Midras Mazmur 78:22: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bamidbar Rabbah & Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer

Another interpetation (of Numb. 13:2:) YOU YOURSELF SEND¹⁵Again the midrash requires this more literal translation. <MEN>. Even though the Holy One had said: YOU YOURSELF SEND <MEN>, it was not <the wish> of the Holy One for them to go.¹⁶Tanh., Numb. 4:5, cont.; see Numb. R. 16:7. Why? Because the Holy One had already told them <about> the superiority of the land of Israel. It is so stated (in Deut. 8:7): FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS BRINGING YOU UNTO A GOOD LAND. And so it says (in Deut. 11:10–11): FOR THE LAND INTO WHICH YOU ARE GOING TO POSSESS…. <BUT THE LAND INTO WHICH YOU ARE CROSSING TO POSSESS IS A LAND OF MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS. IT DRINKS WATER FROM THE RAIN OF HEAVEN.> Moreover, while they had been in Egypt, he had said to them (in Exod. 3:8): I HAVE COME DOWN TO DELIVER THEM <OUT OF THE HAND OF THE EGYPTIANS AND TO BRING THEM UP OUT OF THAT LAND> [UNTO A GOOD <AND SPACIOUS> LAND….] So what is the point of <saying> (in Numb. 13:2): YOU YOURSELF SEND <MEN>? It is simply that they wanted these words. When they reached <Israel's> borders, Moses had said to them (in Deut. 1:21): SEE, THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS SET THE LAND BEFORE YOU. At that time Israel approached Moses, as stated (in vs. 22): THEN YOU ALL DREW NEAR UNTO ME AND SAID: LET US SEND MEN <AHEAD OF US TO EXPLORE THE LAND FOR US>…. This is what Ezra¹⁷See Sanh. 93b, which also alludes to the book of Nehemiah under the name of Ezra. said (in Neh. 9:17): SO THEY REFUSED TO LISTEN AND WERE UNMINDFUL OF {HIS} [YOUR] WONDERS…. Now it says (in Numb. 10:33): AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD TRAVELED AHEAD OF THEM … TO SEEK OUT A RESTING PLACE FOR THEM. {However} [And] they said (in Deut. 1:22): LET US SEND MEN <AHEAD OF US TO EXPLORE THE LAND FOR US>…. {Is it not that they did not believe in his Torah?} [It is simply that they did not believe in his Torah.] And similarly David said (in Ps. 78:22): THEY DID NOT BELIEVE {IN HIS TORAH} [IN GOD]…. R. Joshua says: To what were they comparable: To a king who secured for his son a beautiful wife, the daughter of good and wealthy parents. The king said to him: I have secured you a beautiful wife, the daughter of good and wealthy parents. There is no one like her in the whole world. The son said to him: Let me go to see her, for he did not believe in his father. Immediately the situation became ever more difficult for his father. His father said: What shall I do? If I say to him: I am not showing her to you, then he will say: She is ugly. For that reason he did not want to show her. Finally he said to him: Look at her, so that you may know that I have not deceived you. But because you did not believe in me, I swear that you shall not see her in your house. Instead I am giving her to your son. Now similarly did the Holy One say to Israel: <The land> is good, but they did not believe in him. They said (in Deut. 1:22): LET US SEND MEN <AHEAD OF US>. The Holy One said: If I prevent them, they will say: The land is no good. For <that reason> he has not shown it to us. The Holy One said: They will only see it, for I swear that not one of them shall enter within it. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 14:23): SURELY THEY SHALL NOT SEE THE LAND…. Instead I am giving it to their children.

Another matter, “Send you men”; although the Holy One blessed be He said: “Send you,” it was not from the Holy One blessed be He that they should go. Why? It is because the Holy One blessed be He had already said the praise of the Land of Israel to them: “For the Lord your God is bringing you to [a good] land” (Deuteronomy 8:7).³Therefore there was no need to send anybody to check the quality of the land. Likewise it says: “For the land that you are coming there to take possession of it…[it drinks water from the rain]” (Deuteronomy 11:10–11). And while they were still in Egypt, He said: “I have descended to deliver them from the hand of the Egypt and to bring them up from that land [to a good and expansive land, to a land flowing with milk and honey]” (Exodus 3:8). The verse says: “The Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud” (Exodus 13:21).⁴Therefore there was no military need to check out the land. What is “send you men”? Rather, it was Israel that requested these matters, as when they arrived to take possession at the borders, the Holy One blessed be He said to them: “See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you, [go up and conquer]” (Deuteronomy 1:21); at that moment, Israel approached Moses, as it is stated: “All of you approached me” (Deuteronomy 1:22). That is what Ezra said: “…They did not heed your commandments. They refused to heed and did not remember Your wonders” (Nehemiah 9:16–17).
Likewise, it says: “[and the Ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them…] to scout a resting place for them” (Numbers 10:33). Nevertheless, they said: “Let us send men before us, and they will spy [the land] for us”? (Deuteronomy 1:22). It is, rather, that they did not believe. Likewise, David says: “Because they did not believe in God” (Psalms 78:22); and it is written: “They refused to follow His Torah” (Psalms 78:10).
Rabbi Yehoshua said: To what were they comparable? It is to a king who arranged for his son, a fine-looking, wellborn, and wealthy woman. The king said to him: 'I arranged for you a fine-looking, wellborn, and wealthy woman.' The son said to him: 'I will go and see her,’ because he did not believe his father. Immediately, the matter was difficult for and troubled his father. His father said: ‘What shall I do? If I say to him: I will not show her to you, now he will say: She was ugly; that is why he does not want to show her.’ Ultimately he said to him: 'See her and ascertain whether I lied to you. But because you did not believe in me, I vow that you will not see her in your home, but rather, I will give her to your son.’ Likewise, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: “The Land is good,” but they did not believe, but rather, they said: “Let us send men before us, and they will spy [the land] for us.” The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘If I prevent them, they will say: It is because it is not good that He did not show it to us. Rather, let them see it; but by My oath, not one of them will enter into it, as it is stated: “They will not see the land regarding which I took an oath to their fathers, and all those who scorned Me will not see it” (Numbers 14:23); but I will give it to their children.

AMALEK AND ISRAEL
RABBI JOCHANAN, son of Nuri, said: (After) all the mighty deeds and wonders which the Holy One, blessed be He, did unto Israel in Egypt, and at the Reed Sea, they repeatedly tempted the Omnipresent ten times, as it is said, "Yet have they tempted me these ten times" (Num. 14:22). Moreover, they slandered the Holy One, blessed be He, saying: He has forsaken us in this wilderness, and His Shekhinah is not in our midst, as it is said, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" (Ex. 17:7).