Shabbat Parashat Shelach - 5786

Shabbat Parashat Shelach - 5786

Rabbi Hal Miller

  See the land, what is it, and the people that dwells in it, is it strong or weak, is

  it few or numerous? [Bamidbar 13:18]

  And how is the land in which it dwells, is it good or bad, and how are the cities

  in which it dwells, is it in open cities or in fortified cities? [Bamidbar 13:19]

What was the purpose of the sending out of the spies? There are two obvious options, but which was the intent of God and Moshe? The first option is that the people were about to begin the conquest, so 'spies' might be expected to make observations leading toward a successful military campaign. The second option is that the people were concerned over whether this land was worth fighting for after traveling forty years in the desert with free food. Overwhelmingly, the commentators explain that the true intent was to the second option, not the military one, and the verses back this up rather clearly. So where does the popular answer of military purposes fit in?

Rashbam on verses 13:18 and 19 gives the military campaign answer. He reads 18 as asking for an evaluation of the fighting ability of the people there so that "the army can plan the initial campaign" and 19 about the follow-on campaign, in particular as to whether the army will be able to live off the land or must bring supplies with them. Sforno explains the question about fortified cities to refer to whether the peoples were expecting an invasion.

But most commentators disagree with Rashbam and Sforno. Rashi for example says that Moshe was asking in these verses about the quality of the land to determine whether the Jewish people would be able to be strong and increase in population, or weak and decrease. He says that Moshe gave the spies a sign, that if the cities were unwalled, the people there must be strong enough to rely upon their arms for defense, but that if the cities were walled the people must be weak. Ibn Ezra understands in 19 "is it good or bad" to refer to "climate and water", which Ramban generalizes to all types of goodness and badness.

Rav Hirsch explains 18 about seeing the land to tell the topographical state, so they would know where they will need to irrigate and where is best for animals. Regarding the people, he understands the command to be to determine their spiritual and moral qualities, which should help the Jews to understand the need for the conquest. He reads 19 to be asking about how the indigent peoples have adapted to the specifics of the land on which they live, which Or HaChayim defines as standard of living. All of this is designed to help the Jews get settled quickly by making use of what their predecessors learned about life in the land.

Malbim clearly shuts down the argument for a military explanation. He writes, "Moshe told his agents explicity that their task was to tour the land and to scout out its goodness, not to spy it out militarily." He then reviews Moshe's words directing the task, "Enter it from the south and ascend the mountain" and explains that the Jews could not launch an attack from the south because Amalek lived there. Ascending a mountain is a difficult thing to do in battle, so again the Jews would not be planning an invasion campaign doing that. As Malbim writes, "if they were looking for weak spots they should have chosen different way in." He notes that if the project had been for military purposes, there would have been no reason to tell the spies to tour the entire land and look at the agricultural aspects.

The idea that the spies were to map out the conquering of the land seems to stem only from Rashbam and from allusion based on the English word 'spies'. These spies would certainly have gained some knowledge toward a military purpose during their travels, but the real reason for that trip was for the Jews to understand how they would go about living in the land.