“However, as I live, and the entire earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21). “However, as I live…” “[If] the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above [will see…]” (Numbers 32:11) – from twenty years old, whether he was with them in that counsel or whether he was not with them in that counsel. Less than twenty years old, and he has not grown two hairs,20Since he is a minor. whether he was with them in that counsel or whether he was not with them in that counsel, [he would enter].
If he grew two hairs and is less than twenty, if he was with them in that counsel, he would not enter; nevertheless, not one of them died less than sixty years old.21Reaching maturity for men has two conditions; the age of thirteen and two hairs (Nidda 45b). Those who were punished despite having been under twenty, because they had two hairs and had been with them in that counsel, did not die young.
They were not allowed to enter, but they didn’t die before surpassing the age at which one may have died because of the punishment of karet. Come and see what is “between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:18). This is analogous to a noblewoman who had a Kushite maidservant, and her husband [the king] went to a country overseas. All night, that maidservant was saying to that noblewoman: ‘I am fairer than you and the king loves me more than you.’
The noblewoman said to her: ‘Morning will come and we will know who is fair and who the king loves.’ So, likewise, the nations of the world would say to Israel: ‘Our actions are fine and the Holy One blessed be He wants us.’ That is why Isaiah said: Morning will come and we will know whom He wants, as it is stated: “The sentry said: The morning comes and also night” (Isaiah 21:12). The World to Come, which is called morning, will come, and we will know whom He wants.
“You will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked” (Malachi 3:18). It is written: “Men are vanity; men are an illusion” (Psalms 62:10). Rabbi Ḥiyya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: All the vanities that Israel performs all the days of the year, “rise together on the scales [mozenayim]” (Psalms 62:10) – the Holy One blessed be He forgives them under the constellation of Libra [mozenayim] during the month of Tishrei; “For on this day he shall atone for you, to purify you” (Leviticus 16:30).