Difference between revisions of "The Story of the Spies in Bemidbar and Devarim/2"
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<category name="Purposeful Recasting"> | <category name="Purposeful Recasting"> | ||
Purposeful Recasting | Purposeful Recasting | ||
− | <p>The differences are intentional changes made by Moshe so as to best get across his message to the new generation. Moshe purposefully | + | <p>The differences are intentional changes made by Moshe so as to best get across his message to the new generation. Moshe purposefully presents the story in a way that emphasizes the guilt of the nation rather than the sin of the individual spies.</p> |
<mekorot><multilink><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannDevarim1-22" data-aht="source">R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannDevarim1-22" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:22</a><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannDevarim1-26" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:26</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a></multilink>, N. Leibowitz<fn>See N. Leibowitz, Iyyunim BeSefer Devarim (Jerusalem, 1995): 16-22.</fn></mekorot> | <mekorot><multilink><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannDevarim1-22" data-aht="source">R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannDevarim1-22" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:22</a><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannDevarim1-26" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:26</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. David Zvi Hoffmann</a></multilink>, N. Leibowitz<fn>See N. Leibowitz, Iyyunim BeSefer Devarim (Jerusalem, 1995): 16-22.</fn></mekorot> | ||
<point><b>Moshe's message</b> – N. Leibowitz explains that Moshe wanted to ensure that the nation learned to take full responsibility for their actions and understood why they had spent forty years in the wilderness. This agenda can account for many of the changes:</point> | <point><b>Moshe's message</b> – N. Leibowitz explains that Moshe wanted to ensure that the nation learned to take full responsibility for their actions and understood why they had spent forty years in the wilderness. This agenda can account for many of the changes:</point> | ||
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<point><b>Prayer</b> – In Devarim, Moshe omits his prayer where he attempts to minimize the nation's sin and achieve forgiveness, since his goal is to highlight rather than hide the nation's mistakes.</point> | <point><b>Prayer</b> – In Devarim, Moshe omits his prayer where he attempts to minimize the nation's sin and achieve forgiveness, since his goal is to highlight rather than hide the nation's mistakes.</point> | ||
<point><b>Punishment</b> – The spies' punishment is not mentioned in the retelling, thereby emphasizing instead the wrongdoing of the people themselves.</point> | <point><b>Punishment</b> – The spies' punishment is not mentioned in the retelling, thereby emphasizing instead the wrongdoing of the people themselves.</point> | ||
− | <point><b>Moshe's encouragement</b> – Instead of encouraging the nation by emphasizing the good of the land (as Yehoshua and Calev had), Moshe mentions Hashem's miracles, recognizing that the nation's current fear was unconnected to the quality of the land,<fn>After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the nation was likely not overly concerned that Israel would prove to have worse conditions. | + | <point><b>Moshe's encouragement</b> – Instead of encouraging the nation by emphasizing the good of the land (as Yehoshua and Calev had), Moshe mentions Hashem's miracles, recognizing that the nation's current fear was unconnected to the quality of the land,<fn>After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the nation was likely not overly concerned that Israel would prove to have worse conditions.</fn> but to the imminent challenges of conquest.<fn>In addition, as Moshe had not recounted the spies negative report, there was no need to include Yehoshua and Calev's counter arguments.</fn></point> |
− | <point><b>Other omitted details</b> – Moshe | + | <point><b>Other omitted details</b> – In Devarim, Moshe does not recount all the details of his original instructions nor the full route of the spying mission as these had no relevance to his message and his audience was familiar with these points regardless.</point> |
</category> | </category> | ||
<category name="Two Perspectives"> | <category name="Two Perspectives"> | ||
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<p>The changes in the two books can be explained by positing that each is telling the story from a different perspective, with Sefer Bemidbar focusing on one aspect of the mission and Sefer Devarim on another.</p> | <p>The changes in the two books can be explained by positing that each is telling the story from a different perspective, with Sefer Bemidbar focusing on one aspect of the mission and Sefer Devarim on another.</p> | ||
<mekorot>R. Yaacov Medan<fn>See R. Yaacov Medan, <a href="http://www.herzog.ac.il/tvunot/fulltext/mega10_medan.pdf">"בכייה לשעה ובכייה לדורות"</a>‎, Megadim 10 (1990): 21-37.</fn></mekorot> | <mekorot>R. Yaacov Medan<fn>See R. Yaacov Medan, <a href="http://www.herzog.ac.il/tvunot/fulltext/mega10_medan.pdf">"בכייה לשעה ובכייה לדורות"</a>‎, Megadim 10 (1990): 21-37.</fn></mekorot> | ||
− | <point><b>Dual mission</b> – R. Medan suggests that the spies were sent on a dual mission: a military reconnaissance mission as well as a surveying mission to determine the tribal inheritances. Sefer Devarim tells of the former, while Sefer Bemidbar focuses on the latter. This difference in | + | <point><b>Dual mission</b> – R. Medan suggests that the spies were sent on a dual mission: a military reconnaissance mission as well as a surveying mission to determine the tribal inheritances. Sefer Devarim tells of the former, while Sefer Bemidbar focuses on the latter. This difference in focus can explain many of the differences:</point> |
<point><b>Purpose: לתור או לרגל / לחפר?</b> The distinction in meaning between these two sets of verbs forms the basis for this position.  <multilink><a href="RambanBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="RambanDevarim1-37" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:37</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe b. Nachman</a></multilink><fn>See also.later exegetes such as <multilink><a href="HaKetavVeHaKabbalahBemidbar13-16" data-aht="source">HaKetav VeHaKabbalah</a><a href="HaKetavVeHaKabbalahBemidbar13-16" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:16</a><a href="HaKetavVeHaKabbalahDevarim1-22" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:22</a><a href="R. Yaakov Mecklenburg (HaKetav VeHaKabbalah)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yaakov Mecklenburg</a></multilink> and <multilink><a href="MalbimBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Malbim</a><a href="MalbimBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Meir Leibush Weiser (Malbim)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Meir Leibush Weiser</a></multilink>.</fn> notes that "לתור", found twelve times in the account of Bemidbar, connotes appraisal and choosing, while "לחפר" / "לרגל", the verbs used in Devarim, refer to spying for military purposes.  The distinct verbs, thus, each point to a different aspect of the spies' mission: scouting vs. spying.</point> | <point><b>Purpose: לתור או לרגל / לחפר?</b> The distinction in meaning between these two sets of verbs forms the basis for this position.  <multilink><a href="RambanBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="RambanDevarim1-37" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:37</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe b. Nachman</a></multilink><fn>See also.later exegetes such as <multilink><a href="HaKetavVeHaKabbalahBemidbar13-16" data-aht="source">HaKetav VeHaKabbalah</a><a href="HaKetavVeHaKabbalahBemidbar13-16" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:16</a><a href="HaKetavVeHaKabbalahDevarim1-22" data-aht="source">Devarim 1:22</a><a href="R. Yaakov Mecklenburg (HaKetav VeHaKabbalah)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yaakov Mecklenburg</a></multilink> and <multilink><a href="MalbimBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Malbim</a><a href="MalbimBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Meir Leibush Weiser (Malbim)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Meir Leibush Weiser</a></multilink>.</fn> notes that "לתור", found twelve times in the account of Bemidbar, connotes appraisal and choosing, while "לחפר" / "לרגל", the verbs used in Devarim, refer to spying for military purposes.  The distinct verbs, thus, each point to a different aspect of the spies' mission: scouting vs. spying.</point> | ||
<point><b>Initiator</b> – Hashem is presented as the initiator in Bemidbar since it was He who commanded the "holy" scouting mission so that the princes could evaluate the land and allocate it among the tribes. Devarim, in contrast, focuses on the nation's request as it was the people themselves who initiated the spying mission in their desire to prepare for the conquest.</point> | <point><b>Initiator</b> – Hashem is presented as the initiator in Bemidbar since it was He who commanded the "holy" scouting mission so that the princes could evaluate the land and allocate it among the tribes. Devarim, in contrast, focuses on the nation's request as it was the people themselves who initiated the spying mission in their desire to prepare for the conquest.</point> |
Version as of 12:06, 9 June 2020
The Story of the Spies in Bemidbar and Devarim
Exegetical Approaches
Purposeful Recasting
The differences are intentional changes made by Moshe so as to best get across his message to the new generation. Moshe purposefully presents the story in a way that emphasizes the guilt of the nation rather than the sin of the individual spies.
Two Perspectives
The changes in the two books can be explained by positing that each is telling the story from a different perspective, with Sefer Bemidbar focusing on one aspect of the mission and Sefer Devarim on another.
Literary Variation
The differences between the two accounts are not fundamental, but simply the result of literary variation. When recounting events, Torah is often brief in one place and lengthy in another, relying on the reader to fill in the gaps from knowledge of the combined accounts.
- Our story is not the only one in which a character repeats an incident to another and some of the details are found only in the original story or only in the retelling. See, for example, Ramban on Bereshit 42:21, Radak on Bereshit 41:17, R"Y Bekhor Shor on Bereshit 31:3, and R"Y Kara on Shofetim13:12.
- Ramban points to a similar phenomenon of Torah's being brief in one place and lengthy in another, noting that Torah often mentions a command but not its fulfillment or the opposite.8
Local Harmonization
Many other commentators relate to each difference individually, without trying to account for all of the changes together.