suspense by their own counsels, rather than to rest upon God’s promise! How much do we stand in our own light by unbelief!

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

13:25-29 The spies agreed that the land was good, but most doubted that Israel could conquer it. The strong, well-fed Canaanites had built fortified towns to protect themselves.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Or, the valley of Eshcol, that is, of grapes.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) After forty days.—This time allowed a full and careful exploration of the land.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

25–33. The spies returned and reported that the land was very fertile (J E ), (but in Num_13:32 not fertile, P ), but the inhabitants were tall and terrible and their cities impregnable.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

But the men that went up with him,.... With Caleb, all but Joshua: the other ten

said, we be not able to go up against the people; this they had not said before, though they plainly suggested it, and, to make the people believe this, had represented the inhabitants of the land of Canaan in the light they did; but now, in direct opposition to Caleb, fully expressed it, giving this reason for it:

for they are stronger than we; being both of a larger size and more numerous.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

After forty days - They had no doubt in this time explored the whole land. However, it was with the southern part that the Israelites expected to have to deal immediately: and accordingly it is that which is particularly referred to in the following verses, Hebron and its vicinity above all.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

25. Forty days were sufficient for a journey of 250 miles — into the vicinity of Hamath — and the return. The spies could rest six sabbaths and travel 500 miles, going at the rate of less than fifteen miles a day. It is not probable that they went in a body, but singly or by twos.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

They returned... after forty days. This is a period of time which constantly recurs in the sacred books. (see on Exo_24:18) It points to the fact that their work was completely done, and the land thoroughly explored.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

They returned after forty days - 'Tis a wonder the people had patience to stay forty days, when they were just ready to enter Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from the Divine power, proved by a constant series of miracles, that had hitherto attended them. But they distrusted God, and chose to be held in suspence by their own counsels, rather than to rest upon God's promise! How much do we stand in our own light by unbelief?

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

In forty days the spies returned to the camp at Kadesh (see at Num 16:6), and reported the great fertility of the land ("it floweth with milk and honey," see at Exo 3:8), pointing, at the same time, to the fruit they had brought with them; "nevertheless," they added (כּי אפס, "only that"), "the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are fortified, very large: and, moreover, we saw the children of Anak there." Amalekites dwelt in the south (see at Gen 36:12); Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites in the mountains (see at Gen 10:15-16); and Canaanites by the (Mediterranean) Sea and on the side of the Jordan, i.e., in the Arabah or Ghor (see at Gen 13:7 and Gen 10:15-18).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

After forty days

"After 40 days" (See: Numbers)

They brought back word

Here "word" refers to a report. AT: "They brought back their report" or "They reported what they had seen" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Moses

Aaron

people group

Paran

Kadesh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

וישבו מתור הארץ מקץ ארבעים יום AND THEY RETURNED FROM THE SEARCHING OF THE LAND AT THE END OF FORTY DAYS — But surely it was four hundred Parsangs (Persian miles) by four hundred Parsangs (Megillah 3a). And the journey of an average man is ten Parsangs a day (Pesachim 94a) and consequently it was a distance of forty days from east to west alone, whilst they traveled during that period along its length and breadth! But the fact is that it was manifest before the Holy One, blessed be He, that He would make a decree against them, "a day for a year" (cf. Numbers 14:34), therefore He shortened the road for them (i. e. He made them cover ground rapidly) (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 8).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 6 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is tûwr (“to seek”). The Greek Septuagint runs longer here. A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to seek” (tûwr) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Numbers 10:33, which shares the word «to seek», read alongside this verse?
The Septuagint runs longer here than the Hebrew. What might account for the difference?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
«וַיָּשֻׁ֖בוּ» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 6 Hebrew ↔ 9 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 8 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.