Matthew Poole and continuators on Numbers 13:17

17 And Moses sent them to spie out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get ye up this way southward , and go up into the mountain :

(i. e.) Into the Southern part of Canaan, which was the nearest part, and the worst too, being dry and desert, Ios. 15. 1, 3. Iudg. 1. 15. Psal. 126. 4. and therefore fittest for them to enter and pass through with less observation.

(i. e.) Into the mountainous country, and thence into the valleys, and so take an exact survey of the whole land.