(כז) וַיְסַפְּרוּ־לוֹ֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ בָּ֕אנוּ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר שְׁלַחְתָּ֑נוּ וְ֠גַ֠ם זָבַ֨ת חָלָ֥ב וּדְבַ֛שׁ הִ֖וא וְזֶה־פִּרְיָֽהּ׃ (כח) אֶ֚פֶס כִּֽי־עַ֣ז הָעָ֔ם הַיֹּשֵׁ֖ב בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְהֶֽעָרִ֗ים בְּצֻר֤וֹת גְּדֹלֹת֙ מְאֹ֔ד וְגַם־יְלִדֵ֥י הָֽעֲנָ֖ק רָאִ֥ינוּ שָֽׁם׃ (כט) עֲמָלֵ֥ק יוֹשֵׁ֖ב בְּאֶ֣רֶץ הַנֶּ֑גֶב וְ֠הַֽחִתִּ֠י וְהַיְבוּסִ֤י וְהָֽאֱמֹרִי֙ יוֹשֵׁ֣ב בָּהָ֔ר וְהַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙ יוֹשֵׁ֣ב עַל־הַיָּ֔ם וְעַ֖ל יַ֥ד הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃ (ל) וַיַּ֧הַס כָּלֵ֛ב אֶת־הָעָ֖ם אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר עָלֹ֤ה נַעֲלֶה֙ וְיָרַ֣שְׁנוּ אֹתָ֔הּ כִּֽי־יָכ֥וֹל נוּכַ֖ל לָֽהּ׃
(27) This is what they told him: “We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. (28) However, the people who inhabit the country are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the Anakites there. (29) Amalekites dwell in the Negeb region; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites inhabit the hill country; and Canaanites dwell by the Sea and along the Jordan.” (30) Caleb hushed the people before Moses and said, “Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.”
This moment leads to heartbreak for Bnei Yisrael, and a terrible punishment.
(כב) כִּ֣י כׇל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים הָרֹאִ֤ים אֶת־כְּבֹדִי֙ וְאֶת־אֹ֣תֹתַ֔י אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂ֥יתִי בְמִצְרַ֖יִם וּבַמִּדְבָּ֑ר וַיְנַסּ֣וּ אֹתִ֗י זֶ֚ה עֶ֣שֶׂר פְּעָמִ֔ים וְלֹ֥א שָׁמְע֖וּ בְּקוֹלִֽי׃ (כג) אִם־יִרְאוּ֙ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖עְתִּי לַאֲבֹתָ֑ם וְכׇל־מְנַאֲצַ֖י לֹ֥א יִרְאֽוּהָ׃
(22) none of those involved—who have seen My Presence and the signs that I have performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who have tried Me these many times and have disobeyed Me— (23) shall see the land that I promised on oath to their fathers; none of those who spurn Me shall see it.
אם יראו וגו' וכל מנאצי וגו'. צריך לדעת למה הוצדך לפרש המנאצים מנין יעלה על הדעת שלא יהיו בכלל הגזירה שהוצרך לפרטם. ואפשר כי לפי שה׳ אמר וינסו אותי זה עשר פעמים שזה יגיד כי כל שלא ניסה עשר פעמים והם אותם שיצאו ממצרים פחות מכ' אינם בכלל הגזירה, לזה הוציא המנאצים מהכלל שהגם שיהיה בהם שלא ניסו עשר פעמים נחתמו בגזירה זו, ומנאציו הם המרגלים או אותם שהיו זורקין אבנים בענן ה׳ כדברי רז"ל (סוטה לה.):
אם יראו…וכל מנאצי, "Surely they shall not see….any of those who have spurned Me." Why did G'd have to especially mention the people who had spurned Him? Who would have dreamt that those people would be exempt from this retribution? Perhaps they had to be mentioned seeing that G'd had spoken of a people who had tested Him already on ten different occasions. We might have thought that all those who had not been guilty ten times, such as the people who had not yet been 20 years of age at the Exodus, would have been exempt from this oath that they would die in the desert. G'd therefore made it clear that even these young people were included as they had spurned G'd on this occasion. The people described here as having spurned G'd are the ten spies as well as the people who had thrown stones at the cloud behind which Joshua and Caleb had taken cover (compare Sotah 35).
גם נתכוין הכתוב לרשום פרט חדש במרגלים שלא יהיו ראויים לארץ פירוש שלא יטלו חלק בה, וכמו שאמרו במסכת בבא בתרא דף קי"ז שבניהם של מרגלים לא נטלו חלק המרגלים בארץ אלא חלק אבי אביהם עד כאן. מה שאין כן כל הדור ההוא שנטלו חלקם בניהם, ופירוש יראוה פירוש שלא יהיו ראויים לה, ולזה גמר אומר ועבדי כלב וגו' וזרעו יורישנה, וידיעת ההפכים מושכלת מהנאמר:
Our verse may also have introduced a new dimension of punishment of the spies. Seeing they were not worthy of the land, they had forfeited their share in it. This is why we are told in Baba Batra 117 that the descendants of the spies did not take part in the distribution of the land under Joshua. They received shares based only on the size of the families of their grandfathers. The remainder of the generation who were now slated to die in the desert received their share of the Holy Land based on their present family status, i.e. how many male children they had. The verse ends with the promise that "My servant Caleb as well as his descendants will inherit their shares in the land."
וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ״. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַי: מַקֵּישׁ הֲלִיכָה לְבִיאָה, מָה בִּיאָה — בְּעֵצָה רָעָה, אַף הֲלִיכָה — בְּעֵצָה רָעָה. ״וַיְסַפְּרוּ לוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ בָּאנוּ וְגוֹ׳״, וּכְתִיב: ״אֶפֶס כִּי עַז הָעָם״, אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן (סִימָן אֱמֶת לְבַדּוֹ לְוִיָּה) מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי מֵאִיר: כָּל לָשׁוֹן הָרַע שֶׁאֵין בּוֹ דְּבַר אֱמֶת בִּתְחִילָּתוֹ — אֵין מִתְקַיֵּים בְּסוֹפוֹ. ״וַיַּהַס כָּלֵב אֶת הָעָם אֶל מֹשֶׁה״, אָמַר רַבָּה: שֶׁהִסִּיתָן בִּדְבָרִים. פָּתַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, דְּקָא מִשְׁתַּעֵי אָמְרִי לֵיהּ: דֵּין רֵאשׁ קְטִיעָה יְמַלֵּל? אָמַר: אִי מִשְׁתַּעֵינָא — אָמְרִי בִּי מִילְּתָא וְחָסְמִין לִי. אָמַר לָהֶן: וְכִי זוֹ בִּלְבַד עָשָׂה לָנוּ בֶּן עַמְרָם? סָבְרִי בִּגְנוּתֵיהּ קָא מִשְׁתַּעֵי, אִישְׁתִּיקוּ. אֲמַר לְהוּ: הוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם, וְקָרַע לָנוּ אֶת הַיָּם, וְהֶאֱכִילָנוּ אֶת הַמָּן. אִם יֹאמַר ״עֲשׂוּ סוּלָּמוֹת וַעֲלוּ לָרָקִיעַ״ לֹא נִשְׁמַע לוֹ? ״עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה וְיָרַשְׁנוּ אֹתָהּ וְגוֹ׳״. ״וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר עָלוּ עִמּוֹ אָמְרוּ לֹא נוּכַל וְגוֹ׳״. אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בַּר פָּפָּא: דָּבָר גָּדוֹל דִּבְּרוּ מְרַגְּלִים בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה. ״כִּי חָזָק הוּא מִמֶּנּוּ״, אַל תִּקְרֵי ״מִמֶּנּוּ״, אֶלָּא ״מִמֵּנוֹ״ — כִּבְיָכוֹל אֲפִילּוּ בַּעַל הַבַּיִת אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיא כֵּלָיו מִשָּׁם.
And they went and they came” (Numbers 13:25–26). Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: This verse likens their going to their coming. Just as their coming back was with wicked counsel, so too, their going to Eretz Yisrael was with wicked counsel. The Torah states: “And they told him, and said: We came to the land to which you sent us, and it also flows with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27), and then it is written: “However the people that dwell in the land are fierce” (Numbers 13:28). Why did the spies praise the land and then slander it? Rabbi Yoḥanan says three statements in the name of Rabbi Meir, represented by the mnemonic device: Truth, alone, borrowing. The first statement answers this question: Any slander that does not begin with a truthful statement ultimately does not stand, i.e., it is not accepted by others. The verse states: “And Caleb stilled [vayyahas] the people toward Moses” (Numbers 13:30). Rabba says: This means that he persuaded them [hesitan] with his words. Vayyahas and hesitan share the same root in Hebrew. How did he do so? Joshua began to address the people, and as he was speaking they said to him: Should this person, who has a severed head, as he has no children, speak to the people about entering Eretz Yisrael? Caleb said to himself: If I speak they will also say something about me and stop me from speaking. He began to speak and said to them: And is this the only thing that the son of Amram, Moses, has done to us? They thought that he wanted to relate something to the discredit of Moses, and they were silent. He then said to them: He took us out of Egypt, and split the sea for us, and fed us the manna. If he says to us: Build ladders and climb to the heavens, should we not listen to him? “We should go up at once,” even to the heavens, “and possess it” (Numbers 13:30). The verses continue: “But the men that went up with him said: We are not able to go up against the people; as they are stronger than us” (Numbers 13:31). Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa says: The spies said a serious statement at that moment. When they said: “They are stronger,” do not read the phrase as: Stronger than us [mimmennu], but rather read it as: Stronger than Him [mimmennu], meaning that even the Homeowner, God, is unable to remove His belongings from there, as it were. The spies were speaking heresy and claiming that the Canaanites were stronger than God Himself.
- What does Or HaChayim add to our understanding of the nuance of this punishment? What is his concern?
נִמְצָא הָאוֹמֵר בְּפִיו יָתֵר מִן הָעוֹשֶׂה מַעֲשֶׂה. שֶׁכֵּן מָצִינוּ, שֶׁלֹּא נֶחְתַּם גְּזַר דִּין עַל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בַמִּדְבָּר אֶלָּא עַל לָשׁוֹן הָרַע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר יד), וַיְנַסּוּ אֹתִי זֶה עֶשֶׂר פְּעָמִים וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ בְּקוֹלִי:
Based on the relative scope of the fines, with the defamer paying twice the sum of the rapist and the seducer, it is apparent that one who utters malicious speech with his mouth is a more severe transgressor than one who performs an action. And this is corroborated, as we found that the sentence imposed on our ancestors in the wilderness was sealed only due to the malicious speech disseminated by the spies, as it is stated at that time: “All those men that have seen My glory, and My signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet they have tried Me these ten times and have not listened to My voice” (Numbers 14:22).
תַּנְיָא, אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן פַּרְטָא: בּוֹא וּרְאֵה כַּמָּה גָּדוֹל כֹּחַ שֶׁל לָשׁוֹן הָרָע, מְנָלַן? מִמְּרַגְּלִים; וּמָה הַמּוֹצִיא שֵׁם רַע עַל עֵצִים וַאֲבָנִים כָּךְ, הַמּוֹצִיא שֵׁם רַע עַל חֲבֵירוֹ עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה!
It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Elazar ben Perata says: Come and see how great the power of malicious speech is. From where do we derive this? From the punishment received by the spies. And if one who defames the wood and rocks of Eretz Yisrael received such a severe punishment, then with regard to one who defames another person, all the more so will he be punished severely.
- What’s the problem with saying bad things about trees and rocks?
- How are we supposed to talk about experiences where we visit somewhere and it wasn’t what we hoped it would be like? Why?
- What was uniquely terrible about the sin of the spies/scouts?