Deu 1:28
“Whither shall we go up? Our brethren (the spies) have quite discouraged our heart” (המס, lit., to cause to flow away; cf. Jos 2:9), viz., through their report (Num 13:28-29, Num 13:31-33), the substance of which is repeated here. The expression בּשּׁמים, “in heaven,” towering up into heaven, which is added to “towns great and fortified,” is not an exaggeration, but, as Moses also uses it in Deu 9:1, a rhetorical description of the impression actually received with regard to the size of the towns.
“The sons of the Anakims:” see at Num 13:22.