Why Moses Sent the Spies Through the Negev First

(Numbers 13:17:) "And Moses sent them [etc.]: Go up here through the Negev." Why through the Negev? Because this is what the merchants do: they show the inferior goods first, and afterward they show the choice goods. (Numbers 13:18:) "And you shall see the land, what it is." Three times Moses told them to look closely at the Land of Israel. There is a land that raises up mighty men, and there is one that raises up weaklings; there is one that increases multitudes, and there is one that diminishes multitudes. Thus he charged them. (Numbers 13:18:) "And the people that dwells upon it, is it strong or weak, is it few or many?" And how will you know their strength? If they are dwelling in open camps, they are mighty and trust in their strength; but if they are in fortresses, they are weak and faint of heart. (Numbers 13:20:) "And what is the land, is it fat or lean?"—that is, whether its fruits are meager or rich. He said to them: Look at its stones and its pebbles. If they are of flint, they are rich; and if they are of clay, they are lean. (Numbers 13:20:) "Now the days were the days of the first ripe grapes." From here you learn that the season of Tammuz is never without figs and grapes.