Midrash su Deuteronomio 1:21

If Israel had been meritorious, then in eleven days they would have entered Eretz Yisrael, but because they corrupted their ways, the L-rd stretched it into forty years, as it is written (Bamidbar 14:34) "According to the number of days that you spied out the land, forty days — a day for a year, a day for a year — shall you bear your sins." R. Yehudah says: Now did it take them eleven days? Did it not take them only three days? As it is written (Ibid. 10:33) "And they traveled from the mountain of the L-rd a journey of three days." (The intent is that) in three days Israel traveled an eleven-day distance. If Israel had been meritorious, they would have entered Eretz Yisrael in three days. As it is written (Ibid.) "And the ark of the covenant of the L-rd preceded them, a distance of three days to look out a resting place for them," "a resting place" being Eretz Yisrael, as it is written (Devarim 12:9) "For you will not yet have come to the rest and to the inheritance that the L-rd your G-d gives you." They said to him: Was it an eleven-day distance? Was it not a forty-day distance, as it is written of Eliyahu (I Kings 19:8) "And he arose and ate and drank, and he walked on the strength of that meal for forty days and forty nights (until the mountain of G-d, Chorev")? … R. B'na'ah says: If Israel had been meritorious, they would have entered Eretz Yisrael in one day, as it is written (Shemoth 13:4-5) "This day you go out, in the month of spring," immediately (followed by) "And it shall be, when the L-rd brings you to the land of Canaan." Abba Yossi b. Chanan says in the name of Cohein Bardela: If Israel had been meritorious, as soon as their horses' hooves ascended from the sea, they would have entered Eretz Yisrael, as it is written (Devarim 1:21) "Go up (from the sea) and possess (the land) as the L-rd, the G-d of your fathers has spoken to you."

(Numb. 34:1–2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Command the Children of Israel [and say unto them], “When you come into the Land of Canaan, [this is the land]....”’” [“This is the land”]⁶These words occur also in Deut. 34:4 (cited below). The midrash, therefore, interprets the two passages together. What follows in Numb. 34:3ff. describes what Israel is about to receive, while Deut. 34:4 (cited below) speaks of the promise to Israel’s future seed and adds that Moses shall see it. teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses all that had been and all that was going to be.⁷Numb. R. 23:5. He showed him Samson arising from Dan, and Barak [arising] from Naphtali. So also it was for every generation with its expounders, every generation with its leaders,⁸Gk.: pronoos. every generation with its sages, every generation with its wicked, every generation with its righteous, as stated (in Deut. 34:4,) “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob....” [This] teaches that He showed him gehinnom. Moshe said in front of Him, “Master of the world, who is sentenced to it?” He said to him, “The wicked and those that rebel against Me, as stated (in Is. 66:24), “And they went out and saw the corpses of the people....” Moshe began to fear. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (as in Deut. 34:4), “I have shown it to your eyes, but you will not pass there.” And what is the meaning of “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying?” [The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses,] “The oath that I swore to them I have fulfilled for their children.” It is therefore stated (in Deut. 34:4), “saying.”⁹The Hebrew here can imply the giving of one’s solemn word. (Numbers 34:2:) “This is the land that shall fall to you as your portion.” And does the land fall? But is it not written (in Eccl. 1:4), “but the land stands forever?” It is simply that when the spies came and put out slander on the land and said (in Numb. 13:33), “And we saw the Nephilim there,” and they said (in Numb. 12:31), “it is stronger than us,” Moshe got angry. [Then] all of Israel said, “Moses, our teacher, if these spies were two [or] three, it would be correct for us to trust [them], as stated (Deut. 17:6), ‘By the testimony of two witnesses....’ And behold, they are ten, (as in Deut. 1:28), ‘To where shall we go up?’” As it were, [they were complaining that] the Master of the house is not able to remove his vessels (the inhabitants) from there. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took the ministering angel of the land and bound him and put him down in front of them, as stated (Deut. 1:21), “See the Lord, your God, has placed in front of you....” And was [the land] in front of them? It is simply that He put down its ministering angel. And He said to them (in Deut. 1:21, cont.), “Go up and possess..., do not fear and do not tremble,” not from the Nephilim and not from the people that [you say] are bigger and more numerous than us. (Ezek. 45:1:) “When you allot the land as an inheritance....” This text is related (to Psalms 16:6), “Portions of land fell to me in pleasantness, even a beautiful inheritance for me.” “Portions of land fell to me.” These are the twelve tribes, since the land was divided to the twelve tribes, as stated (in Ezek. 47:13), “Thus said the Lord God, ‘These shall be the boundaries of the land that you shall allot to the twelve tribes of Israel.’” “In pleasantness,” in the merit of the Torah, about which it is stated (in Prov. 22:18), “As it is pleasant that you should store them in your belly....” “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” There is a man who is handsome but his clothing is ugly, and one is ugly but his clothing handsome. But Israel is not like this. They are handsome and their clothing is handsome. They adorn the land and the Land of Israel adorns them. Hence it is stated (in Ps. 16:6), “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” And so too is it stated (in Job 29:14), “I clothed myself in righteousness and it clothed me.”

Another interpretation (of Numb. 13:2) “Send men.” What is written above the matter (in Numb. 12:1)? “And Miriam spoke to Aaron about Moses.” And afterwards, (in Numb. 12:2), “Send men.” This text is related (to Is. 44:18), “They neither know nor understand; for their eyes are stuck shut so that they cannot see […].” What is the reason for saying, “Send men,” after the episode of Miriam (in Numb. 12:1ff.)?¹¹Numb. R. 16:6. It is simply that it was anticipated by the Holy One, blessed be He, that they would come and utter evil speech against the land.¹²Sot. 34a. The Holy One, blessed be He, had said that they should not [be able to] say, “We did not know what the penalty for evil speech was.” For that reason the Holy One, blessed be He, put this [story] next to the one [in which Miriam was afflicted with leprosy, because she had spoken slander against her brother. [This was] so that everyone would know the punishment for evil speech. [It was a warning] so that if they came to speak slander, they would consider what happened to Miriam; but even so, they did not desire to learn. It is therefore stated (in Is. 44:18), “They neither know nor understand.” Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, wrote [about] the sending out of the spies after the episode of Miriam. Ergo (in Is. 44:18), “They neither know nor understand; for their eyes are stuck shut so that they cannot see….” Another interpretation (of Numb. 13:2), “Send men for yourself”: Even though the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to Moses, “Send men for yourself,” it was not [the wish] of the Holy One, blessed be He, for them to go.¹³See Numb. R. 16:7. Why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, 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.” 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].” And Scripture states (in Exod. 13:21), “And the Lord went in front of them by day.” So what is the point of [saying] (in Numb. 13:2), “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, go and possess….” 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 Ezra¹⁴See 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 Your] wonders.” Now it says (in Numb. 10:33), “and the ark of the covenant of the Lord traveled ahead of them […].” And [yet] they said (in Deut. 1:22), “Let us send men ahead of us to explore the land for us.” [It is simply] that they did not believe. And similarly David said (in Ps. 78:10), “and they refused to follow His Torah.” 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 trust his father. Immediately the situation became ever more difficult for his father and it was bad for him. 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 trust 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, blessed be He, say to Israel, ‘The land is good,’ but they did not believe [Him]. They said (in Deut. 1:22), ‘Let us send men ahead of us.’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘If I prevent them, they will say, “The land is no good. For that reason He has not shown it to us.” Rather, they will only see it, for I swear that not one of them shall enter within it, but rather [only] their children.’ Thus it is stated (in Numb. 14:23, 31), ‘Surely they shall not see the land […]. But it is your children, who you said would be carried off, who will go….’’’ When they said to Moses (in Deut. 1:22), “Let us send men ahead of us,” Moses began to wonder. He said, “It is impossible for me to do something before I consult with the Holy One, blessed be He.” He went and consulted. He said to him, “Your children want thus and so.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “This is not the first time for them. While they were in Egypt, they jeered at Me, as stated (in Hos. 7:16), ‘this was their derision in the land of Egypt.’ They are accustomed to such [behavior]. I do not need this; as see, it is written (in Dan. 2:22), ‘He knows what is in the darkness, [and the light dwells with Him]’; I know what they are saying. But if you want, you yourself, ‘Send men for yourself.’” Where is it shown? Where it is written (in Numb. 13:16), “These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land.”