And whether the land is rich or poor is literally “and whether the land is fat or it is lean.” Good News Translation says “whether the soil is fertile,” which makes it clear that this clause in Hebrew refers to the quality of the soil, not to the economical situation of the country. Instead of rich or poor, some languages will use an idiomatic expression that is similar to the one in Hebrew, for example, “fat or spare/meager.” Levine translates “rich in produce or lean.”

And whether there is wood in it or not: In this context the Hebrew word for wood refers to “forests” (NET Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). New Living Translation renders this clause as “Are there many trees?” Then, as nowadays, trees were a valuable resource.

Be of good courage, and bring some of the fruit of the land: Revised Standard Version renders the Hebrew verb for Be of good courage as a general encouragement that comes after the instructions concerning exploration of Canaan, while in Good News Translation this verb (translated “be sure”) is connected directly to the instruction to bring back some of the fruit. The latter connection seems more plausible. This Hebrew verb comes from a root meaning “to be strong,” and is often understood to mean “be bold, brave, courageous” (so Revised Standard Version). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible takes it in this sense here by rendering this sentence as “Be bold enough to take fruits of the land,” and so does Parole de Vie with “Do not be afraid to pick fruits of the land.” These versions emphasize that the spies should not fear the Canaanites when they take some of the fruit. This interpretation was already given by the Jewish medieval commentator Rashbam. However, the Hebrew verb for Be of good courage can also be understood to mean “be determined” (similarly Good News Translation), “muster strength” (Alter), or “take pains” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). This sense may fit better with verse 23, where a single cluster of grapes is so heavy that it requires two men to carry it (so Alter, page 746). Strength, perseverance, and courage would be needed to travel such a long distance in hostile territory with a visible sample of the fruit of the land.

Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes: The adverb Now in Revised Standard Version and the parentheses in Good News Translation show that this sentence gives some background information about the season in which the spies undertook their journey. Some languages will have a distinctive way of marking such information; for example, Chewa begins with “And so we can say….” The text provides this information to prepare the reader for verses 23-24. In Canaan the season of the first ripe grapes was mid-summer, toward the end of July. In this season the spies would be able to see how fertile the land was. For grapes see 6.3.

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 .