place
Eshcol Valley
אֶשְׁכֹּל+H5158H
The Eshcol Valley, where the Israelite spies cut down a large cluster of grapes during their reconnaissance mission in Canaan.
- verses
- 4
- first named
- Numbers 13:23
- last named
- Deuteronomy 1:24
- feature
- valley
- coordinates
- 31.56°N · 35.09°E
Burj el Haska (OpenBible)
Scholarship offers 2 identifications for this place. The leading one is shown; the others are recorded in the gazetteer.
Description
Eshcol Valley in the text
The Eshcol Valley is mentioned in the Book of Numbers as the location where the twelve Israelite spies, sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan, obtained a large cluster of grapes (Numbers 13:23-24). The valley was named after Eshcol, an Amorite who was an ally of Abraham (Genesis 14:13, 24).
During the reconnaissance mission, the spies came to the Eshcol Valley and cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it had to be carried on a pole between two men. They also gathered pomegranates and figs from the area (Numbers 13:23). The bountiful produce of the valley was used as evidence of the land's fertility when the spies reported back to Moses and the Israelites (Numbers 13:27).
However, despite the Eshcol Valley's fruitfulness, the spies' report also emphasized the strength of the Canaanite inhabitants and their fortified cities, which led to fear and rebellion among the Israelites (Numbers 13:28-33; 14:1-4). As a result, God condemned the unbelieving generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Numbers 14:26-35).
The Eshcol Valley is also mentioned in Deu.1.24, recounting the spies' journey, and in Numbers 32:9, where it is referred to as a symbol of the Promised Land's abundance. Its exact location is uncertain, but it was likely situated in the hill country of Judah, near Hebron.
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
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Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 4, across 2 books.
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Where they appear
What happened here
Atlas's reading of each chapter this place appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
Sources