The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Twelve Spies Sent Out
Deuteronomy 1:19–25 — Twelve Spies Sent Out. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
19And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ka·’ă·šer ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū ’ō·ṯā·nū ṣiw·wāh wan·nis·sa‘ mê·ḥō·rêḇ wan·nê·leḵ ’êṯ de·reḵ har hā·’ĕ·mō·rî kāl- hag·gā·ḏō·wl wə·han·nō·w·rā ha·hū ham·miḏ·bār rə·’î·ṯem wan·nā·ḇō ‘aḏ qā·ḏêš bar·nê·a‘
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-just-as YHWH our-God had-commanded us, we-set-out from-Horeb and-we-went all the-way-of the-hill-country-of the-Amorite — all that great and-terrible wilderness that you-have-seen — on-the-way-of the-hill-country-of the-Amorite; and-we-came as-far-as Kadesh-barnea.”
Where the English smooths the original
Great and terrible wilderness — Great, because it extended a great way; and terrible, because mostly desolate, or only inhabited by wild beasts.
Heb. nasa‘ was originally to pull up the tent-pegs, break camp , but came to cover the journey that ensued, to march by stagesCambridge’s note on נָסַע (nâça‘), the verb behind “we set out.”
He shows how near they were to a happy settlement in Canaan. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites, that they were not far from the kingdom of God.Henry’s note spans 1:19–46; this excerpt is a contiguous substring of it.
This language is such as people would employ after having passed with toil and suffering through the worst part of it, the southern half of the ArabahBarnes hears the phrase “great and terrible wilderness” as the speech of men who had actually crossed it.
all travellers, from a feeling of its complete isolation from the world, describe it as a great and terrible wilderness.
It was through faith in God that Canaan was to be gained and occupied by Israel; but this faith they lacked, and so they came short of what God had summoned them t, attainPulpit’s thesis for the whole episode (the “t, attain” is the source’s own typo, preserved verbatim); it cross-references Psalm 78:22; 106:24; Hebrews 3:18–19.
Everything had been done on the part of God and Moses to bring Israel speedily and safely to Canaan. The reason for their being compelled to remain in the desert for forty years was to be found exclusively in their resistance to the commandments of God.K&D’s note covers the whole 1:19–25 block.
20I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wā·’ō·mar ’ă·lê·ḵem bā·ṯem ‘aḏ- har hā·’ĕ·mō·rî ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū nō·ṯên lā·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-I-said to-you: You-have-reached the-hill-country-of the-Amorite, which YHWH our-God is-giving to-us.”
Where the English smooths the original
which the Lord our God doth give unto us; not the mountain only, but the whole country of that people, and even all the land of Canaan.
So that the fault was in themselves, that they did not sooner possess the inheritance promised.Geneva’s marginal note (n) on “Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites.”
giveth ] Heb. giving with the force of is about to give : followed by ground or land , it forms a phrase peculiar to D.
21See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
rə·’êh Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā nā·ṯan hā·’ā·reṣ lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā ’eṯ- ‘ă·lêh rêš ka·’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê ’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā lāḵ dib·ber ’al- tî·rā wə·’al- tê·ḥāṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“See! YHWH your-God has-set the-land before-you. Go-up, take-possession, just-as YHWH the-God-of your-fathers has-spoken to-you. Do-not be-afraid and-do-not be-dismayed.”
Where the English smooths the original
Fear not, neither be discouraged. —The last clause of this verse reappears in St. John 14:27 , “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
fear not, neither be discouraged; though the people of the land were numerous and strong, and their cities large and walled.
the expression fear thou not neither be dismayed (al-tîra’ We’al teḥath) is always found with the Sg. addressCambridge on the singular holy-war formula אַל־תִּירָא וְאַל־תֵּחָֽת׃.
22Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kul·lə·ḵem wat·tiq·rə·ḇūn ’ê·lay wat·tō·mə·rū niš·lə·ḥāh ’ă·nā·šîm lə·p̄ā·nê·nū wə·yaḥ·pə·rū- lā·nū ’eṯ- hā·’ā·reṣ wə·yā·ši·ḇū ’ō·ṯā·nū dā·ḇār ’eṯ- had·de·reḵ ’ă·šer na·‘ă·leh- bāh wə·’êṯ he·‘ā·rîm ’ă·šer nā·ḇō ’ă·lê·hen
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-you-drew-near to-me, all-of-you, and-you-said: Let-us-send men before-us, and-let-them-dig-out for-us the-land, and-bring back to-us word of the-way by-which we-should-go-up, and-of the-cities to-which we-should-come.”
Where the English smooths the original
We learn here that the proposal in the first instance came from the people. Moses would naturally refer it to Jehovah; and, when approved, the scheme was carried out.Ellicott later draws the verdict the grammar implies: “the sending of the twelve spies, in the light in which the people intended it, was an act of unbelief.”
The proposal to despatch spies emanated from the people through unbelief; but Moses, believing them sincere, gave his cordial assent to this measure, and God on being consulted permitted them to follow the suggestion
that they may search ] Heb. ḥaphar , lit. to dig; to explore , only here and Joshua 2:2 f.; JE has see and P uses the verb tûr, to go aboutCambridge on חָפַר (châphar), “search out.”
The plan of sending the spies originated with the people; and, as in itself a reasonable one, it approved itself to Moses; it was submitted to God, sanctioned by Him, and carried out under special divine direction.
23The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
had·dā·ḇār bə·‘ê·nay way·yî·ṭaḇ wā·’eq·qaḥ šə·nêm ‘ā·śār ’ă·nā·šîm ’îš mik·kem ’e·ḥāḏ laš·šā·ḇeṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-the-word was-good in-my-eyes, and-I-took from-you twelve men, one man for-each-tribe.”
Where the English smooths the original
The saying pleased me well; for there seemed to be some prudence and good policy in it: but Moses could not see into their hearts, nor from what root this desire grew; but God saw it
And the saying pleased me well,.... Taking it to be a rational and prudent scheme, not imagining it was the effect of fear and distrust
and I took twelve men of you ] So P, Numbers 13:2-16 , adding their names. JE does not give their number but may originally have done soCambridge’s source-critical note; recorded, not endorsed.
24They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yip̄·nū way·ya·‘ă·lū hā·hā·rāh way·yā·ḇō·’ū ‘aḏ- na·ḥal ’eš·kōl way·rag·gə·lū ’ō·ṯāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-turned and-went-up into-the-hill-country, and-they-came as-far-as the-Wadi-of Eshcol, and-they-spied-it-out.”
Where the English smooths the original
Eshcol — That is, grapes, so called from the goodly cluster of grapes which they brought from thence.
The valley, or, the brook : the word signifies both, for brooks commonly run in valleys. Of Eshcol, i.e. of grapes , so called from the goodly cluster of grapes which they brought from thence
the valley of Eshcol ] LXX φάραγξ βότρυος , ‘ravine of the cluster’; but Heb. naḥal is the Ar. wâdy, a valley with a winter-stream
And they turned and went up into the mountain,.... As they were ordered and directed by Moses, Numbers 13:17 . and came unto the valley of Eshcol; so called from the cluster of grapes they cut down there, as they returned
25They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yiq·ḥū mip·pə·rî hā·’ā·reṣ ḇə·yā·ḏām way·yō·w·ri·ḏū ’ê·lê·nū way·yā·ši·ḇū ’ō·ṯā·nū ḏā·ḇār way·yō·mə·rū ṭō·w·ḇāh hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū nō·ṯên lā·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-took in-their-hand from-the-fruit of-the-land and-brought-it-down to-us, and-they-brought back to-us word, and-they-said: Good is-the-land that YHWH our-God is-giving to-us.”
Where the English smooths the original
It is a good land. —In Numbers 13:27 they all say, “Surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it.”
It is a good land; which acknowledgment, coming from its enemies, should have prevailed with you to go in, more than their discouraging words should have beat you off, because the Lord who had given you this land, was unquestionably able to settle you in it in spite of all opposition.
In Deuteronomy 1:25 , Moses simply mentions so much of the report of the spies as had reference to the nature of the land, viz., that it was good, that he may place in immediate contrast with this the refusal of the people to enter in.
yea, all of them agreed in this, and said at first that it was a land flowing with milk and honey, Numbers 13:27 .
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens not with a map but with a memory. Moses retells the leg from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, and the Hebrew verb he chooses for departure is precise: wan·nis·sa‘ (נָסַע), which — as the Cambridge Bible records — “was originally to pull up the tent-pegs, break camp.” This is a people unpegged from Sinai and put on the road. The road runs through what they all call “that great and terrible wilderness” (Benson: “great, because it extended a great way; and terrible, because mostly desolate”). Keil & Delitzsch set the whole speech’s purpose in a single sentence: “the reason for their being compelled to remain in the desert for forty years was to be found exclusively in their resistance to the commandments of God.” Matthew Henry names the ache of it — “he shows how near they were to a happy settlement in Canaan.” The terror in v. 19 is the wilderness’s; the tragedy in the verses to come is that a people who survived the terrible place will balk at the good one.
At the border Moses speaks twice, and both times in the language of an open gift. “You have come (bā·ṭem) to the hill-country of the Amorite, which YHWH our God is giving (nō·ṯên) us” — the participle Cambridge glosses as “is about to give … a phrase peculiar to D.” Gill widens the grant past the mountain: “not the mountain only, but the whole country of that people, and even all the land of Canaan.” Then v. 21 turns the gift into a summons stripped of every cushion: rəʾêh — “See!” — followed by two bare imperatives with no “and” between them, ‘ălêh rêš, “go-up, possess” (the Pulpit Commentary’s “asyndeton emphaticum”). The charge closes with the holy-war formula Cambridge isolates in the singular — al-tîra’ we’al teḥath, “fear thou not neither be dismayed.” Strikingly, the verb for “be afraid” (yârêʼ) is the very root that called the wilderness “terrible” in v. 19: the One who brought them through the feared place forbids them to fear at its end. Geneva’s verdict on the whole offer is blunt — “the fault was in themselves, that they did not sooner possess the inheritance promised.”
Here the narrative’s great reversal surfaces. In Numbers 13:1 the order to send spies comes from the LORD; in Deuteronomy it comes from the floor. Ellicott marks the difference exactly: “we learn here that the proposal in the first instance came from the people.” The grammar agrees — the cohortative nišələḥāh, “let us send,” and the emphatic kuləḵem, “all of you.” Even the verb they pick leans toward suspicion: wəyaḥpərū from châphar, which Cambridge renders “lit. to dig; to explore,” a probing word used this way “only here and Joshua 2:2 f.” Yet the request looked reasonable, and that is the snare. Barnes: “the plan of sending the spies originated with the people; and, as in itself a reasonable one, it approved itself to Moses.” JFB diagnoses the root the eye could not see: it “emanated from the people through unbelief; but Moses, believing them sincere, gave his cordial assent.” And so Moses, in his own honest first person, says way·yî·ṭaḇ bə·‘ê·nay — “it was good in my eyes” — and “I took twelve men.” Poole catches the pathos of human prudence judging by sight: “Moses could not see into their hearts … but God saw it.” Twelve men, one per tribe: the whole nation’s venture, soon to be the whole nation’s refusal.
The spies do their work and the land answers for itself. They reach the naḥal of Eshcol — a name that is the Hebrew word for a grape-cluster (Benson: “Eshcol — that is, grapes, so called from the goodly cluster”). They “spied it out” with the scout’s verb râgal (from regel, “foot”), and they carry back, in the hand, mipərî hāʾāreṣ — some of the fruit of the land. Their report is fronted for force: ṭōḇāh hāʾāreṣ, “Good is the land.” Moses quotes only the good of it — and Keil & Delitzsch see why: “that he may place in immediate contrast with this the refusal of the people to enter in.” Ellicott supplies the fuller original report (“Surely it floweth with milk and honey”), and Poole presses the indictment home: “which acknowledgment, coming from its enemies, should have prevailed with you to go in.” The chain that began as the people’s “word” (dāḇār, v. 22), became Moses’ approval (v. 23), now returns as a good “word” (v. 25) — and the unit halts on the brink, before v. 26’s “yet you would not go up.” The land was being given the whole time; only fear could forfeit it.
Read under the rule that Scripture alone is the final authority, three things stand out in this little march — offered as a reading to be tested, not a verdict to be trusted:
The gift precedes the inspection. The land is “given” (nō·ṯên, vv. 20, 25) in the present participle, on both sides of the spy-mission. Reconnaissance was never the condition of the promise; it was, at best, a concession to weak faith and, at worst, the first move of distrust. The text does not condemn looking at the land — it condemns letting the look replace the word already spoken (v. 21, dib·ber).
Unbelief wears the mask of prudence. The plan to send spies “approved itself to Moses” (Barnes) and “seemed good in my eyes” (v. 23) — and was still, JFB judges, born “through unbelief.” A proposal can be reasonable on its face and faithless at its root. Only God read the heart the eye could not (Poole). The lesson the passage presses is sobering: the most dangerous failures of faith are the ones that look like wisdom.
The witness of the world condemns the fear of the church. The land’s own fruit, carried in pagan-held soil, testified “it is good” — and that very testimony, Poole says, “should have prevailed with you to go in.” When even the evidence agrees with the promise, the refusal to act is left without excuse. Against the wilderness called “terrible” (norā) stands the land called “good” (ṭôḇ) — and Israel feared the good more than the terrible.
That reading is this tool’s, not a verse. Test it against the text; keep what the Word supports.
They had outlived a wilderness that fears nothing, and then feared a land that is good — unbelief is most fatal precisely where the gift is most certain. (a reader’s line, not Scripture)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
Moses’ terse “they came to the Wadi of Eshcol and spied it out” is the deuteronomic shorthand for the famous scene in Numbers, where the spies cut “a branch with one cluster (eshkol) of grapes” and bore it on a pole between two men (Numbers 13:23–24). The Verifier records the link on the rare place-name ʾEshkôl (H812, in only 6 verses of the whole canon) together with naḥal (H5158) and ‘ad (H5704) — a genuinely low-frequency verbal tie, not a thematic guess. The same wadi is named again at Numbers 32:9 (“they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land”) in Moses’ later rehearsal of this very failure — the Verifier confirms the shared ʾEshkôl + naḥal + ‘âlâh + ‘ad there too. Cambridge confirms the realia: the neighbourhood of Hebron “is fertile with numerous springs, and the vine flourishes there.” One caution Cambridge itself supplies: in Genesis 14:13, 24 Eshkôl is not a place but a person — “the brother of Mamre the Amorite at Ḥebron” — so the bare lexical match to Genesis is to a homonymous name, not to this valley; it is recorded here only because Cambridge raises it, and is not pressed as the same referent.
Deuteronomy 1:24 · Numbers 13:23 · Numbers 13:24 · Numbers 32:9
basis: shared rare lexeme H812 ʾEshkôl (in only 6 verses) plus H5158 nachal and H5704 ‘ad — Verifier-computed for both Numbers 13:23–24 and Numbers 32:9; the low frequency of ʾEshkôl makes this a true verbal link to the same valley and episode. (The Genesis 14:13/24 occurrences share H812 but denote a person, not this valley — noted, not claimed.)
The single most discussed feature of this unit is its disagreement of standpoint with Numbers 13. There the sending of the spies is a divine command (“the LORD spake unto Moses … Send thou men”, Numbers 13:1–2); here it is the people’s own proposal (“and you drew near to me … and said, Let us send”). Ellicott and Barnes both name the difference; Cambridge calls it “instructive” and lists it “among other instances in D of the people’s initiative.” Held honestly: there is no shared rare lexeme that the Verifier can use to certify a verbal quotation — the connection is one of subject-matter and a deliberate difference of emphasis, the classic harmonization being that the people proposed it, Moses referred it to God, and God permitted it (JFB). So it is recorded as a structural/thematic parallel, the two narratives of one event, not a citation of one by the other.
Deuteronomy 1:22 · Deuteronomy 1:23 · Numbers 13:1 · Numbers 13:2
basis: two narratives of the same spy-mission with a deliberate shift of initiative (people vs. LORD); the Verifier finds no shared rare lexeme between Deut 1:22 and Numbers 13:1, so the link is argued as thematic/structural, not asserted as verbal quotation.
The phrase that colors v. 19 returns, almost as a refrain, at Deuteronomy 8:15: “that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions.” Gill cross-references the two himself. The Verifier records the shared vocabulary — miḏbâr (wilderness), yârêʼ (the root of “terrible”), gâḏôwl (great), and hâlak (to go/pass) — all common words, which is exactly why the tie is structural rather than a rare-word quotation. It is Deuteronomy’s own settled idiom for the desert of et-Tîh, repeated to keep the memory of the LORD’s sustaining hand in view.
Deuteronomy 1:19 · Deuteronomy 8:15
basis: shared lexemes H4057 miḏbâr, H3372 yârêʼ, H1419 gâḏôwl, H1980 hâlak (Verifier-computed) — all common words; a repeated Deuteronomic phrase, hence structural/thematic, not a rare-word quotation.
Verse 19’s “from Horeb … to Kadesh-barnea” deliberately picks up the itinerary note of 1:2 (“eleven days’ journey from Horeb … unto Kadesh-barnea”). The Verifier records two genuinely rare proper nouns shared between the verses — Qâdêš Barnê‘ (H6947, in 10 verses) and Chôrêḇ (H2722, in 17 verses) — along with har and dereḵ. Two low-frequency place-names anchoring the same start- and end-points make this a tight verbal/itinerary tie within the chapter; Cambridge even suspects 1:2 was “originally an addition or note to” 1:19.
Deuteronomy 1:19 · Deuteronomy 1:2
basis: shared rare proper nouns H6947 Qâdêš Barnê‘ (10 vv) and H2722 Chôrêḇ (17 vv) plus H2022 har, H1870 dereḵ (Verifier-computed) — the rare place-names make this a verbal itinerary link inside Deuteronomy 1.
The scout’s verb of v. 24, râgal (“to foot the land,” H7270), and the place-name Kadesh-barnea reappear together on the lips of one of the twelve spies himself. At Joshua 14:7 Caleb says, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out (râgal) the land, and I brought him back word as it was in my heart.” The Verifier records the shared râgal (H7270, a relatively rare reconnaissance verb in only 24 verses) and the rare place-name Qâdêš Barnê‘ (H6947, 10 vv). Caleb is recalling this very mission — and his clause “word as it was in my heart” is the faithful counterpart to the unbelief the rest brought back. Ellicott points the same way from v. 25, noting that “in Numbers 14:7 Joshua and Caleb describe it as an ‘exceeding good land.’” The good report of v. 25 was, in the end, only these two men’s.
Deuteronomy 1:24 · Joshua 14:6 · Joshua 14:7
basis: shared lexemes H7270 râgal (24 vv, the rare reconnaissance verb) and H6947 Qâdêš Barnê‘ (10 vv) — both Verifier-computed; Caleb’s retrospect names the same verb and the same start-point, making this a true verbal link to the identical spy-mission.
The whole episode this unit begins — the march to Kadesh, the good report, and (in v. 26) the refusal to go up — is the very rebellion Hebrews makes its great warning: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion … they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.” The Pulpit Commentary already reaches for these texts on v. 19 (Psalm 78:22; 106:24; Hebrews 3:18–19). Held honestly: this is a cross-Testament link, Greek to Hebrew — so it cannot rest on a shared Strong’s number, and the Verifier rightly finds none. It is tiered structural/thematic on the strength of the shared theology of unbelief-at-the-border, not a verbal quotation of this verse.
Deuteronomy 1:21 · Deuteronomy 1:25 · Hebrews 3:18 · Hebrews 3:19
basis: cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): the Verifier’s raw verdict on Deut 1:21 ↔ Heb 3:18 is “flagged — verify source” because no shared original-language lexeme exists (and none is possible across Testaments). It is argued up to structural/thematic — never verbal — on the strength of the explicit theology: Hebrews makes Israel’s unbelief at Kadesh its named warning (“they were not able to enter in because of unbelief”), and the Pulpit Commentary itself cross-references Hebrews 3:18–19 on v. 19. The connection is the shared doctrine of entry barred by unbelief, not a quotation.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Twice in this unit the land is “given” (nō·ṯên, vv. 20, 25) as a present, settled gift — before a single battle, before the inspection, before any merit of Israel’s. The order is grace, then entry; gift, then possession. It is the same order the New Testament reads as the gospel’s own shape: an inheritance “already” given in Christ, into which faith simply enters — and which unbelief alone forfeits (Hebrews 3:19; 4:1–2). The good land held out to a fearful people, given before it is grasped, is a figure of the rest secured in Christ and entered by faith, not earned by reconnaissance.
Deuteronomy 1:20 · Deuteronomy 1:25 · Hebrews 4:1 · Hebrews 4:2
Moses’ last word at the border is the holy-war comfort, al-tîra’ we’al teḥath, “do not be afraid or dismayed” (v. 21). Ellicott himself hears it carried forward into the upper room: “the last clause of this verse reappears in St. John 14:27, ‘Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’” The same divine reassurance that sent Israel toward the land is, on the lips of Christ, the legacy of His peace to His own. Held honestly: this is a cross-Testament echo (Greek to Hebrew), so it is no verbal quotation of shared lexemes; and it is, in this set, named by a single commentator (Ellicott), not a patristic commonplace — a suggestive typological resonance heard in the cadence, not a citation formula. Weigh it lightly.
Deuteronomy 1:21 · John 14:27
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain (CC0). The Hebrew, vocalization, and every parse (Strong’s number, root, morphology) follow the Berean/Strong’s data supplied with this unit and are not altered here.
The named voices are verbatim public-domain excerpts from the Biblehub commentary set (Ellicott, Benson, Matthew Henry, Barnes, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Poole, Gill, Geneva, Cambridge, the Pulpit Commentary, Keil & Delitzsch). Several voices in the raw set are unit-spanning notes attached to multiple verses (Matthew Henry’s “1:19-46” preface; Keil & Delitzsch’s “1:19-25” block; JFB’s “22-33” block); each excerpt here is a contiguous substring of the raw text for the verse it is filed under. Where Poole had “no text … on this verse,” no Poole voice is shown (vv. 19–22).
Honesty notes specific to this unit: (1) The Numbers 13 / Deuteronomy 1 difference — divine command vs. popular initiative — is left as a difference of standpoint, not flattened; the harmonization (people proposed, Moses referred, God permitted) is reported as the commentators’ reading, not asserted as the text’s own claim. (2) Cambridge’s source-critical labels (JE, P, D) and its suspicion that 1:21 is “a later insertion” are recorded as a scholar’s judgment, neither endorsed nor erased. (3) The two cross-Testament threads (Hebrews 3 and John 14:27) carry no shared Strong’s numbers — the Verifier’s raw verdict on Deut 1:21 ↔ Heb 3:18 is in fact “flagged — verify source” — and they are tiered structural/typological on purpose, argued from explicit NT theology (Hebrews’ named warning; Ellicott’s and the Pulpit’s own cross-references), never as “verbal.” Greek↔Hebrew links cannot be verbal. (4) The Eshcol thread also flags that the bare H812 match to Genesis 14:13/24 denotes a person (the Amorite at Hebron), not this valley — recorded because Cambridge raises it, not pressed as the same referent. (5) The Joshua 14:6–7 thread rests on two Verifier-computed shared lexemes (H7270 râgal, H6947 Kadesh-barnea) — Caleb naming the same survey. (6) This unit does not contain Deuteronomy/Joshua 1:5, so no Joshua 1:5→Hebrews 13:5 flag applies. (7) The ⚙ grand commentary, threads, and Christ readings are machine-generated and fallible; weigh them against the Word.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)