민수기 13:17의 주석

עלו זה בנגב GO UP THIS WAY SOUTHWARD — It (the South) was the worst part of the Land of Israel. He bid them spy this out first because such is the way of merchants: they show a prospective purchaser the inferior goods first, and afterwards they show the best (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 6).

!עלו זה בנגב. Moses wanted them to commence their mission from the very spot the Israelites found themselves in at this time, i.e. in the south of the land of Canaan. He considered that at this point entry into the land of Canaan would not present any difficulty and they would not have to travel around the country inn order to enter from a more distant location.

וישלח אותם משה, Moses sent them on their way, etc. Why did the Torah need to write the first half of this verse; we have heard about this both in verse 3 and in verse 16? Perhaps the verse was meant to tell us that Moses accompanied them a short distance when they departed as this is a halachic requirement. The Torah speaks about לתור to indicate that Moses warned the spies that they were engaged in a dangerous mission.

עלו זה בנגב, “ascend here in the south.” According to the Zohar Shelach 160, Moses gave them his staff to act as protection for them. This is based on a [somewhat tenuous Ed.] comparison between the words ואת המטה הזה, in Exodus 4,17 and the words עלו זה in our verse.

This was the worst. For Egypt is to the south of the Land of Israel, and one going from there to the Land of Israel is traveling northwards. One must therefore say that the “south” mentioned here is the south of the Land of Israel, and Chevron is there and it was set aside for the burial of the dead being the most inferior of places in the Land. Re’m.

V. 17. לתור את ארץ כנען, sie sollten das Land als ארץ כנען in seiner jetzigen Beschaffenheit, als Boden der kenaanitischen Bevölkerung erkunden. — עלו זה wörtlich: ersteiget dies hier. Es ist für eure Sendung gleichgültig, von wo aus ihr in das Land eintretet. בנגב: sie befanden sich im Südosten von Palästina. — ועליתם את ההר: der הר האמרי, an welchen sie gelangt waren (Dewarim 1, 20).

עלו זה בנגב, “ascend from this point in the south!” Kadesh was at the southernmost part of the land of Israel. (Ibn Ezra)

According to the commentators Moses revealed the secret of the 12-lettered name of G’d to the spies, the word זה having a numerical value of 12 and being a reminder of when G’d had said to Moses: זה שמי לעולם, “My name is זה forever” (Exodus 3,15). All of this was to help them maintain unity and to protect them against the giants in the land.

ועליתם את ההר, “and climb up into the mountains.” Once you have seen the land from the mountains, it will be easier to conquer its lowlands. (B’chor shor)