(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,⁴⁰ and they go down into the chambers of the belly.” Those words which the spies murmured against the Holy One, blessed be He, brought them misfortune for generations.⁴¹ As if they had not listened to the spies, they would not have been punished with them. Instead they acquiesced to them, as stated (in Deut. 1:27), “You sulked (teragnu) in your tents.” What is the meaning of “teragnu?” You sought the disgrace (TARtem GENUt) of the Land of Israel, which the Holy One, blessed be He, called a good land. This is comparable to a person who was a friend of the king, and the king chooses a fine item to give to him. [If] someone stood up and said to the friend that it is bad, would he not be saying [to the king], “You have not honored your friend properly?”

footnotes: ⁴⁰ English translations 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. ⁴¹ Numb. R. 16:20.