Moses asks rather than assuming to ensure the spies gather specific intelligence about Canaanite defensive capabilities, which would directly inform Israel’s military strategy and test their faith in God’s promise to deliver fortified cities into their hands.

The spies reported that the cities were large and fortified, noting specifically that they saw the descendants of Anak there (Numbers 13:28), which intensified the perceived threat and contributed to the majority’s fearful assessment.

Moses’s question seeks concrete intelligence about urban defensive structures in Canaan, distinguishing between temporary encampments and permanent fortifications. The Hebrew word mibtsar denotes cities with substantial walls, towers, and defensive architecture designed to withstand military assault. By framing this as a question rather than a command to make subjective judgments, Moses ensures the spies provide observable facts about what they see. This inquiry carried profound theological weight because God had explicitly promised to deliver fortified Canaanite cities into Israel’s hands (Deuteronomy 1:21), making the assessment a test of whether the spies would trust God’s power over human military analysis. The fortifications they discovered became the stumbling block for ten spies who calculated victory by human standards, while Joshua and Caleb understood that walls mean nothing when God fights for His people.