Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Numbers 14:7

וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֥ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָבַ֤רְנוּ בָהּ֙ לָת֣וּר אֹתָ֔הּ טוֹבָ֥ה הָאָ֖רֶץ מְאֹ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃

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.

Ramban on Numbers

IT IS ‘M’OD M’OD’ (AN EXCEEDING) GOOD LAND. The reason [for this emphasis] is in order to contradict the false report [of the spies] and to state that it is not [a Land] that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, for the air is good, and it is a Land flowing with milk and honey.3Exodus 3:17. The text of Rashi reads: “… unto a good Land,” which is taken from Verse 8, ibid.
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Sforno on Numbers

הארץ אשר עברנו בה לתור אותה, to investigate both the country and its inhabitants, in accordance with Moses’ instructions “you will take a look at the land what are its characteristics and the people who dwell on it” (13,18).
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Or HaChaim on Numbers

ויאמרו…לאמור. They said…to say: What is the meaning of the word לאמור after the Torah has already told us to whom Joshua and Caleb addressed themselves? Perhaps Caleb and Joshua used this expression referring to the ten spies who had admitted that the land was indeed excellent, flowing with milk and honey. Whereas the ten spies described this excellent land as unattainable in order to justify their report, Joshua and Caleb used the excellence of the land as a reason to extol it. The word לאמור then means "to extol" much as in Deut. 26,27.
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Tur HaArokh

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Sforno on Numbers

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Or HaChaim on Numbers

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