(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) שְׁלַח־לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֙רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָד֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד לְמַטֵּ֤ה אֲבֹתָיו֙ תִּשְׁלָ֔חוּ כֹּ֖ל נָשִׂ֥יא בָהֶֽם׃
(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Send for yourself emissaries to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one representative from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them.”
These men are referred to here as scouts; the rabbis refer to them as spies. What is the difference between a scout and a spy?
(ב) שלח לך. לְדַעְתְּךָ, אֲנִי אֵינִי מְצַוֶּה לָךְ, אִם תִּרְצֶה שְׁלַח; לְפִי שֶׁבָּאוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמְרוּ נִשְׁלְחָה אֲנָשִׁים לְפָנֵינוּ , כְּמָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "וַתִּקְרְבוּן אֵלַי כֻּלְּכֶם וְגוֹ'" (דברים א'), וּמֹשֶׁה נִמְלַךְ בִּשְׁכִינָה, אָמַר, אָמַרְתִּי לָהֶם שֶׁהִיא טוֹבָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "אַעֲלֶה אֶתְכֶם מֵעֳנִי מִצְרַיִם וְגוֹ'" (שמות ג'), חַיֵּיהֶם שֶׁאֲנִי נוֹתֵן לָהֶם מָקוֹם לִטְעוֹת בְּדִבְרֵי מְרַגְּלִים, לְמַעַן לֹא יִירָשׁוּהָ (תנחומא):
2) שלח לך SEND THEE (more lit., for thyself) — i.e. according to your own judgement: I do not command you, but if you wish to do so send them. — God said this because the Israelites came to Moses and said. “We will send men before us etc.”, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 1:22): “And you approached me, all of you, [saying, We will send men, etc.]”, and Moses took counsel with the Shechinah (the Lord), whereupon He said to them, I have told them long ago that it (the land) is good, as it is said, (Exodus 3:17): “I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt … [unto a land flowing with milk and honey]”. By their lives! I swear that I will give them now an opportunity to fall into error through the statements of the spies, so that they should not come into possession of it (the land) (Sotah 34b; cf. also Rashi on Sotah 34b:8 מדעתך and Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 5).
What is Rashi playing with here? Why does God let Moses send scouts?
משה קבל מהם למלאות תאוותם ויהיה טעם וייטב בעיני הדבר (דברים א כג) שסבלתי רעתכם והוריתי לעשותו והשם צוהו שישלח איש אחד איש אחד למטה אבותיו וגו' כענין שנאמר בשמואל (שמואל א ח ז) שמע בקול העם לכל אשר יאמרו אליך כי לא אותך מאסו כי אותי מאסו ממלוך עליהם והנה האנשים האלה לא נקבו בשמות על פי השם כאשר היה בפקודים (לעיל א ה-טו) ובחלוק הארץ (להלן לד יט-כח) כי מצות ה' לא תבא בה תקלה לעושיה ושומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע רק הוא יתברך צוה למשה איש אחד למטה אבותיו תשלחו וגו' ושיהיו נשיאים ומשה מדעתו בירר את אלה ושלחם והם גמלו לנפשם רעה
Moses acquiesced to them to satisfy their desire, and when he said "I approved of the plan" (Deut. 1:23) what he means is, "I put up with this bad idea and instructed that it should be done. Here in our passage, God's telling him to "send scouts" is akin to what what God stated in Samuel (1 Sam. 8:7): "Listen to the People to all that they say to you; for it is not you that they have rejected, but it is Me that they have rejected from reigning over them." Notice that these men were not specified by names according to the Word of God as they were in chapters 1 or 34; for with the commandment of God – no mishap may befall its followers, and "the keeper of a commandment shall know no evil outcome" (Ecclesiastes 8:5); but God merely commanded Moses that the scouts should be made up of one of the leaders of each tribe. It was Moses who selected and sent them; they brought the disaster on themselves.
What is the problem Ramban is trying to address here?
Davar Acher. A literal translation of the first three words of verse 2 read, "Send for yourself men." Kli Yakar (1602, Rabbi Efraim Shlomo of Lunshitz, Poland) claims that while the Israelite men of the wilderness generation hated the land of Israel, the Israelite women loved it. His proof is based on the argument that the demand of the discontented Israelites later in this parasha, "Let us head back to Egypt" (14:4) represents the feelings of the men, while "Give us a holding among our father's kinsmen!" (27:4)-- although formally attributed to the daughters of Zelophchad-- actually represents the feelings of all the women. Kli Yakar claims that if God had chosen the scouts, God would have selected female scouts who loved the land, in order to ensure a positive report. Instead, when Moses was given permission to choose the scouts ("for yourself"), he made the tactical error of choosing men instead.