John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 13:3
And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord ,.... By his power, permission, and leave, as Jarchi, that there might be no delay through his means: sent them from the wilderness of Paran ; from Rithmah or Kadeshbarnea, which seem to be one and the same place in that wilderness: this, as before observed, was on the twenty ninth day of Sivan: See Gill on Numbers 13:1 , all those were heads of the children of Israel ; were not mean and vulgar men, but persons of rule, who bore some... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 13:1-20
Here we have, I. Orders given to send spies to search out the land of Canaan. It is here said, God directed Moses to send them (Num. 13:1; 2), but it appears by the repetition of the story afterwards (Deut. 1:22) that the motion came originally from the people; they came to Moses, and said, We will send men before us; and it was the fruit of their unbelief. They would not take God's word that it was a good land, and that he would, without fail, put them in possession of it. They could not... read more