(Numb. 14:1:) THEN THE WHOLE CONGREGATION RAISED THEIR VOICE AND CRIED…. This text is related (to Prov. 18:8): THE WORDS OF A MURMURER ARE LIKE MIGHTY BLOWS.⁴⁶ Those words which they murmured against the Holy One brought them misfortune for generations.⁴⁷., Numb. 4:11; Numb. R. 16:20. Thus if they had not become like the spies, they would not have been punished with them. Instead they acquiesced with them, as stated (in Deut. 1:27): YOU MURMURED IN YOUR TENTS….

footnotes: ⁴⁶ English tanslations usually render this unusual word as “delicacies” or something similar, but the meaning is uncertain. the present translation is derived from the context of the midrash. ⁴⁷ Tanh