Commentaire sur Les Nombres 14:24

רוח אחרת [BUT MY SERVANT CALEB, BECAUSE HE HAD] ANOTHER SPIRIT [WITH HIM] — The word “another’ suggests that he was filled with a twofold spirit — the one to which he gave utterance (lit., one in his mouth), and another which he concealed in his heart. To the spies he said, “I am with you in your counsel”, whilst in his heart he had the intention to tell the truth, and it was only on this account that he possessed the power to silence them (the people), as it is said, (Numbers 13:30) “And Caleb silenced [the people concerning Moses]” (cf. Rashi on that verse), for they thought that he would say the same as themselves (as the spies). It is this that is alluded to in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 14:7) where it states that Caleb said “And I brought him (Moses) word again as it was in my heart” — but not as it was in my mouth (i.e. not what I had said to the spies) (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 10).

BUT MY SERVANT CALEB. He did not mention Joshua, for He explained to Caleb his reward [for his trust in G-d], namely that he would inherit the Land wherein he went,¹⁴⁶Verse 24 here. but Joshua’s reward — that he would be the successor to Moses — was not fitting to be specified at this moment [since Moses was still to be the leader for many years]. Now Scripture mentioned [Caleb’s name] first, as it says, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun,¹⁵¹Further, Verse 30. because he was the first to contradict the spies, [as it is said], And Caleb stilled the people.¹⁵²Above, 13:30. But Moses said, And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh lived from the men¹⁵³Further, Verse 38. [mentioning Joshua first], because of the great degree of Joshua’s wisdom. And since [both] Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel¹⁵⁴Above, Verse 5. to plead before Him, the communication here was addressed to Aaron¹⁵⁵Verse 26. Since Ramban has explained (above, Verse 5) that the falling on their faces was for the purpose of Moses and Aaron pleading with the people to abandon their plan to return to Egypt, we must understand Ramban’s words here as indicating that after having finished their plea with the people they proceeded to pray to G-d in their behalf. as well, but the command was [only] to Moses, Say unto them,¹⁵⁶Verse 28. The Hebrew emor (say) is in the singular — a reference to Moses. since he was superior in prophecy.

וזרעו יורישנה; Calev’s children will not only take possession of their share in the Holy Land, but will pass on their share to his descendants in future generations. This is different from the other members of the present adult generation who, though not taking possession of any part of the land themselves, assigned it to their children by reason of having become the “original” (potential) owners at the time they left Egypt. Their children “inherited” by a Divine decree only, as opposed to Calev’s children, etc. (compare verse 12)

ועבדי כלב, "and My servant Caleb, etc." Why did the Torah not mention Joshua also at this juncture? The word היתה requires analysis as do the words וימלא אחרי as well as the letter ו in והביאותיו.

ועבדי כלב, “but My servant Calev, etc.” The Torah, at this point, does not mention Joshua, as it concentrates on promising Calev his share in the Promised Land, whereas seeing that Joshua would in due course become Moses’ successor, mentioning his share in the Promised Land at this stage would have been inappropriate. The reason why Calev is mentioned here ahead of Joshua is that he spoke up against the other spies first. When Moses refers to what had occurred here in verse 38, he mentions Joshua first, saying: “but Joshua son of Nun and Calev son of Yefuneh survived of all these men, etc.” He accorded Joshua precedence as he was endowed with greater wisdom than Calev. 14, 25. והעמלקי והכנעני יושב בעמק, “The Amalekite and the Canaanite dwelled in the valley. This sounds somewhat strange seeing that a few verses later (14,45) we are told that the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelled in the mountain descended.” This teaches that the Amalekite and Canaanite joined forces and descended to the valley in order to mount an attack on the Israelites from a position of ambush.

רוח אחרת עמו, “who was imbued with a different spirit,” the word אחרת is relative, i.e. a spirit different from that of the ten spies. The Torah reminds us that the righteous person is “different” from the wicked person. The Torah first uses the word in connection with the third son of Adam and Chavah, Sheth, whom his mother describes as זרע אחר, “a different seed” (Genesis 4,25). Sheth was the righteous person who replaced Hevel both of whom were “different” from Kayin who was wicked. “Goodness” is essentially different from “evil.” Similarly, ”evil” is essentially different from “goodness.” This is the reason idols are described as אלוהים אחרים, “different” gods rather that “other” gods. When the word אחר occurs in connection with someone or something evil, it means “good” by comparison to the evil person.

Two spirits, one verbal and one in his heart. Rashi is answering the question: Did only Caleiv have a different spirit? Surely Yehoshua also had a spirit different from that of the spies! To this he explains that he had “two spirits…”

V. 24. ועבדי כלב. Sein treues furchtloses Auftreten für die Wahrheit der Gottessache hat ihn der höchsten Bezeichnung eines für Gott wirkenden Menschen, עבד ד׳, würdig gemacht. עקב (siehe Bereschit 22, 18). היתה רוח אחרת עמו heißt wohl: ein anderer Geist hat ihm beigestanden, eine andere Anschauung und ein anderer Wille hat ihn vor der Verirrung seiner Gefährten gerettet. מלא ,וימלא אחרי kommt häufig in der Bedeutung: ein Wort, eine Zusage, einen Wunsch erfüllen, vor. So: למלא את דבר ד׳ (Kön. I. 22, 6), ימלא ד׳ כל משאלותיך (Ps.20, 6). Es kann daher auch heißen: er hat die von ihm erwartete Pflichterfüllung erfüllt, indem, אחרי, er mir nachfolgte, mir treu blieb, nicht wie seine Gefährten סר מאחרי ד׳. Oder es kann auch אחרי geradezu als Objekt zu וימלא begriffen werden: er hat meine Nachfolge, d.i, die mir zu zollende Treue voll gelöst, erfüllt. וזרעו יורשנה, vergl. את אשר יורישך כמוש (Richter 11, 24). זרעו ist Objekt und Kaleb ist Subjekt von יורשנה: er wird es auf seine Kinder vererben, während bei den übrigen die Kinder die ersten Besitzer sein werden.

ועבדי כלב, “but My servant Caleb,” there was no need for G-d to mention Joshua by name here seeing it was he who would lead the people into the Holy Land. An alternate interpretation: There was no point in mentioning him, seeing that he had no children who would receive an ancestral share of that land. The Torah could not have written of him that his descendants would inherit their share of the land

וימלא אחרי AND HE HATH FOLLOWED ME FULLY (lit., he hath filled to go after Me) — i.e. he hath filled his heart with the intention to follow Me; — this is an elliptical sentence (the word “his heart” is omitted).

והביאותיו אל הארץ אשר בא שמ'ה וזרע'ו יורישנ'ה. והעמלק'י “And I shall bring him to the land where he has been (already) and his offspring shall possess it.” And the Amalekite, etc.” Here too is an example of the letters of the Ineffable Name appearing in reverse order (the last letters in the last four words of the caption; compare author on Genesis 11,9) This is an allusion to the fact that at that time the attribute of Justice was poised, ready to strike the Israelites. This is why it was decreed that the Israelites make a permanent home in the desert and that they would even retrace their steps in the direction of the sea of Reeds. This also why, when they were willing and anxious to proceed forward and ascend the mountain (as the spies had done), Moses warned them not to commit a sin by violating G’d’s commandment and embark on an undertaking that was doomed (41). The meaning of the words יושב בעמק, applied here to the areas inhabited by the Canaanite and the Amalekite, is not the usual “in the valley,” but “sitting ready to ambush you.” This is why G’d instructed them to change direction to save them from such attacks seeing He, G’d, would not protect them now by means of a miracle.

According to what was in my heart. Rashi is obliged to bring proof from the prophets so that you should not question his source that he had one spirit in his mouth and another in his heart. For perhaps he had another spirit both in his mouth and in his heart; and not that he said to them “I am with you in your plan.” Thus Rashi explains that this is what was said in the book of Yehoshua “I brought back word to him according to what was in my heart” but not according to what was in my mouth.

The Torah wanted to explain why G'd decided to refer to Caleb as "My servant," an exceptional compliment. Although also Joshua did not spurn G'd, Caleb was possessed of a totally different spirit. He had not needed the prayer of Moses to enable him to resist the influence of the other ten spies. Caleb had at one time during the mission experienced the רוח אחרת, i.e. the evil spirit which filled the other spies. He had gone to the graves of the patriarchs in order to recharge his spiritual batteries before he would succumb to the wiles of the evil urge. וימלא אחרי, "He decided to follow Me." The Torah describes how Caleb decided to follow his good urge rather than his evil urge. Man is subject to two advisors. One advises him to follow G'd's wishes, the other advises him to assert his independence. If one decides to resist the urge to commit a sin it is accounted as if one had fulfilled one of G'd's commandments (Kidushin 39). Joshua had not been in a similar dilemma as he had never been tempted to be disloyal to G'd and to act illogically, due to Moses' prayer on his behalf. We have a verse in the Book of Samuel which describes a mystical dimension concerning the prayer of a צדיק such as Moses. It suggests that such a prayer may exert influence on a person's moral tendencies. This is based on Samuel II 23,3 צדיק מושל יראת השם, "the righteous exercises some control concerning matters of reverence for the Lord." Seeing that Caleb's resistance to the evil urge under circumstances of great provocation was unaided by external factors, he is described similarly to Moses, i.e. that he was G'd's servant.

וימלא אחרי, “he followed Me fully;” he completed Moses’ task, My messenger’s task, trying to make him more effective. The use of the root מלא in the same sense as translated here is not unique; we find an example of it in Kings I 1,14: ואני אבוא אחריך ומלאתי את דבריך, “and I will come immediately after you and confirm and reinforce your words.”(The prophet Natan to Batsheva, mother of Solomon)

אשר בא שמה [HIM WILL I BRING UNTO THE LAND] WHEREUNTO HE WENT — Hebron shall be given to him (cf. Rashi on v. 22).

He followed me full-heartedly. The words “[in] his heart” is missing from the text, because if not so, what is meant by “he followed Me fully”? Surely he was with the spies in his mouth though not in his heart.

The Torah adds that G'd would bring him to the land he had already come to (once). The Torah hints here at the inner struggle that had preceded Caleb's deciding to remain loyal to G'd. This struggle may be described as Caleb praying on his own behalf. G'd promises that although Caleb was already 40 years old at the time and conquest of the land of Canaan would now be delayed by at least 40 years, Caleb would live long enough to be among those who would take part in that conquest. This is the only time in recorded history that G'd promised someone that he would live for at least another 40 years.

וזרעו יורישנה, ”and his seed will inherit it.” The root ירש in the transitive mode is used here to mean “inherit,” in other words: “and I will cause his seed to leave it as an inheritance [To more distant generations also. Ed.]

יורשנה — Understand this as the Targum does: “and his seed shall drive it (the population of the land) out” i. e. shall drive out the Anakim and the other people that are in it. — One should not give the rendering ירתינה, “they will possess it”, in the Targum except in place of the Hebrew יִירָשֶׁנָּה (in the Kal, whilst the Hiphil, as here, denotes to drive out).

Chevron will be given to him. Meaning that “I shall bring him” which was mentioned in the verse is understood as “I will give him” and the meaning of “into the land” is to Chevron. The meaning of “to which he came” refers to when he came to spy out the land. The verse is not implying that he would be brought into the land and he would not die in the desert, as might be understood from this passage.

Perhaps G'd had to describe Caleb as "My servant" in order to justify this extraordinary promise. This was a promise by G'd that Caleb would not forfeit his status as a צדיק during the 40 years the Israelites would wander in the desert. I was asked once how one can reconcile the statement in Shabbat 30 that when David asked G'd to know when he would die and G'd's reply that He does not reveal such information to any living human being nor does He tell him how many years he will live, with the fact that He told King Chiskiyahu that he would have another 15 years to live. Why then had G'd revealed to Chiskiyahu that he had another 15 years to live? I answered that the only date that G'd refuses to reveal is the original lifespan allocated to man at birth. This is based on Job 14,5 אם חרוצים ימיו, "his days are numbered." If and when G'd decides to grant someone a lifespan beyond that which had been originally decreed, the addition is not subject to the decree that its length will not be revealed. It may be G'd's wish to reveal such information as we know from Shabbat 10 where the meaning of לדעת כי אני ה׳ מקדשכם, "to make known that it is I the Lord who sanctify you" (Exodus 31,13), is being discussed. The Talmud derives from that verse that if someone gives a second party a gift he has to inform him of that gift beforehand. This is the reason that G'd informs recipients of an extension of a person's lifespan at the time He grants that gift. You will find something similar in Joshua 14,10 where Caleb asked to conquer Chevron and the mountain it is situated on and to inherit it. At that time Caleb referred to the fact that though aged 85 he was every bit as fit as when he was forty years old and G'd had granted him the additional lifespan. In fact, the Torah added in our verse that G'd's blessing to Caleb would also extend to his descendants.

There is another way of explaining our verse. Caleb had performed two meritorious deeds and as a result he qualified for two rewards. 1) He had a different spirit, i.e. he resisted the temptation to make common cause with the ten spies. 2) He proved his loyalty to G'd by not only not merely keeping silent but by trying to persuade the people to have faith and not to believe the conclusions drawn by the other ten spies. G'd repaid him by 1) bringing him to the Holy Land, 2) letting him take possession of it. Joshua was not mentioned seeing he did not have to overcome the evil urge as he had been the recipient of Moses' prayer on his behalf.