Why God Told Moses to Send the Spies for Himself

"Send for yourself men" (Numbers 13:2). This is what Scripture says: "Like vinegar to the teeth and like smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy one to those who send him" (Proverbs 10:26). The spies were recognizable as those who would speak slander against the land, as it is said: "And they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood; and not for truth have they grown strong in the land" (Jeremiah 9:2). To what is the matter comparable? To a king who had a vineyard. When he sees that the wine is good, he says to his tenant-farmers, "Bring it into my house"; and when he sees that it is vinegar, he says to his tenant-farmers, "Bring it into your houses." So too here: when the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the elders were worthy, He called them by His own name, as it is said: "Gather to Me, etc." (Numbers 11:16). When He saw that the spies were destined to sin, He called them by Moses' name, as it is said: "Send for yourself."