Shaphat, son of Hori, was the representative from the tribe of Simeon among the twelve spies that Moses sent to explore the land of Canaan. He is best known for his role in the spying mission described in Numbers. The name Shaphat means 'he has judged' and also appears as the name of several other biblical figures, including the father of the prophet Elisha.
2"Send men to scout out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each of them a leader among his people."
20Is the soil rich or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Be bold, and bring back some of the fruit of the land." It was the season of the first ripe grapes.
22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes, and two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.
Upon their return, the majority of the scouts, likely including Shaphat, gave a negative report that the land could not be conquered, even though it flowed with milk and honey. Only Joshua and Caleb spoke against this view.
26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. There they gave their report to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
29The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan."
32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had scouted: "The land we traveled through to explore it devours those who live in it, and all the people we saw there are of enormous size.
33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim. In our own eyes we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
Because of the negative report and lack of faith, the ten scouts who spread fear among the people, including Shaphat, were struck by a plague and died in the Lord's presence.