Spies return from Canaan

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The following is a stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century:

Source: Der gläserne Schatz: Die Bilderbibel der St. Marienkirche in Frankfurt (Oder), Neuer Berlin Verlag, 2005, copyright for this image: Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

See also other stained glass windows from the Marienkirche in Frankfurt.

complete verse (Numbers 13:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 13:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “See if that country they live in is good or bad, and see if the people live in cities that are closed or not closed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “How is the land [where] they live, is it good or bad? How are the cities [where] they live? — do their towns have surrounding walls or not?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) see/look if what kind of land do they live-in, if (is it) good or not. You (plur.) see/look-at their cities if (they) are-surrounded with stone-wall or not.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Find out what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Find out about the towns in which they live. Do they have walls around them or not?” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 13:19

And whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad: Apparently this clause does not refer to the quality of the soil (for that, see verse 20), but simply to the quality of the land in general, whether it was relatively “easy or difficult” (Revised English Bible) to live in.

And whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds: This rendering may not make the difference very clear between camps and strongholds. In this context the Hebrew word for camps refers to towns that open and vulnerable, while the word for strongholds refers to cities that are fortified and thus more difficult to conquer. Good News Translation makes this distinction clear by saying “and whether the people live in open towns or in fortified cities,” and so does Contemporary English Version with “and if they live in open towns or walled cities.” Alter has “… in open [that is, unwalled] settlements or in fortresses.” Canaan consisted of a variety of city-states and regional mini-kingdoms.

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 .