Spies: The 12 men sent to scout of Canaan

Who were the 12 spies who went into Canaan and reported back to Moses, in Numbers chp 13? [1]
Moses was instructed by the Lord to send 12 men into the land of Canaan, to explore it, and bring back a report. Each of the men selected to spy out the land was a leader of his tribe – the 12 groups that formed the Hebrew nation, named after the 12 sons of Jacob/Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph & Benjamin. The only slight complication to this arrangement is that Joseph is represented by his 2 sons: Ephraim & Manasseh.

In the picture above you can see the 12 leaders identified, surrounded by the tribal banners that I used to determine the colour of each of their robes.

I have already designed the tribal banners of these 12 sons of Jacob. The costume of each of the 12 spies is based on the colours I used for these tribal banners.

I created each sons costume & therefore each tribal banner, by referring to Jacob’s prophetic words, which are recorded in Genesis chapter 49. In that text, Jacob blesses his sons, & the text describes each son. From this text I have designed each son’s clothing, & also the tribal banner that bears that son’s name. If you scroll down below the picture you will find a description of each son’s clothing colours & the tribal banner design & colours.

The tribal banners of the Hebrew nation.

[1]
Numbers 13:1-20 (ANIV)
Exploring Canaan
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
4 These are their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified?
20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

Links to other articles:

Follow this link to read the BC Encyclopaedia article describing the tribal banners of the 12 sons of Jacob:
Jacob’s sons & their tribal banners