18 myths
The spies named Amalek first, the harsh strap at the door of the Land, while Nahshon of Judah camped toward the rising light.
God approved every man Moses chose. Ten of them made a private agreement before crossing the border to bring back a report that would keep them in power.
The crowd silenced Joshua before he finished a sentence. Caleb found another way in, using a trick that made him look like he was about to betray Moses.
He paid four hundred coins and crossed the sea for one forbidden night, then his own fringes rose up and slapped him off the bed.
Moses told the twelve to keep to the back paths. In a city they were to walk in the open and say they had come to buy pomegranates and grapes.
Moses sent the twelve south through poor country first, like a merchant hiding his best cloth, until Hebron still outshone Egypt's finest field.
The other ten adjusted their straps and practiced neutral faces. Joshua stood there saying the new syllables of his name under his breath, testing the weight.
Long before the spies, Moses asked God not to be slow to anger with the wicked. God said nothing back. Then came the sentence of pestilence on the camp.
Ten scouts spill slander and the camp freezes. Moses and Aaron go slack. Caleb climbs a bench, hushes the roar, and names the land exceedingly good.
Ten scouts died with worms from their mouths. Five sisters of Menashe waited forty years, then claimed their share of the soil.
While ten spies conspired against entering Canaan, Caleb slipped away to Hebron to pray at the patriarchs' graves. He needed help the living could not give.
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.
Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram to be heard. Their answer came back: we will not come up. The ground opened and swallowed them and their households.
Twelve scouts crept into Canaan through plague-emptied streets and hid inside a discarded fruit rind a giant's daughter mistook for litter.
Three towering brothers boasted that no one dared face them, and twelve scouts saw themselves as insects while one man broke away to beg the dead for courage.
Ten scouts opened their report with the name that still stung from the wilderness road, and courage fell out of Israel like water from a cracked jar.
Twelve spies slipped through Canaan's open gates while the cities buried their dead, then came home swearing the land devoured its own people.
A nameless wood-gatherer was seized in the desert. Rabbi Akiva named Tzelafchad. Another sage called that slander of the dead.
