Комментарий к Бамидбар 13:19

הבמחנים — The Targum rendering is: “whether in open places” i.e. in cities open and exposed — without a wall.

WHETHER IT IS GOOD OR BAD. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented [that the meaning thereof is that they are to see] “if the Land is good, namely that its air is good, and its waters are good.” Then Moses continued, whether it is fat,²⁴Further, Verse 20. meaning “capable of producing wheat” and many fruits.
The correct interpretation is that whether it is ‘good’ includes all good things, and in the word ra’ah [or ‘bad’] are included all evils. [If so, the question arises why Moses continued with the apparently superfluous command to find out whether the Land is fat or lean, since it is already included in the phrases good and bad?] It is possible, however, that a good land is fruitful and its fruits are fat, and it produces fat products such as balsam and oil,⁴³Ezekiel 27:17. dates and figs and similar things. But [it is also possible] that it is good and yet lean, and always needs rain, and must be hoed and fertilized very much, and its fruits have a tendency to be dry although they are better and last longer than the fat ones. In such a land are to be found very many “lean” fruits, such as nuts, almonds, apples, carobs and fruits of the forests. Thus [by saying that the spies are to ascertain whether the Land is fat or lean Moses] meant “whether it is a fat land, as valleys are, or a lean land like the mountains.” Onkelos, however, translated [whether it is fat or lean as] “whether it is rich or poor,” for there are countries whose inhabitants are rich because of the low prices prevalent among them, and their neighbors trade with them in all the good things found among them, and there are some countries whose inhabitants are dependent upon their neighbors and their inhabitants are of small power,⁴⁴II Kings 19:26. although they are good [lands] and not at all bad.
‘And be ye of good courage’, and bring [of the fruit of the Land]. This means that they are not to be afraid when taking of the fruit of the Land that they might be recognized by the people as spies.

הטובה היא, was the water supply plentiful and not contaminated. Moses had stressed in Deuteronomy 8,7 that G’d was bringing the people to a location which was “good” in the sense that it possessed brooks and rivers with pure water.

ומה הארץ אשר הוא יושב בה, "and what is the earth like that the people dwell on." In this verse Moses referred to the infrastructure and standard of living that the spies would find in the land of Canaan. Were the houses the people lived in of sound construction? Were their chattels of good quality, etc? We will find in Deut. 6,10 that Moses describes the towns and houses the Israelites would inherit in the land of Canaan as of good quality. Moses asked the spies also to find out whether the towns were planned defensively, i.e. as fortresses surrounded by walls or whether they were open cities, as these factors had great bearing on the beauty of the respective towns. Bamidbar Rabbah 17 claims that Moses gave the spies a sign suggesting that fortified cities were an indication that its inhabitants felt insecure, etc. whereas open cities testified to the people's confidence in their ability to repel any potential intruder. This is pure homiletics. The plain meaning of the words is that the questions all related to the quality of the land and that Moses took it for granted that the people were of exceptionally great physique and included giants. One did not have to send out spies to find out this well known fact. The only reason Moses referred to the physical prowess of the people was to emphasise the miracle G'd would perform in disinheriting these people of their land.

ומה הארץ אשר הוא יושב, seeing that the words ומה הארץ of which we said that they referred to the parts of the country which the invaders would face immediately, an area not populated, now the Torah refers to other parts of the land of Canaan which were fully populated. Hence the words:

הטובה היא אם רעה, “if it is good or bad, etc.” Nachmanides quotes Ibn Ezra as interpreting the word טובה as referring to the climate in the land of Canaan, and as describing the country’s water supply as offering clear and unpolluted water for its inhabitants. When asking the spies to determine if the land was שמנה, fat, Moses referred to the quality of its produce, in particular the quality of its wheat. Nachmanides holds that the word טובה is an all encompassing word describing the sum total of what the land had to offer, whereas the word רעה refers to any negative aspects that this land presented to potential conquerors. It is possible that the expression ארץ טובה referred to the land and its produce being שמנה, good, yielding especially rich flour and its figs and dates being especially rich in flavour. Another possible meaning of the words טובה and רעה may refer to the rainfall, i.e. if the land enjoyed adequate natural rains or if the soil needed to be supplemented with water from rivers of cisterns. It is also possible that both the word טובה and רזה referred to “lean” fruit such as walnuts, carobs, etc, as opposed to the seven types of fruit for which the land was famous, including grapes, olives, pomegranates dates, etc. However, Onkelos translates the words as עתירא and מסכנא respectively, which would mean “wealthy” and “poor,” respectively. Onkelos understands Moses as referring to the inhabitants of the land rather than to the land itself. These countries are self sufficient, their soil supplying all their needs so that they do not need to import any necessities, whereas their neighbours may be relatively poor because they have to import necessities, which is far more costly.

V. 19. ומה הארץ אשר הוא ישב בה ist die Frage nach der Bedeutung des Landes als Menschenboden. Oben heißt es: ואת העם הישב עליה, es betrachtet die Bewohner getrennt vom Boden, wie sie sich auf ihm entwickeln. Hier lautet die Frage: ומה הארץ אשר הוא ישב בה sie betrachtet die Bevölkerung im Lande, wie sie sich umfangen von allen den durch die Eigentümlichkeit des Landes gegebenen Einflüssen gestaltet, und fragt nach dem Werte des Landes als Pflanzstätte einer nationalen Entfaltung, הטובה היא אם רעה, ob es in dieser Beziehung "gut oder schlecht" sei, ob es dem geistigen und sittlichen Kulturleben eines Volkes förderlich oder hinderlich sei. Wir erinnern an den Erfahrungssatz der Weisen: אוירא רא י מחכים (B. B. 158 b). — מחנים .ומה הערים וגו׳ und מבצרים scheinen denselben Gegensatz zu bezeichnen, wie Wajikra 25, 29 u. 31, עיר חומה und מחנים .חצרים אשר אין להם חומה: offene Städte, מבצרים: feste Städte, nur dass diese Verschiedenheit hier zunächst in ihrer strategischen Bedeutung begriffen ist. Die offene Stadt ist dem Feinde gegenüber ein מחנה, dessen Verteidigung lediglich in der Tapferkeit der Leute beruht. Die ummauerte Stadt hingegen ist: מבצר, eine schwer einnehmbare Örtlichkeit (vergl. Bereschit 11, 6). Sam. I. 6, 18 werden die Städte der Philister in einem solchen Gegensatz zusammengefasst: מעיר מבצר ועד כפר הפרזי. Im מ׳׳רבות wird das Wohnen in offenen Städten als Zeichen der Tapferkeit begriffen und Festungen als Zeichen feiger Schwäche: מנין אתם יודעים כחם? אם במנים הם שרויין הם גבורין בוטחין על כחם אם במבצרים חלשים הם ולבם רך Da die offenen Städte nach Wajikra 25, 31 על שדה הארץ יחשבzum offenen Felde gerechnet wurden, so ist damit kultur-historisch eine wesentliche Verschiedenheit durch die Verschiedenheit der Beschäftigung der Bewohner gegeben, wie wir dies in Wajikra 25, 34 zu entwickeln versucht.

אם רעה, “or if it is bad;” if the land is pleasant (climatewise). or if its waters are bad and cause bereavement. In reply to these questions the spies upon returning, answered Moses that the land devoured its inhabitants. (verse 32).

הטובה הוא WHETHER IT IS GOOD, through possessing springs and other good and healthy supplies of water.

הבמחנים, if they lived in open cities, a sign that they felt secure, not expecting any war,

בארץ אשר הם יושבים בה הטובה היא אם רעה, if the land produces ample harvests so that the invaders would be able to supply themselves with locally grown produce instead of bringing the food supply with them.

אם במבצרים, or in walled, fortified towns, suggesting that the inhabitants were afraid of being invaded. Compare Devorah’s song in Judges 5,7 where she bemoans the fact that her people had ceased to live in open cities.

הבמחנים, whether the inhabitants live in open cities or in fortresses. All this kind of information was needed so that they would know to take with them the tools needed to lay siege to fortresses, for instance.