Commentaire sur Les Nombres 14:37

במגפה לפני ה׳ [EVEN THOSE MEN DIED …] BY THE PLAGUE BEFORE THE LORD — by that death which was fitting for them — measure for measure. They had sinned with their tongue, therefore their tongue grew long extending right down to their navels, and worms came from their tongue and entered their navels. This is the reason why it states, they died by “the” plague, and not בְּמַגֵּפָה by “a” plague; this, too, is the meaning of the words “before the Lord” (they died by the plague which was before the Lord) — by that plague which was fitting for them according to the methods of the Holy One, blessed be He, Who metes out “measure for measure” (Sotah 35a).

AND THOSE MEN, THAT DID BRING FORTH ‘DIBATH’ (AN EVIL REPORT) OF THE LAND, DIED. I have already explained¹⁵⁹Above, 13:32. that their severe punishment was because of the report which they spread that it is a Land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof,¹⁵⁹Above, 13:32. which was a complete falsehood since the Land was full with many people, as it is written in the Book of Joshua, And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.¹⁶⁰Joshua 11:4. And in the Torah it is written, and He shall cast out many nations before thee … seven nations greater and mightier than thou.¹⁶¹Deuteronomy 7:1. The spies also emphasized the strength of the people, saying: the people are fierce,¹⁶²Above, 13:28. and they are very strong,¹⁶³Ibid., Verse 31: for they are stronger than we. and did not report back concerning the words of Moses who told them [to ascertain] whether they are few or many,¹⁶⁴Ibid., Verse 18. but they told the people afterwards that the Land is one that eateth up the inhabitants thereof!¹⁵⁹Above, 13:32.
Now Rashi commented:¹⁶⁵On Verse 36: And they [the spies] made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing forth ‘dibah’ against the Land. “Whenever Scripture uses the expression ‘he brings forth dibah’ it means bringing forth words which ‘capture’ a person so that he speaks about it, just like ‘doveiv’ (stirring) the lips of those that are asleep.¹⁶⁶Song of Songs 7:10. And [the expression ‘bringing forth dibah’] may be for good, or for evil. That is why it says [the men … that did bring forth an “‘evil’ dibath” (report of) the Land,¹⁶⁷Verse 37 here. because there may be a dibah which is good.” [Thus far is the language of Rashi.] But it is written: he that bringeth forth ‘dibah’ is a fool,¹⁶⁸Proverbs 10:18. See Ramban above, 13:32. and this cannot [refer] to a good [utterance]. Similarly, bringing forth ‘dibah’ against the Land,¹⁶⁹Verse 36. and so also, ‘v’dibathcha’ (and thine utterance of ‘dibah’) he will not turn away¹⁷⁰Proverbs 25:10. — all signify speech of evil, as the term dibah itself connotes evil, and when Scripture uses the expression dibah ra’ah [“evil dibah,” as it does in our verse: and those men that did bring up ‘dibath ha’aretz ra’ah’ (an evil report of the Land) died] it is to emphasize the greatness of the evil that they did.

וימותו האנשים מוציאי דבת הארץ רעה במגפה, from the type of pestilence which they claimed had caused the death of the people they had seen dying in the land of Canaan during their tour of exploration. (13,32) It was the kind of pollution in the air which kills almost instantly.

וימותו האנשים מוצאי דבת הארץ רעה, The men who had issued an evil report about the land died, etc. We have to understand this verse as follows: "The men who died were the ones who issued the evil report." We find a parallel construction in Psalms 9,17: בפועל כפיו נוקש רשע, "The wicked person is snared by his own deeds." The verse may also tell us why these people died by pestilence; this was an appropriate tit-for-tat because they had spread evil tales. The words davar, word, and dever, pestilence, are spelled identically.

במגפה לפני ה, “by a pestilence before the Lord.” The punishment was commensurate to their sin. They had sinned by abusing their power of speech with their tongues; this is why their death resulted from a plague which first attacked their tongues lengthening them until their navels. Then worms crawled out of their navels through their tongues (Sotah 35). This is why the Torah added the words: “before the Lord,” This is the way Rashi explains this verse.

לפני השם, in the presence of G'd. The Torah means that they died before G'd's presence as represented by the cloud ascended again. The type of permission granted to the destructive forces in this instance differs from that given to the same forces when Aaron and Miriam had been guilty of slandering Moses. On that occasion the Tzoraat had not struck until after G'd departed. The fact that in this case G'd gave permission for the destructive forces to become active immediately indicates the seriousness of the sin of the spies.

Before Hashem. It was evident to all that this was Divine providence and not a random event.