Who's Got The Power?: Free Will and the 12 Spies

(1) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (2) ’Send thou men [alternate translation: send for yourself], that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them.’ (3) And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD; all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. (4) And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. (5) Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. (6) Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. (7) Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. (8) Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. (9) Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. (10) Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. (11) Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. (12) Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. (13) Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. (14) Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. (15) Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. (16) These are the names of the men that Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. (17) And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them: ‘Get you up here into the South, and go up into the mountains; (18) and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; (19) and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; (20) and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.’—Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.— (21) So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, at the entrance to Hamath. (22) And they went up into the South, and came unto Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there.—Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.— (23) And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it upon a pole between two; they took also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.— (24) That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from thence.— (25) And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. (26) And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. (27) And they told him, and said: ‘We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. (28) Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. (29) Amalek dwelleth in the land of the South; and the Hittite, and (30) And Caleb stilled the people toward Moses, and said: ‘We should go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.’ (31) But the men that went up with him said: ‘We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.’ (32) And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. (33) And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.’

(1) And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. (2) And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them: ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would we had died in this wilderness! (3) And wherefore doth the LORD bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey; were it not better for us to return into Egypt?’ (4) And they said one to another: ‘Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.’ (5) Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. (6) And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes. (7) And they spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. (8) If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it unto us—a land which floweth with milk and honey. (9) Only rebel not against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defence is removed from over them, and the LORD is with us; fear them not.’ (10) But all the congregation bade stone them with stones, when the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel. (11) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘How long will this people despise Me? and how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? (12) I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.’ (13) And Moses said unto the LORD: ‘When the Egyptians shall hear—for Thou broughtest up this people in Thy might from among them— (14) they will say to the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that Thou LORD art in the midst of this people; inasmuch as Thou LORD art seen face to face, and Thy cloud standeth over them, and Thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night; (15) now if Thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of Thee will speak, saying: (16) Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore unto them, therefore He hath slain them in the wilderness. (17) And now, I pray Thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken, saying: (18) The LORD is slow to anger, and plenteous in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation. (19) Pardon, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy lovingkindness, and according as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.’ (20) And the LORD said: ‘I have pardoned according to thy word’ (21) But in very deed, as I live—and all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— (22) surely all those men that have seen My glory, and My signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to proof these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice; (23) surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised Me see it. (24) But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. (25) Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the Vale; tomorrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’ (26) And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: (27) ’How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that keep murmuring against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they keep murmuring against Me. (28) Say unto them: As I live, saith the LORD, surely as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you: (29) your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, ye that have murmured against Me; (30) surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. (31) But your little ones, that ye said would be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected. (32) But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. (33) And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your strayings, until your carcasses be consumed in the wilderness. (34) After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My displeasure. (35) I the LORD have spoken, surely this will I do unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against Me; in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ (36) And the men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who, when they returned, made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land, (37) even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before the LORD. (38) But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men that went to spy out the land. (39) And Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel; and the people mourned greatly. (40) And they rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying: ‘Lo, we are here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised; for we have sinned.’ (41) And Moses said: ‘Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD, seeing it shall not prosper? (42) Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten down before your enemies. (43) For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; forasmuch as ye are turned back from following the LORD, and the LORD will not be with you.’ (44) But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain; nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. (45) Then the Amalekite and the Canaanite, who dwelt in that hill-country, came down, and smote them and beat them down, even unto Hormah.

And R'Chanina said everything is in the hands of heaven except for the fear of heaven. As it states "And now Israel, what does Hashem, your God, ask of you, but merely to fear [Hashem, your God]? (Devarim 10:12) Is fear of Heaven then a small matter? Why R'Chanina said in the name of RShimon ben Yochai the Holy One Blessed Be He, has nothing in his treasure other than a store of fear of Heaven, as it states "the fear of Hashem is His treasure." (Isaiah 33:6) Yes! For MOses it was a small matter. For R'Chanina said it is analogous to a person from whom a large utensil was demanded and he had it. [Whereas if] a small utensil was demanded from someone who does not have it, it appears to him like a large utensil.

Bamidbar 13:1 states "shlach l'cha" Reish Lakish said: "Send forth yourself by your discretion, not by my command." Would this person [ie Moses] be choosing an evil portion for himself. And this is the meaning that which is written "And the matter was good in my eyes" (Devarim 1:23), in my eyes but it was not good in the eyes of God. "And they will spy out for us the land" (Devarim 1:22)

The verse states: "And they ascended in the south and he arrived in Hebron." (Bamidbar 13:22) It should say and they arrived." Rava said it teaches that Caleb disassociated from the designs of the spies and went alone and prostrated himself at the graves of the Patriarchs. He said to them: My fathers, ask for mercy upon me that I may be saved from the designs of the spies.

Bamidbar 14:10 states "The entire assembly said to pelt them with stones when the glory of God appeared in the Tent of Meeting." R'Chiya bar Abba said this teaches that they took stones and threw them above [at God].

Bamidbar 14:37 states "And the men died, those who spoke evil slander against the land, with the plague." R'Shimon ben Lakish said they died a distinctive death. R'Chanina bar Papa said and R'Shila of Kefar Temarta expounded this teaches that their tounges became elongated and hung down until their navels and maggots came out of their tongues and entered their navals and their navals entered their tongues. But Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said they died of askara. [An inflammation of the throat that begins in the digestive track and usually causes to blocked breathing.]

At fifty years that is a death of karet*. Fifty-two years is the death of Samuel the Ramathite. Sixty years, that is death at the hands of Heaven. Mar Zutra said what is the verse? For it is written, "you will go to the grave at a mature age" (Job 5:26) [The word] vechelach has the gemtriya [numerical value] of sixty. [Death at] seventy is old age, [death at] eight is strength. For it is written, " the days of our years among them are seventy and if with strength, eighty." (Tehilim 90:10)