Musar sobre Números 14:37

[Likewise] one who put out a bad name (on someone else), as it is stated (Numbers 14:37), “And those who spread such calumnies about the land died of plague in front of the Lord.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Arakhin 15a) [that] if the punishment for one who puts out a bad name on the land is death, all the more so for one who puts out a bad name on a fellow Israelite - who is obligated in Torah and the commandments. And it is stated (Deuteronomy 22:19), “And they shall fine him a hundred [shekels of] silver and give it to the girl’s father; for the man has put out a bad name, etc.” Behold, the verse did not mention his sin about having tried to take the life of the woman, and causing her to be killed in court with false witnesses that he brought about her [fabricated] harlotry; yet it mentioned the iniquity of putting out a bad name! For it is a greater iniquity than one seeking to squelch a life, as the pain of the shame is more bitter than death. And so did our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, say that he is liable lashes and [a fine] for putting out a bad name, not for having sought to kill her. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Yerushalmi Bava Kamma 8:7) that one who puts out a bad name with words about a blemish in the family is never able to atone. For it is not enough for him to get pardoned by those still alive, as he caused the shame and disgrace of their forebears that gave him birth. And we will still add more to its explanation [when we explain] the severity of the four death penalties [of the court].

We also find that the spies, because of the sin of lashon hara, died an unnatural death, as it is written (Sotah 35a) (Bamidbar 14:37): "And they died, the men who had uttered an evil report of the land, etc." R. Shimon b. Lakish said: "They died an unnatural death." And it is stated there in the Gemara: "We are hereby taught that their tongues descended to their navels, and worms left their mouths onto their tongues, and from their tongues they descended to their navels."