Deuteronomy 1:28

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Where are we going up? our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and moreover we have seen the sons of the `Anakim there.

King James Version
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

Lexham English Bible
Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we are, and there are great fortified cities reaching up to heaven, and we saw the sons of the Anakites living there."'

English Standard Version
Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'

New Century Version
Where can we go now? The spies we sent have made us afraid, because they said, ‘The people there are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are big, with walls up to the sky. And we saw the Anakites there!'"

New English Translation
What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there."

Amplified Bible
'Where can we go up? Our brothers (spies) have made our hearts melt [in fear] and demoralized us by saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large, and fortified [all the way up] to heaven. And besides, we saw the [giant-like] sons of the Anakim there."'

New American Standard Bible
'Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, by saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there."'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Whither shal we go vp? our brethren haue discouraged our hearts, saying, The people is greater, and taller then we: the cities are great and walled vp to heauen: and moreouer we haue seene the sonnes of the Anakims there.

Legacy Standard Bible
Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And moreover, we saw the sons of the Anakim there."'

Contemporary English Version
We are afraid, because the men who explored the land told us that the cities are large, with walls that reach to the sky. The people who live there are taller and stronger than we are, and some of them are Anakim. We have nowhere to go."

Complete Jewish Bible
What sort of place is it that we're heading for? Our brothers made our courage fail when they said, "The people are bigger and taller than we are; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and finally, we have seen ‘Anakim there."'

Darby Translation
Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, [They are] a people greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

Easy-to-Read Version
Where can we go now? The men we sent have frightened us with their report. They said, "The people there are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are big and have walls as high as the sky. And we saw giants there!"'

George Lamsa Translation
Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, tying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of giants there.

Good News Translation
Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!'

Christian Standard Bible®
Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’

Literal Translation
Where shall we go up? Our brothers have melted our hearts, saying, We have seen there a people greater and taller than we, cities great and walled up to the heavens, and also the sons of Anak.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whither shal we go vp? Oure brethren haue discoraged oure hertes, & saide: The people is greater & of hyer stature the we, ye cities are greate, & walled euen vp to heauen. Morouer we haue sene there the children of Enakim.

American Standard Version
Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

Bible in Basic English
Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts feeble with fear by saying, The people are greater and taller than we are, and the towns are great and walled up to heaven; and more than this, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Whyther shal we go vp? Our brethren haue discouraged our heart, saying: the people is greater and taller then we, the cities are great, and walled euen vp to heauen, and moreouer we haue seene the sonnes of the Anakims there.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying: The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.'

King James Version (1611)
Whither shall wee goe vp? our brethren haue discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller then we, the cities are great, and walled vp to heauen, and moreouer we haue seene the sonnes of the Anakims there.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Whither do we go up? and your brethren drew away your heart, saying, It is a great nation and populous, and mightier than we; and there are cities great and walled up to heaven: moreover we saw there the sons of the giants.

English Revised Version
Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fenced up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

Berean Standard Bible
Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: 'The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.'"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whidur schulen we stie? the messangeris maden aferd oure herte, and seiden, A grettiste multitude is, and largere in stature than we; the citees ben greete, and wallid `til to the heuene; we sien there the sones of Enachym, that is, giauntis.

Young's Literal Translation
whither are we going up? our brethren have melted our heart, saying, A people greater and taller than we, cities great and fenced to heaven, and also sons of Anakim -- we have seen there.

Update Bible Version
Where are we going up? our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and more numerous than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

Webster's Bible Translation
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people [are] greater and taller than we; the cities [are] great and walled up to heaven; and moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

World English Bible
Where are we going up? our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

New King James Version
Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'

New Living Translation
Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, "The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!"'

New Life Bible
Where would we be going? Our brothers have made our hearts weak with fear, saying, ‘The people are bigger and taller than we. The cities are large, with walls as high as the heavens. And we have even seen the sons of the Anakim there.'"

New Revised Standard
Where are we headed? Our kindred have made our hearts melt by reporting, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven! We actually saw there the offspring of the Anakim!'"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Whither, are, we, to go up? Our own brethren, have made our heart melt saying - A people greater and taller than we, cities large and walled-up into the heavens, - yea, moreover sons of Anakim, have we seen there.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Whither shall we go up? the messengers have terrified our hearts, saying: The multitude is very great, and taller than we: the cities are great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of the Enacims there.

Revised Standard Version
Whither are we going up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there."'

Contextual Overview

¹⁹Then we set out from Horeb and headed for the Amorite hill country, going through that huge and frightening wilderness that you've had more than an eyeful of by now—all under the command of God , our God—and finally arrived at Kadesh Barnea. There I told you, "You've made it to the Amorite hill country that God , our God, is giving us. Look, God , your God, has placed this land as a gift before you. Go ahead and take it now. God , the God-of-Your-Fathers, promised it to you. Don't be afraid. Don't lose heart." ²² But then you all came to me and said, "Let's send some men on ahead to scout out the land for us and bring back a report on the best route to take and the kinds of towns we can expect to find." ²³That seemed like a good idea to me, so I picked twelve men, one from each tribe. They set out, climbing through the hills. They came to the Eshcol Valley and looked it over. They took samples of the produce of the land and brought them back to us, saying, "It's a good land that God , our God, is giving us!" ²⁶But then you weren't willing to go up. You rebelled against God , your God's plain word. You complained in your tents: " God hates us. He hauled us out of Egypt in order to dump us among the Amorites—a death sentence for sure! How can we go up? We're trapped in a dead end. Our brothers took all the wind out of our sails, telling us, ‘The people are bigger and stronger than we are; their cities are huge, their defenses massive—we even saw Anakite giants there!'" ²⁹I tried to relieve your fears: "Don't be terrified of them. God , your God, is leading the way; he's fighting for you. You saw with your own eyes what he did for you in Egypt; you saw what he did in the wilderness, how God , your God, carried you as a father carries his child, carried you the whole way until you arrived here. But now that you're here, you won't trust God , your God—this same God who goes ahead of you in your travels to scout out a place to pitch camp, a fire by night and a cloud by day to show you the way to go." ³⁴When God heard what you said, he exploded in anger. He swore, "Not a single person of this evil generation is going to get so much as a look at the good land that I promised to give to your parents. Not one—except for Caleb son of Jephunneh. He'll see it. I'll give him and his descendants the land he walked on because he was all for following God , heart and soul." ³⁷But I also got it. Because of you God 's anger spilled over onto me. He said, "You aren't getting in either. Your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will go in. Build up his courage. He's the one who will claim the inheritance for Israel. And your babies of whom you said, ‘They'll be grabbed for plunder,' and all these little kids who right now don't even know right from wrong—they'll get in. I'll give it to them. Yes, they'll be the new owners. But not you. Turn around and head back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea." ⁴¹ You spoke up, "We've sinned against God . We'll go up and fight, following all the orders that God , our God, has commanded." You took your weapons and dressed for battle—you thought it would be so easy going into those hills! ⁴² But God told me, "Tell them, ‘Don't do it; don't go up to fight—I'm not with you in this. Your enemies will waste you.'" ⁴³I told you but you wouldn't listen. You rebelled at the plain word of God . You threw out your chests and strutted into the hills. And those Amorites, who had lived in those hills all their lives, swarmed all over you like a hive of bees, chasing you from Seir all the way to Hormah, a stinging defeat. You came back and wept in the presence of God , but he didn't pay a bit of attention to you; God didn't give you the time of day. You stayed there in Kadesh a long time, about as long as you had stayed there earlier.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

discouraged: Heb. melted, Deuteronomy 20:8, *marg. Exodus 15:15, Joshua 2:9, Joshua 2:11, Joshua 2:24, *marg. Joshua 14:8, Isaiah 13:7, Ezekiel 21:7

The people: Deuteronomy 9:1, Deuteronomy 9:2, Numbers 13:28-33

walled: That is, with very high walls, which could not be easily scaled. Harmer says, high walls are still to be seen in Arabia, and are deemed a sufficient defence against the Arabs, who scarcely ever attempt to plunder except on horseback. The monastery on Mount Sinai, and the convent of St. Anthony in Egypt, are surrounded with a very high wall, without gates; the persons and things being taken up and let down through an opening in the upper part, by means of a pulley and a basket. This kind of walling is a sufficient defence.

we have seen: Deuteronomy 9:2, Joshua 11:22, Joshua 15:14, Judges 1:10, Judges 1:20, 2 Samuel 21:16-22

Reciprocal: Genesis 11:4 - whose Numbers 13:31 - General Numbers 13:32 - brought Numbers 13:33 - saw the giants Numbers 32:7 - wherefore Deuteronomy 2:11 - as the Anakims Deuteronomy 2:21 - great Deuteronomy 3:5 - General Deuteronomy 20:20 - thou shalt build Joshua 11:21 - the Anakims 2 Samuel 17:10 - utterly melt Amos 2:9 - whose Luke 10:15 - which John 21:25 - that even

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

Genesis 1:3
God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning— Day One.

Genesis 9:1
God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature—birds, animals, fish—will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You're responsible for them. All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else. Except for meat with its lifeblood still in it—don't eat that.

Genesis 17:20
"And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll also bless him; I'll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He'll father twelve princes; I'll make him a great nation. But I'll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year."

Genesis 33:5
Then Esau looked around and saw the women and children: "And who are these with you?" Jacob said, "The children that God saw fit to bless me with."

Job 42:12
God blessed Job's later life even more than his earlier life. He ended up with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand teams of oxen, and one thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first daughter Dove, the second, Cinnamon, and the third, Darkeyes. There was not a woman in that country as beautiful as Job's daughters. Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance.

Psalms 69:34
You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth; Also ocean and all things that swim in it.

Isaiah 45:18
God , Creator of the heavens— he is, remember, G od. Maker of earth— he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch. He didn't go to all that trouble to just leave it empty, nothing in it. He made it to be lived in. This God says: "I am God , the one and only. I don't just talk to myself or mumble under my breath. I never told Jacob, ‘Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.' I am God . I work out in the open, saying what's right, setting things right. So gather around, come on in, all you refugees and castoffs. They don't seem to know much, do they— those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood, praying for help to a dead stick? So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence. Put your heads together. Make your case. Who told you, and a long time ago, what's going on here? Who made sense of things for you? Wasn't I the one? God ? It had to be me. I'm the only God there is— The only God who does things right and knows how to help. So turn to me and be helped—saved!— everyone, whoever and wherever you are. I am God , the only God there is, the one and only. I promise in my own name: Every word out of my mouth does what it says. I never take back what I say. Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me. Everyone is going to end up saying of me, ‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God !'" All who have raged against him will be brought before him, disgraced by their unbelief. And all who are connected with Israel will have a robust, praising, good life in God !

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Whither shall we go up?.... What way can we go up into the land? where is there any access for us? the mountain we are come to, and directed to go up, is possessed by the Amorites, a strong and mighty people, who keep and guard the passes, that there is no entrance:

our brethren have discouraged our hearts; ten of the spies; for Joshua and Caleb encouraged them with very powerful arguments, which had they listened to, it would have been well for them:

saying, the people is greater and taller than we; more in number, larger in bulk of body, and higher in stature:

the cities are great, and walled up to heaven; an hyperbolical expression; their fears exaggerated the account of the spies; they told them they were great, large, and populous, walled, and strongly fortified; which appeared in their frightened imaginations as if their walls were so high as to reach up to heaven, so that it was impossible to scale them, or get possession of them:

and, moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakims there; the giants so called from Anak, the son of Arba, the father of them; their names are given, Numbers 13:22.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 1:28. Cities - walled up to heaven — That is, with very high walls which could not be easily scaled. High walls around houses, c., in these parts of Arabia are still deemed a sufficient defence against the Arabs, who scarcely ever attempt any thing in the way of plunder but on horseback. The monastery on Mount Sinai is surrounded with very high walls without any gate in the upper part of the wall there is a sort of window, or opening, from which a basket is suspended by a pulley, by which both persons and goods are received into and sent from the place. It is the same with the convent of St. Anthony, in Egypt; and this sort of wall is deemed a sufficient defence against the Arabs, who, as we have already observed, scarcely ever like to alight from their horses.