Assignment 7: The Spies' Journey to Self-Discovery

(21) They went up and scouted the land, from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, at Lebo-hamath.(22) They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron, where lived Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites.—Now Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan of Egypt.—(23) They reached the wadi Eshcol, and there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes—it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them—and some pomegranates and figs.(24) That place was named the wadi Eshcol because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down there.(25) At the end of forty days they returned from scouting the land.

Lot looked about him and saw how well watered was the whole plain of the Jordan, all of it—this was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—all the way to Zoar, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt.

“And they carried it upon a pole between two” (Numbers 13:23). From the fact that it is stated that they carried the cluster of grapes “on a pole” do I not know that it was carried by two people? That is the only way it can be carried on a pole. What is the meaning when the verse states: “Between two”? It means that the spies carried it on two poles, and four people carried the cluster of grapes together. From here it can be deduced that the weight of the cluster was 480 se’a.Rabbi Yitzḥak said: They were configured like upper rods of scales [turtanei] that are balanced on the lower rods of scales, i.e., there were not two but four poles. How so? Eight of the spies carried the cluster of grapes, one of them carried a pomegranate, and one carried a fig. Joshua and Caleb did not carry anything. Why did Joshua and Caleb not carry anything? If you wish, say that it is because they were more prominent than the others and it was beneath their dignity to carry such a load. And if you wish, say instead that they did not take part in the wicked counsel of the spies, as the cluster of grapes was brought by the spies to scare the people.

(14) 14 (Numb. 13:23) “Then they came to the Wadi Eshcol”: They did not want to take any of the fruits from the Land of Israel. If Caleb had not drawn his sword, gone down in front of them, and said to them, “If you do not take [some], then either you kill me or I will kill you,” they would not have taken [anything].²⁰Sot. 34a, according to which neither Joshua nor Caleb were carrying anything. It is therefore stated (to Caleb in Josh. 14:9), “Surely the land on which your foot has trod shall be a portion for you.” (Numb. 13:23) “And they bore it by pole with two”:²¹The usual rendering of these words depicts the grape cluster resting on a pole suspended between two of the spies. There were not less than two poles, since it does not say, "two on a pole," but “by pole with two.”²²I.e., by pole, using two of them. Some also say three, “By pole,” [i.e.,] one [plus] “with two” for a total of three. And how heavy a load did each and every one have in hand? Go out and learn from the stones that they took from the Jordan, as stated (in Josh. 4:20), “And Joshua set up in Gilgal those twelve stones which they took from the Jordan.” What was the size of each and every one of them? A load of forty se’ah.²³A se’ah is a measure of capacity. As a weight a se’ah usually means a se’ah of wheat. From here you can calculate that cluster of grapes. A person carries and lifts up [one] se’ah by himself. With his companion lifting [the load] up upon him, he carries two se'ah.²⁴Cf. Rashi, on Sot. 34a, according to whom each one could carry 40 se’ah on his shoulder. Now since a person plus a helper can carry three se’ah, with two men per pole there would be 120 se’ah of grapes per pole. Together with his companion he carries three [se'ah]. Ergo one calculates from here (the weight of the cluster).