SEND THOU MEN. Scripture records that God told Israel: go up, take possession (Deut. 1:21)¹ and Israel answered: Let us send men before us (Deut. 1:22).² God then said, Send thou men.³

footnotes: ¹ Of the land of Canaan. ² Thus it appears that the spies were sent to Canaan in response to Israel’s request. However, our Torah portion seems to imply that Moses sent spies to Canaan in response to God’s command. ³ In other words, what is reported in our verse was in response to Israel’s request reported in Deut. 1:21,22.

The meaning of men is, men known for their might. The same applies to all of them men⁴ (v. 3) and to be thou [Solomon] strong and show thyself a man⁵ is: and show thyself to be a man of valor. (I Kings 2:2), for he [Solomon] was a man.⁶ cannot be taken literally.

footnotes: ⁴ Its meaning is, all of them were men known for their might. ⁵ The meaning of and show thyself a man ⁶ Thus and show thyself to be man

THAT THEY MAY SPY OUT. The meaning of ve-yaturu (that they may spy out) is that they may search out. Compare, ve-lo taturu⁷ as: and you shall not search out after what your eyes see. (and that ye go not about) (Num. 15:39).

footnotes: ⁷ I.E. renders ve-lo taturu

EVERY ONE A PRINCE AMONG THEM. Kol nasi ba-hem⁸ is to be interpreted: each one was a prince among them.⁹ is short for kol ehad hu nasi be-hem. On the other hand, the word ehad mentioned earlier in our verse also applies here.¹⁰ is not missing in our text, and kol echad nasi ba-hem is not short for kol echad hu nasi ba-hem. There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference between the two interpretations offered by I.E. See Filwarg and Krinsky. Compare, And two men, captains of bands, were [captains of] the son of Saul¹¹ (II Sam. 4:2).¹² (sare) bands, were captains of the son of Saul, for captains of (sare) is to be read as if written twice. There are many such examples.¹³

footnotes: ⁸ Literally, every prince among them. Hence I.E.’s comment. ⁹ In other words, kol nasi ba-hem ¹⁰ Thus the word ehad ¹¹ Translated literally. ¹² This verse is to be interpreted: And two men, captains of ¹³ Where a word in a verse is to be read as if written twice in a verse. See I.E. on Gen. 6: 13 (Vol. 1., p. 100, note 36).

[THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE MEN.] The reason that Scripture states, these are the names of the men, after earlier stating, And these were their names (v. 4),¹⁴ after And these were their names appears redundant. Hence I.E. comment. is to teach us that, unlike Hoshea,¹⁵ their names were never changed.

footnotes: ¹⁴ These are the names of the men ¹⁵ Whose name was changed to Joshua (v. 16).

GET YOU UP HERE INTO THE SOUTH. Get you up this way in the south.¹⁶ is to be rendered: get you up this way i n the south (of the land of Canaan). The literal meaning of alu zeh ba-negev is: get you up this into the south. Hence I.E.’s comment. It is known that Egypt is south of the land of Israel, as I have explained in the Book of Daniel.¹⁷ The following is proof of this. Egypt is less than thirty degrees north of the equator.¹⁸, a term referring to the distance of a plane to the equator. Jerusalem is thirty-three degrees north of the equator.¹⁹ The desert of Paran²⁰ is south of the land of Canaan.²¹ Observe that the meaning of in the South²². is not south of the camp²³ but in the south of the land of Canaan. Proof of the aforementioned is that Scripture tells us concerning Hebron, which belonged to the tribe of Judah, Judah shall abide in his border on the south (Josh. 18:5).²⁴

footnotes: ¹⁶ In other words, alu zeh ba-negev ¹⁷ See I.E. on Dan. 11:5. ¹⁸ Hebrew, rochav ¹⁹ See above. ²⁰ Where Israel was encamped when Moses sent out the spies. ²¹ The text reads, south of the land of Egypt. Paran was the place where Israel was when it sent out the spies. Geographically speaking, Paran is not south of Egypt. It is north of Egypt and lies between Egypt and Canaan. Hence a number of commentaries suggest emending the text to read, the wilderness of Paran is south of the land of Israel, or the wilderness of Paran is north of the land of Egypt. See Filwarg, Weiser, Krinsky, and Meijler. ²² Hebrew, ba-negev ²³ For taking a road south of the camp would lead them back into Egypt, as Paran is north of Egypt. ²⁴ We thus see that the south (the Negev) is a district in the Land of Israel.

AND SEE THE LAND, WHAT IT IS. And the people, what is it?²⁵ (what is it) is carried over from ha-aretz (and the land) to ha-am (the people). Thus our text is to be read as if written, et ha-aretz mah hi vet ha-am ma hu (the land, what it is and the people what is it,) i.e., what is their nature.

footnotes: ²⁵ In other words, the term ma hi

WHETHER THEY ARE STRONG. In battle. Scripture then²⁶ goes on to explain, and see the land. It says, and what the land is…whether it is good, that is, whether its air and water are good.

footnotes: ²⁶ In verse 19.

WHETHER IN CAMPS. Like the Kederites,²⁷ who live in tents.

footnotes: ²⁷ An Ishmaelite tribe. See Gen. 25:13; Ps. 120:5.

WHETHER IT IS FAT. In producing wheat.

[AND CAME UNTO HEBRON.] Our sages of blessed memory said that and came refers to Caleb the son of Jephunneh,²⁸ 34b. Also see Rashi. And came (va-yavo) is in the singular. Hence the rabbinic interpretation. for each one of the men went to a different part of the country.²⁹

footnotes: ²⁸ Sotah ²⁹ Hence Caleb could visit Hebron by himself.

ZOAN IN EGYPT. Zoan is the name of a city in Egypt.³⁰ literally, Zoan Egypt. Now a proper name does not come in the construct. Hence I.E. points out that here it does, contrary to the rule. According to I.E. tzo’an mitzrayim is short for tzo’an shel mitzrayim, Zoan of Egypt. Of Beth-lehem Judah³¹ (Ruth 1:1)³² is similar.³³ Some say that the word tzo’an (Zoan) is connected to the word yitzan (be removed) in A tent that shall not be removed (Is. 33:20).³⁴ as meaning the establishment of Egypt However, this is farfetched.

footnotes: ³⁰ Our verse reads, tzo’an mitzrayim ³¹ Translated literally. ³² The meaning of which is Beth-lehem of Judah. ³³ Here too two common nouns are in the construct, for Beth-lehem Judah is short for Beth-lehem of Judah. ³⁴ These commentaries interpret tzo’an mitzrayim

Scripture mentions Hebron in order to tell us that Hebron came into being before Zoan.

UNTO THE VALLEY OF ESHCOL. These are the words of Moses.³⁵ It is possible that it is similar to and pursued as far as Dan (Gen. 14:14) in that it had another name.³⁶

footnotes: ³⁵ The valley of Eshcol was not yet so called when the spies came there. However, Moses called it by the name which the Israelites later used in referring to it. ³⁶ Dan had two names, Dan and Layish (Jud. 18:29). However, Moses in writing the Torah used the name by which Israel referred to it. So too Nahal Eshcol had another name, and Moses used the name that the Israelites used. For other interpretations, see Filwarg and Meijler.

WAS CALLED. Kara (was called) is to be rendered, someone called.³⁷ Compare, whom she bore to Levi³⁸ (Num. 26:59).³⁹ has to be rendered whom somebody bore.

footnotes: ³⁷ Our verse literally reads, called that place Nahal Eshcol. Scripture omits the subject. Hence I.E. says that “called” is short for “the caller called,” that is, someone called. ³⁸ Translated literally. ³⁹ Here too Scripture does not identify the subject. Thus who she bore

[AT THE END.] The word mi-ketz (at the end) sometimes means at the beginning and sometimes means at the end.⁴⁰ Mi-ketz arba’im yom (and the end of forty days) probably means at the start of the fortieth day.⁴¹

footnotes: ⁴⁰ See I.E. on Deut. 14:28; 31:10. ⁴¹ According to the Torah, God decreed that Israel spend a year in the desert for each day that the spies spent in Canaan. Now Israel spent 39 years in the desert (see Rashi on 14:33). Hence I.E. assumes that the spies spent 39 days in Canaan (Filwarg).

AND THEY WENT. This informs us that they did not go to their tents, which were in the camp, but immediately went [to Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation].

AND BROUGHT BACK WORD. To Moses and Aaron.

AND THEY TOLD HIM. They told Moses, for he was the most important one.

AND CALEB STILLED THE PEOPLE. Rabbi Jonah the grammarian says that the meaning of va-yahas (and…stilled) is: and he said be still (hasu).

AND THEY SPREAD AN EVIL REPORT OF THE LAND. Va-yotzi’u dibbat ha-aretz (and they spread an evil report) means: and they spread a lie. This is not the meaning of va-yave yosef et dibbatam ra (and Joseph brought evil report of them) (Gen. 37:2), for va-yave (brought) is the reverse of va-yotzi (and they spread).⁴² follows va- yave, it refers to the truth. When it follows va-yotzi, it refers to a lie.

footnotes: ⁴² For there the report was true. In other words, when dibbatam

EVIL REPORT. The word dibbah (evil report) comes from a double root.⁴³, even though it is spelled dalet, bet, heh, which, prima facie, appears to be its root. It comes from the same root as the word dovev (moving gently) in Moving gently the lips of those that are asleep (Cant. 7:10). I have explained it in its place.⁴⁴ means to speak. It is possible the word dibbah is similar.” In other words, both dovev and dibbah refer to speech.

footnotes: ⁴³ Its root is dalet, bet, bet ⁴⁴ Compare, I.E. on Cant. 7:10, “Dovev

EATETH UP THE INHABITANTS THEREOF. For its air is bad.

MEN OF GREAT STATURE.⁴⁵ (literally, men of measurements). Hence I.E.’s comments. Every man is a man of measurements. Anshe middot means men of great measurement, men whose measurements are greater than everyone else’s. The same applies to the phrase anshe levav (men of heart)⁴⁶ (Job. 34:34).⁴⁷ There are many other instances similar to the above.

footnotes: ⁴⁵ Hebrew, anshe middot ⁴⁶ Translated literally. ⁴⁷ Its meaning is, men of great hearts, i.e., men of great intelligence.

THE NEPHILIM. I have already explained this term.⁴⁸) at their huge stature).” See I.E. on Gen. 6:4 (Vol. 1, p. 96).

footnotes: ⁴⁸ The Nephilim “were so named because anyone who saw them lost heart (she-yippol lev ha-ro’eh otam

OF THE NEPHILIM. Its meaning⁴⁹ is that they were of the Nephilim, who were in the earth in those days, and also after that when…came in (Gen 6:4).⁵⁰. Thus the Nephilim were descended from the “sons of God.” I have explained it⁵¹. there.⁵² refers to after the flood. See I.E. on Gen. 6:4 (Vol. 1, p. 96).

footnotes: ⁴⁹ The meaning of the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who came of the Nephilim. ⁵⁰ The entire verse reads, The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them ⁵¹ The meaning of and also after that ⁵² And also after that