Literary Devices – Bemidbar 13-14/0

Literary Devices – Bemidbar 13-14

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Key Words

ארץ (land)

The word "ארץ" appears 36 times in the narrative of the spies (see the various occurrences here). This prevalence is not surprising given the word's centrality to the plot and message of the unit.  Interestingly, though, in the follow-up story of the "ma'apilim" who attempt to enter the land despite Moshe's insistence that this is no longer desired, the word does not appear even once, with the people instead referring to the land as "הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַר י"י" (the place that Hashem spoke of).

לתור (scouting)

• Usage – The Tanakh Lab demonstrates that one of the most significant roots in the chapter is "תור" (to scout).  It appears 12 times in the narrative and only three more times in all of Torah, once in Moshe's retelling of the story in Devarim, once is in the context of the laws of tzitzit in Bemidbar 15, and once is in the context of Moshe’s conversation with Chovav in Bemidbar 10.¹  The difference in the root's prevalence in Bemidbar and Devarim highlights how the goal of "scouting the land" seems crucial to the original account, but for some reason not to Moshe's recounting of the story in Devarim. In addition, the other appearances of the root in the surrounding narratives of Bemidbar might suggest that there is a connection between the three stories in which the otherwise rare verb appears.

• Articles –
• See בכייה לשעה ובכייה לדורות, by R. Yaakov Medan, סיפור התרים את הארץ בפרשת שלח והחזרה עליו בנאומו של משה בפרשתנו, by R. Elchanan Samet, and The Story of the Spies in Bemidbar and Devarim which all discuss the differences between the accounts of Bemidbar and Devarim and why the root "לתור" appears so much more often in the former. The authors suggest that the two narratives speak of two independent initiatives, scouting (לתור) and spying (לחפר), that were fused into one mission, with each book focusing mainly on one aspect of the mission.
• For discussion of the relationship between the conversation between Moshe and Hovav, the spies’ sin, and the commandment of tzitzit, listen to משמעות של פרשת ציצית לאור הפרשיות הקודמות לה, by R. Amnon Bazak and פרשת ציצית - פרשת השליחות, by R. Yosef Zvi Rimon.²

ראה (seeing)

The root "ראה" appears five times in Bemidbar 13, where the spies use it to describe the frightening enemies they saw in the land, and five more times in the account of Hashem’s revelation and punishment of the spies in Bemidbar 14. It next appears in Bemidbar 15, in the legal section about tzitzit.³  This usage might indicate that the spies’ misuse of their sense of sight led both to their punishment and, ultimately, to the mitzvah of tzitzit, which serves as a corrective by visually reminding man of Hashem’s commandments.  

עלה (ascending)

• Usage – This root appears nine times in the narrative of the spies and four more times in the connected story of the "ma'apilim", making it one of the more prevalent words in the unit.
• Articles – R. Ezra Bick, in his article Aliyah, analyzes the significance of this word, suggesting that it generally has the connotation of overcoming obstacles. As such, exploring how each of the spies, Moshe, and the ma'apilim utilize (or avoid) the word can reveal the psychological mindset of each. Moshe and Calev use the verb thereby exhibiting their recognition of the difficulty of the task ahead, but also their readiness and willingness to confront it.  The spies avoid the word or say "we will not ascend", revealing their defeatist attitude. The ma’apilim return to use the verb, expressing their resolve, but forget that all the resolve in the word is worthless if God is not with you.

¹ Use the concordance to see a full listing of the root's appearances in Tanakh.

² He focuses on the relationship between tzitzit and the story of the spies.

³ As the verb is quite prevalent, this alone would not lead one to connect the two units, but since the laws of tzitzit contain other allusions to the spy narrative (usage of the words "לתור"  and "לזנות"), the combination suggests a connection.