Difference between revisions of "The Story of the Spies in Bemidbar and Devarim/2"
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<p>Many other commentators relate to each difference individually, without trying to account for all of the changes together. Some examples follow:</p> | <p>Many other commentators relate to each difference individually, without trying to account for all of the changes together. Some examples follow:</p> | ||
<point><b>Initiator</b> – <multilink><a href="RashiBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki</a></multilink> and<multilink><a href="IbnEzraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source"> Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham ibn Ezra</a></multilink> harmonize the two seemingly contradictory verses (שְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים and וַתִּקְרְבוּן אֵלַי כֻּלְּכֶם וַתֹּאמְרוּ נִשְׁלְחָה אֲנָשִׁים) by suggesting that both are true.  First the nation requested to send spies, then Hashem (according to Rashi, reluctantly) agreed.</point> | <point><b>Initiator</b> – <multilink><a href="RashiBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki</a></multilink> and<multilink><a href="IbnEzraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source"> Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham ibn Ezra</a></multilink> harmonize the two seemingly contradictory verses (שְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים and וַתִּקְרְבוּן אֵלַי כֻּלְּכֶם וַתֹּאמְרוּ נִשְׁלְחָה אֲנָשִׁים) by suggesting that both are true.  First the nation requested to send spies, then Hashem (according to Rashi, reluctantly) agreed.</point> | ||
− | <point><b>Who is sent?</b> <multilink><a href="RYosefKaraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">R. Yosef Kara</a><a href="RYosefKaraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="RYosefKaraShofetim13-12" data-aht="source">Shofetim 13:12</a><a href="R. Yosef Kara" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yosef Kara</a></multilink> and <multilink><a href="RashbamBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Rashbam</a><a href="RashbamBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Meir (Rashbam)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel b. Meir</a></multilink> suggest that the words "כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם" refer not to princes, but volunteers ("שנשא אותם לבם ללכת"). <multilink><a href="ChizkuniBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Chizkuni</a><a href="ChizkuniBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach (Chizkuni)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach</a></multilink>, instead, rereads Bemidbar 13:2, "אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם" to mean that each prince chose someone from his tribe to go on the mission.<fn>According to him, the subject of the verb "תִּשְׁלָחוּ" is the princes, not the nation.  He reads the verse as if there is a comma after the phrase "לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו", so that the second clause reads: "תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם".</fn> According to both readings, none of those who went were princes, but simply "שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲנָשִׁים אִישׁ אֶחָד לַשָּׁבֶט", as described in Devarim.<fn>It is likely that all these commentators are not really addressing the differences between the books (as they ignore the fact that Sefer Bemidbar still emphasizes that the chosen men were "heads", a description missing in Devarim) but rather a different exegetical difficulty: the | + | <point><b>Who is sent?</b> <multilink><a href="RYosefKaraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">R. Yosef Kara</a><a href="RYosefKaraBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="RYosefKaraShofetim13-12" data-aht="source">Shofetim 13:12</a><a href="R. Yosef Kara" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yosef Kara</a></multilink> and <multilink><a href="RashbamBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Rashbam</a><a href="RashbamBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Meir (Rashbam)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel b. Meir</a></multilink> suggest that the words "כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם" refer not to princes, but volunteers ("שנשא אותם לבם ללכת"). <multilink><a href="ChizkuniBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Chizkuni</a><a href="ChizkuniBemidbar13-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 13:2</a><a href="R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach (Chizkuni)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach</a></multilink>, instead, rereads Bemidbar 13:2, "אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם" to mean that each prince chose someone from his tribe to go on the mission.<fn>According to him, the subject of the verb "תִּשְׁלָחוּ" is the princes, not the nation.  He reads the verse as if there is a comma after the phrase "לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו", so that the second clause reads: "תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם".</fn> According to both readings, none of those who went were princes, but simply "שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲנָשִׁים אִישׁ אֶחָד לַשָּׁבֶט", as described in Devarim.<fn>It is likely that all these commentators are not really addressing the differences between the books (as they ignore the fact that Sefer Bemidbar still emphasizes that the chosen men were "heads", a description missing in Devarim) but rather a different exegetical difficulty: the fact that the princes listed here are different then those mentioned as playing a role in Bemidbar 1-10. Considering that our story occurs only a month after the events of those chapters, it is strange that new tribal representatives are mentioned here.</fn></point> |
<point><b>The scouted area</b> – See <a href="The Spies – Where Did They Tour" data-aht="page">The Spies – Where Did They Tour</a> for the opinion that the phrase "וַיָּתֻרוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ מִמִּדְבַּר צִן עַד רְחֹב לְבֹא חֲמָת" does not refer to the area scouted, but only to the borders of the land in which they scouted.<fn>The verse should thus be read as incorporating an implied word: "וַיָּתֻרוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ [שגבולותיה] מִמִּדְבַּר צִן עַד רְחֹב לְבֹא חֲמָת."</fn> As such, according to both accounts the spies only visited the southern region of the land.</point> | <point><b>The scouted area</b> – See <a href="The Spies – Where Did They Tour" data-aht="page">The Spies – Where Did They Tour</a> for the opinion that the phrase "וַיָּתֻרוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ מִמִּדְבַּר צִן עַד רְחֹב לְבֹא חֲמָת" does not refer to the area scouted, but only to the borders of the land in which they scouted.<fn>The verse should thus be read as incorporating an implied word: "וַיָּתֻרוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ [שגבולותיה] מִמִּדְבַּר צִן עַד רְחֹב לְבֹא חֲמָת."</fn> As such, according to both accounts the spies only visited the southern region of the land.</point> | ||
<point><b>Purpose of mission: לרגל או לתור</b> – <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> suggests that Hashem had commanded that the twelve representatives scout out the land so that they could speak its praises to the people. The people sinned in not heeding the directive and instead acting as "מרגלים", as described in Devarim.</point> | <point><b>Purpose of mission: לרגל או לתור</b> – <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> suggests that Hashem had commanded that the twelve representatives scout out the land so that they could speak its praises to the people. The people sinned in not heeding the directive and instead acting as "מרגלים", as described in Devarim.</point> |
Version as of 02:42, 12 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 variations between 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 one of many 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 ho all suggest that these are all cases of the same literary trend.
- Ramban notes also the similar phenomenon in which Torah might 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. Some examples follow: