Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on Numbers 13:21
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
So they went up and searched the land, etc.] Went up the mountains as they were directed, and passed through the whole land; diligently inquired into everything material belonging to it, according to their instructions, and made their observations on it, and on the inhabitants, and their habitations: from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath; this wilderness, from whence they went, seems to be the same with the wilderness of Paran, called Zin; perhaps from the multitude of thorns in it; but different from the wilderness of Sin, (<021601>Exodus 16:1), which was nearer Egypt; but this was on the south quarter of the land of Canaan, along by the coast of Edom, (<043403>Numbers 34:3 <061501>Joshua 15:1); Rehob, they are said to come to first from thence, was in the tribe of Asher in later times, (<061928>Joshua 19:28); and lay to the north or northwest of the land of Canaan. Jerom says f156, that in his times there was a village called Rooba, four miles from Scythopolis. Hamath was the northern boundary of the land of Israel, and was in the tribe of Naphtali, when it came into the hands of the Israelites, and lay to the northeast, as the former place to the northwest, (<043407>Numbers 34:7,8 <061935>Joshua 19:35); so that their direction, as they went, was south and north, and west and east: their journey is described by Jarchi thus; they went on the borders of it, length and breadth, in the form of the capital of the letter g, “gamma”; they went on the south border from the east corner to the west corner, as Moses commanded them: “get you up this [way] southward”, (<041317>Numbers 13:17); the way of the southeast border unto the sea, which is the western border; and from thence they returned, and went on all the western border by the sea shore, until they came to Hamath, which is by Mount Hor, at the northwest corner; but Hamath was on the northeast; nor did they go thither, it was too far off for them, but they went as far as Rehob, which was “as men go to Hamath”, as it should be rendered, that is, it lay in the way to Hamath.
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