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כב וַתִּקְרְב֣וּן אֵלַי֮ כֻּלְּכֶם֒ וַתֹּאמְר֗וּ נִשְׁלְחָ֤ה אֲנָשִׁים֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ־לָ֖נוּ אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְיָשִׁ֤בוּ אֹתָ֙נוּ֙ דָּבָ֔ר אֶת־הַדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נַעֲלֶה־בָּ֔הּ וְאֵת֙ הֶֽעָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָבֹ֖א אֲלֵיהֶֽן׃

When I informed you that you would soon be entering the land, you all approached me and said: Let us send men before us, and they will spy the land for us, and they will

RASHI

ותקרבון אלי כלכם.בְּעִרְבּוּבְיָא; וּלְהַלָּן הוּא אוֹמֵר (דברים ה') "וַתִּקְרְבוּן אֵלַי כָּל רָאשֵׁי שִׁבְטֵיכֶם וְזִקְנֵיכֶם וַתֹּאמְרוּ הֵן הֶרְאָנוּ וְגוֹ'", אוֹתָהּ קְרִיבָה הָיְתָה הוֹגֶנֶת – יְלָדִים מְכַבְּדִים אֶת הַזְּקֵנִים וּשְׁלָחוּם לִפְנֵיהֶם, וּזְקֵנִים מְכַבְּדִים אֶת הָרָאשִׁים לָלֶכֶת לִפְנֵיהֶם, אֲבָל כָּאן "וַתִּקְרְבוּן אֵלַי כֻּלְּכֶם" בְּעִרְבּוּבְיָא – יְלָדִים דּוֹחֲפִין אֶת הַזְּקֵנִים, וּזְקֵנִים דּוֹחֲפִין אֶת הָרָאשִׁים (ספרי):

וישבו אתנו דבר.בְּאֵיזֶה לָשׁוֹן הֵם מְדַבְּרִים:

את הדרך אשר נעלה בה.אֵין דֶּרֶךְ שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ עַקְמִימוּת:

ואת הערים אשר נבא אליהן.תְּחִלָּה לִכְבֹּשׁ (שם):

DISCUSSION

Let us send men

This verse apparently contradicts the account in Numbers, where it is stated that God commanded Moses to send spies (Numbers 13:1–2). It is best to consider these versions as two complementary accounts. One explanation is that the nation initially approached Moses and requested to send spies. Moses accepted their proposal and added that there should be one representative for each tribe, to render it an official delegation of sorts. Finally, God instructed them on how to carry out the mission properly (Ramban, Numbers 13:2).

Notes

Appointment of Judges and Leaders

In recounting the commandment to appoint leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens along with the commandments directed toward the judges, Moses encapsulates several earlier episodes into one seamless narrative. First he describes the impetus for the appointment of the various echelons of leadership: “I spoke to you at that time, saying: I am unable to bear you alone” (1:9) and “How shall I bear alone your troubles, your burdens, and your quarrels” (1:12)? In response, God commands: “Get for you men, wise, and understanding, and known to your tribes, and I will place them at your head” (1:13). Moses then attests: “I took the heads of your tribes, men wise and known, and I placed them heads over you, leaders of thousands, and leaders of hundreds, and leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes” (1:15). Indeed we find, in the book of Numbers, in response to the breakdown of the children of Israel that began with their talk that was “evil in the ears of the Lord” (11:1), followed by the mob that “expressed a craving” (11:4) and complained about the manna (11:6), culminating in Moses hearing the “people weeping…each man at the entrance of his tent” (11:10),” Moses said: “Why have You mistreated Your servant and why have I not found favor in Your eyes, to place the burden of this entire people upon Me?” (11:11). God answered Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders of the people, and its officers…. They shall bear with you the burden of the people, and you shall not bear alone” (11:16–17). This is the Torah source for the Great Sanhedrin, the court of seventy-one judges, the highest tribunal in Judaism. In the book of Exodus, the impetus for the appointment of the leadership configuration is different. Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro, visits, and he sees Moses sitting and judging the people and observes: “The people stood over Moses from the morning until the evening” (18:13). He comments: “It is not a good thing that you are doing” (18:17). Yitro counsels Moses: “You shall identify from all the people capable men, fearers of God, men of truth, haters of ill-gotten gain; set over them leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens” (18:21). The Torah relates: “Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did everything that he said” (18:24). Here, in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses omits any mention of Yitro. He reprises the despair that he expressed in the book of Numbers and the solution that he adopted in Exodus. He continues with an allusion to the solution that God provided in Deuteronomy, instructions to judges: “Hear between your brethren and judge righteousness between man and his brother, and a stranger to him. You shall not give preference in judgment; small and great alike you shall hear. You shall not fear due to any man, as judgment is God’s” (1:16–17).

Caleb, Joshua, and Moses

The Torah account of the sin of the spies ends with a list of its repercussions. The list begins with the punishment of the children of Israel: “The Lord…was enraged and took an oath, saying: If any man among these men, this wicked generation, will see the good land about which I took an oath to give to your fathers” (1:34–35). It continues with Caleb’s reward: “Except Caleb son of Yefuneh, he shall see it and to him I will give the land in which he trod, and to his children, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (1:36). It concludes with Joshua’s reward: “Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall come there; strengthen him, for he shall bequeath it to Israel” (1:38). The verse that appears in the text between the reward for Caleb and the reward for Joshua presents a difficulty not due to its content but due to its placement. The verse says: “Also the Lord was incensed with me because of you, saying: You too shall not come there” (1:37). Though the fact that Moses was not going to enter the Land of Israel was already known, its mention in the context of the sin of the spies is surprising. Wasn’t the punishment that he would not enter the land administered due to the sin of the waters of dispute? Does it not say: “Because you did not have faith in Me, to sanctify Me before the eyes of the children of Israel; therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them” (Numbers 20:12)? The Abravanel explains that despite the plain understanding of this verse, the sin of the waters of dispute was not the reason that Moses was punished; rather, he was punished for his role in the sin of the spies. God commanded Moses to send men to scout the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:2), a command to get a general sense of the land. The people requested: “Let us send men before us, and they will spy the land for us, and they will return word to us: The way that we will ascend, and the cities at which we will arrive” (Deuteronomy 1:22). The request was limited to ascertaining the ideal path to take to the first city they would conquer. Moses, with the best of intentions, as he was confident in God’s promise, added to the mission of the spies and thereby compromised that mission: “You shall see the land, what it is. The people that lives in it, is it strong or is it weak? Are they few or many? What is the land in which it lives? Is it good or bad? What are the cities in which it lives? Is it in camps or in fortifications?” (Numbers 13:18–19). Those questions directed the focus of the spies to the might of the people, the strength of the cities, and the fact that the land devoured its inhabitants. Therefore, it is only natural that Moses’ punishment was mentioned in this context. The Ramban explains that Moses’ punishment is totally unrelated to the sin of the spies. Rather, his punishment is mentioned in order to make sense of the verse about Joshua that follows. In order to understand why Joshua would be leading the people into the land of Canaan, it was first necessary to explain that Moses would not be entering the land.

כג וַיִּיטַ֥ב בְּעֵינַ֖י הַדָּבָ֑ר וָאֶקַּ֤ח מִכֶּם֙ שְׁנֵ֣ים עָשָׂ֣ר אֲנָשִׁ֔ים אִ֥ישׁ אֶחָ֖ד לַשָּֽׁבֶט׃

The matter was good in my eyes; and I took from you twelve men, one man for each tribe.

RASHI

וייטב בעיני הדבר.בְּעֵינַי וְלֹא בְעֵינֵי הַמָּקוֹם; וְאִם בְּעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה הָיָה טוֹב לָמָּה אֲמָרָהּ בַּתּוֹכָחוֹת? מָשָׁל לְאָדָם שֶׁאוֹמֵר לַחֲבֵרוֹ מְכֹר לִי חֲמוֹרְךָ זֶה, אָמַר לוֹ הֵן, נוֹתְנוֹ אַתָּה לִי לְנִסָּיוֹן? אָמַר לוֹ הֵן, בֶּהָרִים וּבַגְּבָעוֹת? אָמַר לוֹ הֵן, כֵּיוָן שֶׁרָאָה שֶׁאֵין מְעַכְּבוֹ כְלוּם, אָמַר הַלּוֹקֵחַ בְּלִבּוֹ בָּטוּחַ הוּא זֶה שֶׁלֹּא אֶמְצָא בוֹ מוּם, מִיָּד אָמַר לוֹ טֹל מְעוֹתֶיךָ אֵינִי מְנַסֵּהוּ מֵעַתָּה, אַף אֲנִי הוֹדֵיתִי לְדִבְרֵיכֶם, שֶׁמָּא תַחְזְרוּ בָכֶם כְּשֶׁתִּרְאוּ שֶׁאֵינִי מְעַכֵּב, וְאַתֶּם לֹא חֲזַרְתֶּם בָּכֶם (ספרי):

ואקח מכם.מִן הַבְּרוּרִים שֶׁבָּכֶם, מִן הַמְסֻלָּתִים שֶׁבָּכֶם (שם):

שנים עשר אנשים איש אחד לשבט.מַגִּיד שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה שֵׁבֶט לֵוִי עִמָּהֶם (שם):

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