Numbers 13:2

Summary

The verse records a command to send men to scout the land of Canaan that is being given to the Israelites, specifying that one leader from each ancestral tribe should be sent. The instruction is framed as a divine directive, with the sending itself expressed through paired imperative and imperfect verb forms.

Key words

• she.lach ("send", H7971G) — qal imperative, a direct command form addressed to a single "you," opening the verse as an order rather than a request.
• le.kha ("for yourself", H9031 + H9005) — the preposition plus pronominal suffix attached to the imperative, often called an "ethical dative," reinforcing that the addressee himself is to carry out the sending.
• ya.Tu.ru ("they may spy out", H8446) — qal imperfect with vav, linked to the preceding imperative to express the purpose or result of the sending: the men are sent so that they scout.
• no.Ten ("about to give", H5414G) — qal participle, describing an action in progress or imminent, here framing the land-giving as an ongoing/near action attributed to the speaker ("I").
• 'ish 'e.chad 'ish 'e.chad ("a man, one, a man, one", H0376G + H0259, repeated) — the doubling of "one man" functions distributively, meaning "one man for each," tied to ma.Teh 'a.vo.Tav ("tribe of his ancestors").

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the imperative she.lach ("send") combined with the reflexive-like le.kha ("for yourself"), which grammatically ties the action back to the addressee — the sending is his personal responsibility. This imperative is followed by ve.ya.Tu.ru, an imperfect verb with vav that expresses the purpose of the sending: the men are dispatched in order that they scout the land. The object of scouting, 'e.retz Ke.na.'an ("land of Canaan"), is further qualified by a relative clause introduced by 'a.sher ("which"), inside which the participle no.ten ("about to give") presents the land-giving as an action currently unfolding from the speaker's perspective, rather than a completed past event.

The second half of the verse shifts from imperative to a plural imperfect, tish.La.chu ("you all will send"), addressed now to a group rather than the single addressee of she.lach. The distributive phrase 'ish 'e.chad 'ish 'e.chad ("one man, one man") specifies that exactly one representative is to come le.ma.Teh 'a.vo.Tav ("for the tribe of his ancestors"), and the closing clause kol na.si' va.hem ("every leader among them") clarifies that each chosen man must hold the status of na.si' ("leader").

Differences between versions

The Greek (LXXSWETE) and Latin (VULCLEM) texts supplied here do not correspond to the content of the Hebrew verse given; both read "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying" / "And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying," which matches the introductory formula found in Numbers 13:1 rather than the instruction about sending scouts. This reflects a difference in versification between the traditions represented in these sources and the Hebrew verse numbered here as 13:2, rather than a difference in wording for the same content.