The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb: The Amalekites, first mentioned in Gen 14.7, were a nomadic tribe descended from Esau. They were Israel’s hereditary enemies

The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country: The Hittites are identified in Gen 10.15 as the descendants of Heth, the son of Canaan. They were a powerful non-Semitic people originally from Asia Minor who lived in the area of Canaan and to the north from 1600 to 700 B.C. It was from a Hittite that Abraham bought land and a cave for his wife Sarah’s burial (Gen 23). The Jebusites were the early inhabitants of Jerusalem. The name Jebus was both their name as a people and the early name of the site that came to be known as Jerusalem (Josh 15.8). The Amorites were a Semitic people who arrived in the area of Canaan later than the first Canaanites. The territory of the Amorites was called Amurru in Akkadian, a word that may have a basic meaning of being in the west or of being in the mountains. At one time their territory extended westward from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. Sometimes in the Old Testament the name Amorites is used to refer to the Canaanites in general, but in this text a distinction is made between the Canaanites and the Amorites (see Josh 11.3). For the hill country, see verse 17.

And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan: The Canaanites were the descendants of Canaan, one of the sons of Ham (Gen 10.6, 15-19). They were the earliest Semitic inhabitants of the territory that was known as Canaan in pre-Israelite times and that later came to be called Palestine. They were associated with the worship of the Baals, Astartes, and the fertility goddess Asherah. Even though the sea refers to “the Mediterranean Sea” (Good News Translation), in many translations it will be strange to find this name in the direct speech of the spies. Readers, just as the original hearers, do not need the exact name of the sea in this report. In some languages it will be clearer and more natural to render the Jordan as “the Jordan River” (Good News Translation).

The hostile peoples mentioned in this verse were quite well established over most of the land of Canaan, so the majority of the spies are suggesting that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for the Israelites to conquer this territory. These peoples controlled the southern wilderness (Amalekites), the central and northern hill country (Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites), and the western and eastern lowlands (Canaanites).

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .