So at the command of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,
Here we have, I. Orders given to send spies to search out the land of Canaan. It is here said, God directed Moses to send them (Num 13:1, Num 13:2), but it appears by the repetition of the story afterwards (Deu 1:22) that the motion came originally from the people; they came to Moses, and said, We will send men before us; and it was the fruit of their unbelief.
Commenting on Numbers 13:1-20
And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord,.... By his power, permission, and leave, as Jarchi, that there might be no delay through his means: sent them from the wilderness of Paran; from Rithmah or Kadeshbarnea, which seem to be one and the same place in that wilderness: this, as before observed, was on the twenty ninth day of Sivan: See Gill on Num 13:1...
those men were heads of the children of Israel--Not the princes who are named (Num 10:14-16, Num 10:18-20, Num 10:22-27), but chiefs, leading men though not of the first rank.