From this portion we can learn how great is the penalty for indulging in evil gossip. By doing so, a person causes harm to himself as well as to the world at large. The spies caused harm to the whole nation of Israel, but the greatest harm they caused themselves. Our sages in Pesikta Zutra Metzora, comment that if people who only spread lies about stones and and trees were subjected to such punishments, how much more serious is it to spread lies about human beings, about one's fellow man!

ועתה יגדל נא כח אדנ"י . Both the Pesikta and the Yalkut mention on the verse צור ילדך תשי, "you neglected, or "weakened" the Rock that begot you" (Deut. 32,18), that as long as Israel perform G–d's will, they add to His Power and strength, since Moses has said here: "Now let the Power of G–d become great," (14,17). On the other hand, any time they act contrary to G–d's will, anger Him, they are diminishing His Power, as is evident from that verse in Deuteronomy. This teaches us the tremendous impact human actions have.

וכי תשגו ולא תעשו את כל המצות האלה . Midrash Tanchuma as well as the Yalkut Shimoni, have the following comment on Leviticus 4,2: "When a person unknowingly commits a transgression in respect of any of G–d's negative commandments, etc." They say that this verse teaches us that transgression of any prohibition is equivalent to transgression of all of the Torah's commandments. Conversely, the Reishit Chochmah writes in Parshat Nasso, that if one performs a single positive commandment in all its pertinent details, it is as if one had performed all 248 positive commandments. The reason of course, is that there is no מצוה that does not contain some element of all the other מצות. Having said this, we understand why transgression of a single negative commandment is viewed as if one had transgressed all of them, seeing that it involved negation of those particular elements of all the other negative commandments that were associated with the single negative commandment one has flouted. This is the real meaning of the wording of the verse quoted above in 15,22.

It teaches us that intellectually alert people who conduct themselves with the proper degree of discretion and caution will assure themselves of the blessing in Daniel 12,3: "The wise will shine like the radiance of the firmament, and those who make the many righteous, like the stars, forever and ever."