Comentário sobre Deuteronômio 1:23

וייטב בעיני הדבר AND THE MATTER WAS GOOD IN MY SIGHT — in my sight, said Moses, but not in the sight of the Omnipresent God. — But if it was good in Moses' sight why did he mention it in these reproofs? A parable! It may he compared to the case of a man who says to his fellow, "Sell me this ass of yours”. He replies to him, "Yes”. He asks him, "Will you give it to me on trial?” He replies: "Yes”. — "May I try it on hills and mountains?” Again he replies, "Yes" — When he sees that he puts no obstacles in his way, the would-be purchaser says to himself: “This man is quite confident that I shall not find any defect in it", and he at once says to him, “Take your money, I need not now put it to trial”. I, too, consented to your words, thinking that you would perhaps turn back on yourselves (re-consider the question of sending spies) when you saw that I put no obstacle in your way, but you did not re-consider (Sifrei Devarim 21:1).

AND I TOOK TWELVE MEN OF YOU. He did not praise them as being princes [of their tribes]¹⁰¹Ibid., Verse 2. and their being leaders of the children of Israel,¹⁰²Ibid., Verse 3. for, since they acted wickedly, he would not speak in praise of wicked men.

וייטב בעיני הדבר, I thought that none of you would not believe G’d when He had said that He would bring you to that country and that it was a good land and that you would be able with His help to conquer it. I believed that the thought behind your desire to send out spies was not that you wanted to see if you could conquer it, but that you wanted to select for yourselves the best sections of the land, and that this was what you had in mind when you said (verse 22) “the cities which we will come to.” This seemed totally reasonable, since you were aware that the conquest would not be immediately of the whole country, seeing G’d had told us this in Exodus 23,29.

וייטב בעיני הדבר, "the matter was pleasing in my eyes." Moses meant that the reason the people advanced for dispatching the spies, i.e. to spy out the country, seemed to be a valid reason in his eyes. Yalkut Shimoni on the relevant verse in Parshat Shlach Lecha explains that the spies wanted to find out where the Canaanites had hidden their valuables, etc. The word בעיני, "in my eyes," with the emphasis on the suffix "my," means that Moses meant to say: "inasmuch as I only have eyes of flesh and blood, I was deceived; anyone who viewed things objectively would have perceived your real intent." Please compare what I have written on this subject in connection with Numbers 13,2.

ואקח מכם שנים עשר אנשים, “I selected from amongst you twelve men, etc.” Moses did not mention any titles these spies had been distinguished with, seeing that after they had disgraced themselves and led their peers into sin one is not allowed to make any complimentary remarks about the wicked.

וייטב בעיני הדבר, “the matter appeared good (worthwhile) in my eyes.” Moses felt that seeing the entire people were in agreement it was probably all right. The word בעיני, “in my eyes,” makes it clear that the suggestion did not find favour in G’d’s eyes. This is why, when G’d related to the project He told Moses: שלח לך, “send for yourself,” i.e. “not on My behalf. I am not ordering you to do this.”

From the choicest among you. Otherwise, why is “from you,” needed?

שנים עשר אנשים, “twelve men;” on this Rashi comments that there was no representative of the tribe of Levi among these 12 men. The reason was that they would not inherit any ancestral land in Eretz Yisrael, as I have already explained on Numbers 13,16.

ואקח מכם AND I TOOK OF YOU — of the choicest that were amongst you, of the finest that were amongst you (Sifrei Devarim 21:2).

I took from you. Since the stated purposed was to spy out how to conquer the land, it would have been better to hire non-Jewish spies who were experts in war and conquest… However Moshe Rabbeinu knew that by the laws of nature it would be difficult to conquer, without strength of faith and trust in Hashem, along with a desire to inherit the good land. This would have been impossible for foreigners to understand, so the spies had to be “from you.”… He also thought that the spies would become strengthened and hearty from their expedition, like Calev when he entered Chevron, and through this they would know that they would succeed in conquering the land.

From the finest among you. The word המסולתין is from the word סולת (fine flour) [Figuratively meaning, “the finest”].

שנים עשר אנשים איש אחד לשבט [AND I TOOK] … TWELVE MEN, ONE MAN FOR A TRIBE — This (the statement: “twelve men”) tells us that the tribe of Levi was not with them in this request (Sifrei Devarim 21:3; cf. Rashi on Numbers 31:4).

This tells us that the tribe of Levi was not among them. Otherwise, there should be thirteen men, as the tribes of Ephraim and Menasha are counted separately. Re”m writes: This explanation is perplexing, since without the verse [specifying], “twelve men,” we would know this. For in Parshas Shlach Lecha (Bamidbar Ch. 13), all the tribal leaders are enumerated, and the tribe of Levi is not included with them. Re”m leaves this question unresolved. It seems to me that the verse [specifying], “twelve men,” is teaching us that the tribe of Levi did not even participate [in devising the plan of the spies]. According to this, it fits well that Rashi does not say, “The tribe of Levi did not go with them,” for this was already written above in Parshas Shlach Lecha.