Midrasz do Liczb 13:17

(Numb. 13:17:) WHEN MOSES SENT THEM…. <THEN HE SAID UNTO THEM:> GO UP HERE INTO THE NEGEB. Why <first> INTO THE NEGEB?²⁹Tanh., Numb. 4:6, cont.; Numb. R. 16:12. Because this is what the {drovers} [merchants] do. They show the inferior goods first, and after that they show the best. (Vs. 18:) AND YOU ARE TO SEE WHAT THE LAND IS LIKE. Three times did Moses tell them: Look over the land of Israel (in vss: 18, 19, 20). There is land that raises strong men, and there is <land> that raises weaklings. There is also <land> that raises armies,³⁰Gk.: Ochloi. and there is <land> that diminishes armies. Thus did he charge them. (Numb. 13:18 & 20:) AS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DWELL IN IT, ARE THEY MIGHTY <OR> WEAK? ARE THEY FEW OR MANY? < … > AND WHAT OF THE LAND? IT IS FERTILE OR LEAN? And how will you know about their strength? If they dwell in camps, they are mighty and depend upon their strength; but if they are in strongholds, they are weak and have fearful hearts. (Numb. 13:20:) AND WHAT OF THE LAND? IT IS FERTILE OR LEAN? <How do we determine> whether its fruits are light or fat. He said to them: Look at its stones and pebbles. If they are of flint, they are fat; and if they are of clay, they are lean. (Ibid., cont.:) NOW THE TIME WAS THE TIME FOR THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE GRAPES. From here you learn that <the month of> Tammuz is never without figs and grapes.

11 (Numb. 13:17) “Then he said unto them, ‘Go up here into the Negeb’”: “Go up,” since [they are] a people who go up. R. Berekhyah the Priest Berabbi said (according to vs. 22), “They found the three sons of Anak there, ‘Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai.’¹²Cf. Sot. 34b. Why was the name of [the first] called Ahiman? Because he said, ‘My brother (ahi), who (man) will come against me?’ [Why] Sheshai (shyshy)? Because he was as sound as marble (shysh). [Why] Talmai?¹³Talmay, which means, “my furrows.” Because he went and made furrows (telamim) in the earth.”¹⁴I.e., with his heavy steps. (Ibid., cont.) “The children of the Anak ('nq)”: (He was called that] because he wore (rt.: 'nq) the sun around his neck.¹⁵According to Zeev Wolf’s commentary on Numb. R. 16:11, they were so tall that the sun seemed to rest on their heads. When the spies saw them they were afraid. Immediately they went and said (in vs. 31), “for they are stronger than we (which can also be read as, than He).” Resh Laqish said, “They compared them to the Above. Because of this transgression harsh decrees were issued against them.” What does the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Jeremiah? “Go, say to them, ‘You do not know what you have brought out from your mouth, as stated (in Jer. 11:16), “with the sound of a great tumult you have lit fire to it, and you have broken its boughs.” What did you cause to yourselves “with the sound of a great tumult” that you said, “you have lit fire to it.” “You will carry your sins one day for each year”’” (Numbers 14:34). They said (in Numb. 13:33), “And in our own eyes we were like grasshoppers.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I forgave them for that [remark]; but I was exacting [when they said] (ibid., cont.), ‘And so we were in their eyes.’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Did you know what I made you in their eyes? Who would say that you were not like angels in their eyes?” What had they brought upon themselves? (Numb. 14:34,) “According to the number of days that you explored the land […] forty years.” As though this was not enough, they did not even enter the land. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “In this world,¹⁶This form usually denotes the end of a parashah, but it does not do so here. because the representatives (literally, those sent) were of flesh and blood, it has been decreed over them that they should not enter the land; but in the world to come I will suddenly send My angel (mal'akh), and he shall clear a way.” It is so stated (in Mal. 3:1), “Behold, I am sending My messenger (mal'akh) to clear a way before Me, and [the Lord whom you seek] shall suddenly come unto his Temple.”

12 (Numb. 13:17) “When Moses sent them […] then he said unto them, ‘Go up here into the Negeb”: Why [first] into the Negeb? Because this is what the merchants do. They show the inferior goods first, and after that they show the best. (Vs. 18) “And you are to see what the land is like”: Three times did Moses tell them, “look over the Land of Israel” (in vss. 18, 19, 20). Why? The first, he said, “See what the land is.” He said to them, “Observe the land. There is land that raises strong men, and there is [land] that raises weaklings. There is also [land] that raises armies,¹⁷Gk.: Ochloi. and there is [land] that diminishes armies.” Thus did he charge them (in Numb. 13:18), “as for the people who dwell in it, are they mighty [or] weak?” (Numb. 13:19) “And what of the land, is it good or bad […]?” And how will you know about their strength? (Numb 13:19 cont.) “Are they in camps or in strongholds”: If they dwell in camps, they are mighty and depend upon their strength; but if they are in strongholds, they are weak and have fearful hearts. (Numb. 13:20) “And what of the land, Is it fertile [or lean]”: [How do we determine] whether its fruits are light or fat. He said to them, “Look at its stones and pebbles. If they are of flint, they are fat; and if they are of clay, they are lean.” (Ibid., cont.) “Now the time was the time for the first-fruits of the grapes”: From here you learn that [the month of] Tammuz is never without figs and grapes.

R. Elazar says: These are not the Mount Eival and Mount Gerizim between the Cuthites, it being written "Are they not across the Jordan" — near the Jordan. "after the way of the coming of the sun" — the place where the sun sets. "in the land of the Canaani": But is it not the land of the Chivi? "who inhabits the plain": But do they not dwell among mountains and hills? "opposite Gilgal": But is the Gilgal not seen from there? — R. Eliezer b. Yaakov says: The purpose of Scripture (here) is (not to give an exact description, but) to teach them the way to return as he showed them in the beginning (viz. Bamidbar 13:17-20), viz. ("after the way") — Go by the way (i.e., by the beaten path) and do not go through the fields. "who inhabits" — Go through the habitation and not through the desert. "in the plain" — Go by way of the plain and not by way of the mountains.