Комментарий к Бамидбар 14:3

AND WHY DOTH THE ETERNAL BRING US UNTO THIS LAND, TO FALL BY THE SWORD? OUR WIVES AND OUR LITTLE ONES WILL BE A PREY. They did not mention the false report [of the spies] about the Land, saying that the Land miscarrieth⁷³II Kings 2:19. and is bad, because the people hid this statement [of the spies] from Moses, since the delegates themselves had not said so when they brought back word to him and to all the congregation,⁸⁶Above, 13:26. for Moses and Aaron would have testified against them that they spoke falsely. The spies themselves hid this from Moses, fully realizing that he knew the nature of the Land from Egypt and Midian which are near to it, as I have explained.⁸⁷At the beginning of this Seder. Therefore the spies [only] told the people this evil report in their tents, in a secretive manner.
Now Moses said in the Book of Deuteronomy: And they brought us back word, and said: ‘Good is the Land which the Eternal our G-d giveth unto us.’ Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Eternal your G-d.⁸⁸Deuteronomy 1:25-26. The meaning thereof is that the spies did [indeed] tell Moses and Aaron and all the congregation that the Land is good,⁸⁸Deuteronomy 1:25-26. and surely it floweth with milk and honey,⁸⁹Above, 13:27. and the people rebelled against the commandment of the Eternal in not wanting to go up because of the statement [of the spies] that the people that dwell in the Land are fierce⁹⁰Ibid., Verse 28. — for G-d hath power to help, and to cast down,⁹¹II Chronicles 25:8. as is stated clearly there, The Eternal your G-d Who goeth before you, He shall fight for you.⁹²Deuteronomy 1:30. Therefore, since there was nothing to deter them [in the Land itself] except for the strength of the people, they should have trusted in the Name of G-d, for the battle is the Eternal’s.⁹³I Samuel 17:47. And we do not have to say [as does Rashi] that Moses said this [And ‘they’ brought us back word, and said, ‘Good is the Land etc.’] only about Joshua and Caleb, for why should the people listen to two [spies] and not believe [the report of] the ten!⁹⁴But according to Ramban, even the ten spies only spread an evil report about the Land in the people’s tents, secretly, but in the presence of Moses they all spoke well about it. Hence the word they in the verse, and ‘they’ brought us back word, and said: ‘Good is the Land etc.’ (Deuteronomy 1:25) refers to all the spies. Moreover it says there [in Deuteronomy 1: 23]: and I took twelve men of you, and it is with reference to [all twelve of] them that he [Moses] said, and they brought us back word.⁹⁵Ibid.

ולמה ה' מביא אותנו, what sin did we commit against Him that He made the effort to bring us to this crisis by using you two as His instruments? They thought that these present troubles were all retribution for the abominable things they had been doing while in Egypt, or on account of some other cause they were not aware of which had caused G’d to hate them. We know that they had concluded that G’d must hate them from their own words in Deuteronomy 1,27: “because G’d hates us He took us out of Egypt in order to deliver us into the hands of the Emorite.”

ולמה ה' מביא אותנו אל הארץ הזאת לנפול בחרב, “and why does Hashem bring us to this land to fall victim to the sword?” The people did not describe the land negatively, as had the spies to them, as they did not want to reveal to Moses that the spies had described the land as consuming its inhabitants. They did not do so, as the spies themselves had not voiced that sentiment in the presence of Moses and the whole community. They were well aware that Moses had first hand knowledge of the land of Canaan from the time he had been raised in Pharaoh’s palace, and the years he had spent in Midian, a land bordering on the land of Canaan. Had they stated as fact the accusation of the spies that the land consumed its inhabitants, Moses himself would have called them liars, testifying that he knew different. This is also why the spies had not dared to voice such an accusation in Moses’ presence. In fact, when Moses recalls the events which happened here almost 40 years later in Deuteronomy, he phrased it as follows: “וישיבו אותנו דבר ויאמרו 'טובה הארץ מאד אשר ה' אלוקינו נותן לנו', “they brought back word to us and they said “the land Hashem is giving us is very good.” Moses continues there saying that in spite of this “לא אביתם לעלות ותמרו את פי ה', “you did not want to ascend and you rebelled against G’d’s command.” (Compare Deut. 1,25-26) According to what had transpired in public the only reason that the people did not want to ascend was that the people in that land had been described as עז, powerful. Seeing that the only reason the people refused to ascend was that they were afraid of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan they displayed a lack of trust in Hashem who had up unto that moment overcome every obstacle that had lain in their path. There is no need to understand the people’s refusal as a lack of confidence in Joshua’s and Calev dissenting report, as if that were the issue, why should the people accept 2 men’s views over that of a clear majority of 10? The Torah had written that Moses had dispatched 12 men, so that when he referred to their report in Deut. 1,25 he clearly referred to the majority report.

!הלא טוב לנו לשוב מצרימה, “would it not be better for us to return to Egypt!” When an Israelite died in Egypt, at least he had someone to leave his estate to either to children, relatives, or at least to friends. Who could he leave it to in the desert? It would all go to the enemy.