Parshat Shelach5 min read

The Twelve Spies Turned Miracle Into Evidence Against God

Israel asks for scouts after crossing the sea and eating manna. Rabbi Shimon calls it shameful: they trusted God in scarcity but doubted Him at the border.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Request That Looked Reasonable
  2. God's Answer Was the Indictment
  3. Caleb and the Sword at the Vine
  4. The Families in Their Tents

The Request That Looked Reasonable

Israel reached the border of the land after the sea, the manna, the water from the rock, and the Torah at Sinai. They had seen things that had no natural explanation. They had eaten bread that fell from the sky and tasted like whatever they most wanted. They had drunk water from stone. They had stood at the foot of a mountain while fire spoke in a human language. Then they arrived at the edge of what God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they asked for scouts.

On paper the request sounds like prudence. Learn the roads. Hear the language. Assess the defenses. Bring back a report. Rabbi Shimon, in Sifrei Devarim, called it a great shame. God had not asked for their reconnaissance. After everything that had happened since Egypt, a request for human intelligence-gathering about the land God was giving them was not planning. It was distrust dressed in the language of caution.

God's Answer Was the Indictment

Sifrei Devarim frames God's response as a single devastating observation. In a land of deserts and pits, in scorching heat and without water, I fed you and sustained you. How much more in a good and broad land, full of vineyards and cisterns and houses already prepared, could I bring you safely in. The request had exposed the precise shape of the failure: Israel trusted God to keep them alive in scarcity but doubted Him at the border of gift. Emergency provision was within the range of their faith. Abundance was not.

The scouts went in. Sifrei Devarim identifies the valley they found, the Wadi Eshcol, by the word eshkol, cluster, which the text itself attaches to the famous cluster of grapes the scouts carried back on a pole. The place was named for what happened there. When future generations heard the name, they would remember the grapes that were supposed to be evidence of the land's richness and became instead evidence against going in.

Caleb and the Sword at the Vine

When the twelve scouts reached the valley, not one of them would reach out a hand for the fruit. Their hearts had already turned against the land they were standing in. Caleb, one of the two who would bring back an honest report, drew his weapon in the vineyard. He stood before them and said: if you will not take of this fruit, then one of two things happens here. Either you kill me or I kill you. Only under that threat did the other scouts put their hands to the vine.

The cluster they cut required eight men to carry on a pole, and this is not an image of abundance in the text. It is an image of intimidation. The scouts brought back fruit that made the opposition look impossible. They intended the weight of the cluster to be an argument: look how large everything in this land is. The people who live there are proportioned to these grapes. We cannot go in.

The Families in Their Tents

The night after the scouts gave their report, the camp broke. Sifrei Devarim gives a scene of families huddled inside their tents, the lamplight casting long shadows, parents clutching their children. They wept and told their sons and daughters what awaited them. Woe unto you, afflicted ones, woe unto you. You are about to be handed to the sword. You are about to be taken by enemies. The tradition reads this as the wound: not the scouts themselves but what their report did to the children who heard it from their parents' mouths at night in the desert.

Caleb watched all of this. Midrash Tanchuma Buber on Shlach records that he had hidden his real assessment from the beginning, agreeing with the other scouts in small things, earning their trust, waiting. When the whole camp was crying out against Moses, Caleb climbed up onto a bench and hushed them into silence with a single gesture. The scouts assumed he was about to agree with them. He opened his mouth: we shall surely go up and possess it. The silence that had opened for agreement became the silence that heard the truth.

SpiesCalebHoly LandFaithSifreiTanchuma
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From the tradition

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The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Sifrei Devarim 20:4Sifrei Devarim

The Israelites felt that way too, right before they were about to enter the Promised Land. But did they trust the One who'd brought them that far?

In the book of Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) on Deuteronomy, we find a fascinating glimpse into the people’s mindset. It all starts with the verse: "and you said: Let us send out men before us and let them spy out the land for us" (Deuteronomy 1:22). It sounds reasonable. Scout the territory before you move in. But R. Shimon sees something deeper, something…shameful.

Why shameful? Because, as R. Shimon points out, by asking to send spies, the Israelites were essentially saying, "We don't trust You, God.": God had just led them through the desert, providing manna (food from heaven) and water from a rock. They’d witnessed incredible miracles! And yet, they wanted to send spies ahead. It's like saying, "Thanks for getting us this far, but we'll take it from here."

The commentary in Sifrei Devarim continues, quoting God as saying, "When you were in the land of deserts and pits, I fed and sustained you, how much more so when you come to a good and broad land!" In other words, "I took care of you in the worst conditions. Why wouldn't I continue to do so in the best?" Ouch.

It’s a powerful lesson about faith, isn't it? How often do we do the same thing? We ask for signs, we demand guarantees, instead of trusting in the process, trusting in the One who guides us.

And it gets even more interesting when they ask the spies to "return to us word" about which language the inhabitants of the land speak. What were they hoping to hear? Did they think knowing the language would somehow make conquering the land easier? Maybe it was about understanding their enemies, preparing for battle.

Finally, the Israelites wanted to know "the (straightest) way by which we should go up." (Deuteronomy 1:22). But the commentary points out a fundamental truth: "There is no road without turnings; there is no road without traps; there is no road without branchings." Life, like the journey to the Promised Land, is rarely a straight line. There are always obstacles, detours, and choices to be made. Always.

Sometimes we yearn for that straightest path, that guarantee of success, that foolproof plan. But maybe, just maybe, the detours, the "traps," and the "branchings" are where we truly learn and grow. Maybe it's in working through the uncertainty, in trusting even when we can't see the whole path, that we truly discover our strength.

So, the next time you find yourself at a crossroads, remember the Israelites. Remember their lack of faith, and remember the promise of God. And maybe, just maybe, take a leap of faith, knowing that even if the road isn't straight, you're not walking it alone.

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Sifrei Devarim 23:1Sifrei Devarim

That brings us to a fascinating little detail in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the book of Deuteronomy. It's all about names and origins, and how the Torah sometimes gives us clues that are more than just geographical.

Our story starts with the spies sent by Moses to scout out the land of Canaan. Remember that story? They eventually arrive at a place called the "river-bed of Eshkol." Now, eshkol in Hebrew means "cluster," specifically a cluster of grapes.

So, why was this place called Eshkol? Because, as Sifrei Devarim points out, it was named "by reason of the cluster of grapes" that the spies were supposed to take from there, as we learn in Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:24. Makes sense. They found some seriously impressive grapes there, so the place got its name!

Wait, there's more. The text draws a parallel to another place name: "the mountain of God, to Chorev" (Exodus 3:1). Sifrei Devarim tells us this place was named "because of what would occur there in the future." Namely, the giving of the Torah. for a second. Chorev wasn't named for something that was there, but for something that would be there. It's like the place was waiting, anticipating its destiny. It's a powerful idea – that places can be pregnant with future significance.

And that brings us back to those spies and those grapes. (Deuteronomy 1:25) tells us, "And they took in their hand from the fruit of the land." But here, Sifrei Devarim gives us a really interesting interpretation in the name of Rabbi Shimon. He says, "Shameful are these men who took in their hand (such luxuriant fruits [to downgrade their worth]) as one would take in his hand an issar's worth of figs or grapes." An issar was a very small coin.

What’s Rabbi Shimon getting at? He’s suggesting that the spies, instead of being awestruck by the abundance of the land, treated these incredible fruits with disrespect, like they were cheap and insignificant. They downplayed the bounty to make their pessimistic report more convincing. Essentially, they weren't just scouting the land; they were scouting for excuses.

So, what does it all mean? Maybe it's a reminder that names, places, and even the fruits we hold in our hands can be full of meaning, both realized and potential. Maybe it's a lesson about perspective – about seeing the abundance and promise in the world, instead of focusing on the obstacles. And maybe, just maybe, it's a nudge to consider what we're doing to fulfill the potential of the places we inhabit, and the opportunities we're given. Are we, like the spies, underestimating the incredible gifts we've been given?

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Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sh'lach 15:1Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sh'lach

"Then they came to the Wadi Eshcol" (Numbers 13:23). They did not want to take any of the fruits of the Land of Israel. Had Caleb not drawn his weapon and gone down before them and said to them, "If you do not take some, then either you kill me, or I will kill you," they would not have taken anything. Therefore it is said, "Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be a portion for you and for your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God" (Joshua 14:9).

"And they bore it on a pole, by two" (Numbers 13:23, ibid.). There were not fewer than two poles, for it does not say "on a pole, two," but rather "by two", that is, two of them. And some say three: "on a pole," one, "by two," making three. And how great was the load in the hand of each and every one? Go out and learn from the stones that they took from the Jordan, as it is said, "And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal" (Joshua 4:20). What was the measure of each one of them? A load of forty se'ah. From this you may reckon that cluster: a man carries a load by himself and lifts one se'ah; with his fellow lifting it upon him, he carries two se'ah; carrying together with his fellow, he carries three. Reckon from here.

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Sifrei Devarim 24:2Sifrei Devarim

Instead of rejoicing, a wave of despair washed over them.

"And you murmured in your tents..." That simple phrase from Sifrei Devarim (Deuteronomy) opens a window into a moment of profound collective dread. It wasn't just grumbling; it was a deep, visceral lament.

The scene: families huddled together in their tents, the flickering lamplight casting long shadows, amplifying their anxieties. According to Sifrei Devarim, they weren't just complaining to each other. They were sharing their fears with their children, painting a bleak picture of what awaited them.

"Woe unto you, afflicted ones! Woe unto you, tortured ones!" Can you hear the anguish in those words? It's a parent's worst nightmare: projecting their own anxieties onto their children. They clutched their sons, lamenting, "Tomorrow they will nail you to the stake!" A horrifying image, isn't it?

And the daughters? Their fate seemed equally grim in the eyes of their parents. "Tomorrow they will kill numbers of you and take captive numbers of you, and stand up numbers of you to shame!" The fear of violence, enslavement, and dishonor hung heavy in the air.

Why this overwhelming dread? Remember, this came after the spies returned from scouting Canaan, bringing back tales of giants and fortified cities. The people, already weary from their desert wanderings, succumbed to fear. They lacked the faith, the courage, to believe in their ability to overcome these challenges.

It's a stark reminder of how easily fear can take hold, especially when faced with the unknown. How often do we, like those Israelites, let fear dictate our actions, our perceptions? How often do we allow anxiety to poison our hopes for the future, not just for ourselves, but for those we love?

The story in Sifrei Devarim is more than just a historical anecdote. It's a mirror reflecting our own human tendencies. It challenges us to confront our fears, to cultivate faith, and to choose hope over despair, even when the path ahead seems daunting. Because, after all, what kind of legacy do we want to leave for the next generation? One of fear and lamentation, or one of courage and unwavering belief in the possibility of a brighter tomorrow?

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Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sh'lach 19:1Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sh'lach

(Numbers 13:30:) “AND CALEB HUSHED” &c., for at first he said to them: I am with you in one counsel; but his heart was to speak the truth, as it is stated (in Joshua 14:7): “And I brought him back word as was in my heart.” And the Holy One, blessed be He, testifies concerning him, as it is stated (in Numbers 14:24): “But My servant Caleb, [because another spirit was with him].” And when the spies came, they said: Caleb is trustworthy to us. Immediately he stood up upon the bench and silenced all Israel, who were crying out against Moses, as it is stated (in Numbers 13:30): “And Caleb hushed the people toward Moses.” And they supposed that he was speaking slander; therefore they were silent. He opened and said (ibid.): “We shall surely go up and possess it.” Immediately they disputed and said: “We are not able to go up” &c.; “and they brought out an evil report of the land” &c. (ibid. 13:31–32).

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