The Sin of the Spies: Lusting for Leadership

By Rabbi Tzvi Pittinsky

The tragic incident of the spies in Parshat Shlah is a poignant story of failed
aspirations. Benay Yisrael, on the verge of fulfilling the four-hundred-year prophecy to
return to the land of their forefathers, hesitate in their quest to enter the land. They
request to send spies who temper their enthusiasm for the land with reports of mighty
peoples and cities fortified to the heavens. Many Israelites respond negatively, doubting
their chances of success in conquering the land of Canaan. This ultimately leads to the
collective punishment of Benay Yisrael. The nation is forced to wander the desert for
forty years until entire generation of the Exodus passes on and is replaced by a new
generation who does not share the guilt of the sin of the spies.
All Benay Yisraels leaders seem to fail on some level. The spies fail in their
mission to gather intelligence about Canaan in anticipation of its conquest. While
providing information truthfully, the spies maneuver the people into denying any chance
of success in conquering Canaan. The only two spies to bring back a more optimistic
report, Yehoshua and Calev, fail to convince the Israelites of the deceit of the other spies
statements. Yehoshua appears to hesitate in responding to the spies, while Calev,
although forceful in his response to the nation, cannot assuage the peoples fears. Moshe
and Aharon, fail to take an active role in the story by joining Yehoshua and Calev in
condemning the negative report, and instead react passively. They fall on their faces in
prayer to Hashem.
In approaching this incident, the actions and motivations of the majority of the
spies are perplexing. Why do the spies return such a bad report to Benay Yisrael? One
could explain that the spies simply were overwhelmed by what they saw in Canaan.
Therefore, they returned an honest though incorrect appraisal of what they viewed to be
the miniscule chances of success in Benay Yisraels conquest of Canaan. The error of
their report was then based on their lack of faith in Hashgahat Hashem, divine
providence. Alternatively, one could attribute the spies action to a much more sinister
plan. They purposely manipulated Benay Yisrael to fulfill some secret agenda.
The Sin of the Spies

A detailed analysis comparing how Moshe dictated the spies mission with what
the spies said and did indicates the truth of the latter theory. The spies are given a list of
charges by Moshe.
Go up there into the Negev and on into the hill country, and see what
kind of country it is. Are the people who dwell in it stroing or weak, few
or many? Is the country in which they dwell good or bad? Are the towns
they live in open or fortified? Is the soil rich or poor? Is it wooded or not?
And take pains to bring back some of the fruit of the land.
(Bemidbar 13:17-20)

Moshe asked them to provide basic demographic, geographic, agricultural, and strategic
information about the land which they were on the threshold of conquering. The spies
brought back the following report:
We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow with milk and
honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who inhabit the country
are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw
Anakites there. Amalekites dwell in the Negev region; Hittites, Jebusites,
and Amorites inhabit the hill country; and Canaanites dwell by the Sea and
along the Jordan.
(Bemidbar 13: 27-29)

The spies responded to each of Moshes specific instructions point by point in

great detail. To the question about the people who dwell in the land, they responded,
The people who inhabit the land are powerful. (Bemidbar 13:28) To the query about
the nature of the land, they said, We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow
with milk and honey. (Bemidbar 13:27) About the fortifications of the towns, the spies
said, The cities are fortified and very large. (Bemidbar 13:28) They even brought back
samples of the fruits as Moshe had requested. To this point, the spies report to Moshe
appears to truthfully address Moshes questions. Moshe did not ask for them to give a
whitewashed report of what they had seen. He asked for the hard facts about the land.
The spies responded in turn.

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However, once Calev defends the mission to conquer Israel, the spies start to add
their own editorial comments. They say: We cannot attack that people for it is stronger
than we. (Bemidbar 13:31) The verse continues:
Thus they spread calumnies among the Israelites about the land they had
scouted, saying The country that we traversed and scouted is one that
devours its settlers. All the people that we saw in it are men of great size;
we saw the Nephilim there- the Anakites are part of the Nephilim- and we
looked like grasshoppers to ourselves and so we must have looked to
them.
(Bemidbar 13:32-33)

Here the spies violate the basic division of power necessary for government to
function, the division between intelligence gathering and policy making. The spies gave
political advice. There were never asked by Moshe to give their opinion concerning the
Israelites chances of conquering Canaan. They were only asked to scout out the land and
determine its strengths and weaknesses. The decision to conquer Canaan was left to
Moshe and ultimately to Hashem.
Why did the spies make this fatal misjudgment? One could explain that it was
based on a lack of faith in Hashems abilities to vanquish their enemies. This fits in very
well with the entire history of Benay Yisrael in the desert. With every calamity that
befalls them, the nation questions Hashem. For example, as the Egyptians approached the
Yam Suf, Benay Yisrael scream:
Was it for want of graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the
wilderness? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? Is this not
the very thing we told you in Egypt saying, Let us be, and we will serve
the Egyptians, for it is better for is to serve the Egyptians than to die in the
wilderness?
(Shemot 14: 11-12)

Further by the Desert of Sin Benay Yisrael complain:

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If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when
we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have
brought us into the wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death.
(Shemot 16:3)

The Israelites respond to the spies in similar fashion. They say:

If only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only we might die in this
wilderness! Why is the Lord taking us to that land to fall by the sword?
Our wives and children will be carried off! It would be better for us to go
back to Egypt!
(Bemidbar 14:2)

Benay Yisraels chronic lack of faith in their mission is explained by Ibn Ezra as
stemming from their past experience of slavery. Because they lived their whole lives in
servitude to the Egyptians, Benay Yisrael were unable to function as free men. They
responded to events impulsively, constantly complaining to Moshe and questioning their
mission. The nation could not trust an invisible G-d to bring them to Canaan. For this
reason, the whole generation that experienced bondage in Egypt had to die out and be
succeeded by a new generation of free Israelites before they conquered Canaan.
This explains the reaction of the nation to the spies very well but is inadequate in
explaining the spies personal motives. The spies were not masses of craven slaves easily
frightened by possible warfare. They were the leaders of Benay Yisrael. Furthermore,
when one carefully analyzes the words of the spies, one does not find a report motivated
by cowardice but a series of statements carefully crafted to manipulate the hearts and
minds of Benay Yisrael.
The spies begin with, We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow
with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. (Bemidbar 13:27) They start truthfully because
as Rashi explains, Every lie must start out with a grain of truth at its inception in order
to be accepted. (Rashi ad loc) They then distort the truth by saying, However, the
people who inhabit the land are powerful, and the cites are fortified and very large.
(Bemidbar 13:28) These two facts, that the people are strong and the cities are fortified

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are both true but the clause however changes the tone of the speech. This is no longer
an objective report about the land. The spies now insinuate prospective problems with
conquering the land. These pitfalls might prove to be insurmountable.1
After the spies speech elicits the expected response of horror from the people,
Calev attempts to sway the crowd. He reiterates that they can indeed conquer Canaan. At
this point, the spies lose any semblance of objectivity. They deflate all hopes of
conquering Canaan by saying, We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we.
(Bemidbar 13:31) Clearly, the spies want the nation to reach a negative conclusion about
any possibility of conquest. When they see Calev begin to succeed in thwarting their
plans, they become increasingly specific and manipulative. They conclude by stating an
outright lie, The country that we traversed and scouted is one that devours its settlers.
(Bemidbar 13:32)
The spies statements were not due to doubts based on weak faith but were a
cynical attempt to control the masses. The spies carefully planned out exactly what they
would say and how they would say it to be technically truthful while eliciting the desired
response. When they saw the challenge that Calevs speech posed to their plans they
responded viciously. They escalated the debate, stating opinion as fact and finally
concluding with blatant lies. The actions of the spies are clear but their motives remain a
mystery. Why did they influence the people in this way? They were respected and
righteous people, hand-picked by Moshe for this mission. How could they so
dramatically betray their mission? To answer this question, we must analyze the roles of
the other spies who refused to follow the majority, Yehoshua and Calev.
The role of Yehoshua is particularly perplexing. Our initial impression is that
Yehoshua stood side by side with Calev throughout the controversy, defending the land

1
The Akeidas Yizhak, Rabbi Isaac Arama, illustrates this point using the following parable:
It can be compared to a man who says to his agent: Go to the warehouse and have a look
at a tallit the merchant has in stock, examine it carefully for the quality of the wool and
linen, for size, appearance, and price and let me know, as I wish to purchase it. If the
agent returns and says: I had a look at it and the wool is pure, it is long and wide,
greenish and reddish in color and the price is a hundred golden pieces, he has carried out
his mission correctly. But if he said: I had a look at it, the wool is pure, it is long and
wide, But it is reddish and greenish in color and it is very dearly priced at one hundred
gold pieces, then he has exceeded the bounds of his mission and become instead and
adviser. This is as a result of inserting the qualifying word but.
(Akeidas Yitzhak as cited by Nehama Liebowitz in Studies in Bamidbar)

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of Israel. He was an equal player with Calev and, therefore, merited an equal reward.
Only Yehoshua and Calev survived from the generation that left Egypt to enter the land
of Canaan. However, the way the Torah presents these two rewards provides us with our
first hint that the roles of Yehoshua and Calev in this incident are not identical. In
reference to Calev the Torah says, But my servant Calev, because he was imbued with a
different spirit and remained loyal to me- him will I bring into the land that he entered,
and his offspring shall hold it as a possession. (Bemidbar 14:24) Calev is given a special
mention as one who will enter Canaan and possess the land that he traveled in during his
spying mission. This is the city of Hebron which we find Calev and his children taking
possession of in the books of Yehoshua and Shoftim. There is no similar approbation of
Yehoshuas behavior towards the spies. The Torah merely states, Not one shall enter the
land in which I swore to settle you- save Calev bin Yefuneh and Yehoshua bin Nun.2
(Bemidbar 14:30)
However, Yehoshuas role is not merely diminished when compared to Calevs.
At first glance, Yehoshua does not seem to do anything to defend the mission to conquer
Israel against the questioning of the other spies. After the spies make their first speech,
only Calev hushes the crowd. He says, Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain
possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it. (Bemidbar 13:30) Where is Yehoshua
during this pivotal moment? Ones initial impression would be that he is standing
together with the other spies. Calev seems to be debating all of the men who had gone
spying with him. However, this approach is obviously untenable. Firstly, the Torah
rewards Yehoshua for his actions, albeit in a more subdued way than it rewards Calev, so
Yehoshua could not have been together with the other spies. Secondly, Yehoshua later
joins with Calev when both of them rend their clothes and say,

2
Likewise in Devarim when the account of the spies is repeated, the Torah emphasizes the reward of Calev
in entering the land while Yehoshua is mentioned merely as an afterthought. The Torah states,
Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land that I swore to give to
your fathers- none except Calev bin Yefuneh; he shall see it, and to him and his
descendants will I give the land on which he set foot, because he remained loyal to the
Lord. Because of you, the Lord was incensed with me too, and He said: You shall not
enter it either. Yehoshua bin Nun, who attends you, he shall inherit. Imbue him with
strength, for he shall allot it to Israel.
(Devarim 1:35-38)
While Calev receives the land as a reward for what he did, Yehoshua only enters the land as the successor
to Moshe. His role in the incident of the spies is ignored.

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The land that we traversed and scouted is an exceedingly good land. If

the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into that land, a land flowing
with milk and honey, and give it to use; only you must not rebel against
the Lord. Have no fear then of the people of the country for they are our
prey: their protection has departed from them, but the Lord is with us.
Have no fear of them! (Bemidbar 14:7-10)
In this speech, Yehoshua and Calev refute the claims of the other spies.
Obviously, Yehoshua never even considers the possibility of joining these spies.
The question then remains. Where was Yehoshua during the first speech of the
spies when Calev is the only person to stand up against them?
There is a second question about Yehoshua in Parshat Shlah that is
crucial to understanding his role throughout the story. At the beginning of the
portion, when the Torah list the names of all of the spies who went to scout out
the land, the Torah calls Yehoshua by the name Hoshea bin Nun. The Torah then
adds, These were the names of the men whom Moshe sent to scout out the land;
but Moshe changed the name of Hoshea bin Nun to Yehoshua. (Bemidbar 13:16)
What is the significance of this name change? One might think that the Torah is
recording the name change now because it is here that this event occurred. At this
point Moshe changed Hosheas name to Yehoshua so the Torah reports it. In this
case, one must explain the significance of this new name. Rashi addresses this
problem by saying that by adding the name of G-d to Hoshea, Moshe was praying
to Hashem that Yehoshua should not be caught up in the negative report of the
spies. This interpretation creates obvious problems. If Moshe already knew in
advance that the spies would bring back a disastrous report then why did he send
them? One could respond that Moshe had no choice whether to send the spies
since Hashem commanded him to do it. Then one must still ask why Moshe did
not warn the spies in advance of the dangers of their mission. Also, why does
Moshe only pray for Yehoshua to remain righteous? Why does he not pray for all
of the spies?
There is also a chronological problem with this verse that Rashis
interpretation does not address. We know that Moshe did not change his name

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from Hoshea to Yehoshua here since the name Yehoshua is already mentioned in
three previous incidents in the Torah. Yehoshua is Moshes lieutenant in the war
against Amalek, he stand guard for Moshe at Mount Sinai, and he defends Moshe
against the prophecy of Eldad and Meidad. In each of these three events it is
Yehoshua who is mentioned not Hoshea. In fact, the only other place in the Torah
that Yehoshua is referred to as Hoshea is in Sefer Devarim, well after this.
Obviously, this is not the point when Moshe changes his name from Hoshea to
Yehoshua so why is this name change mentioned here?
Besides the problem with the role of Yehoshua and his mysterious name
change, the roles of Moshe and Aharon in this event are also problematic. In
response to the tumult created by the bad report of the spies, the verse says, Then
Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before all the assembled congregation of the
Israelites. (Bemidbar 14:5) Why did Moshe and Aharon act in this passive
manner? Did they not have a better response to give to the spies and the mobs of
people bemoaning their fate? Why didnt they join Calev and Yehoshua in
rebuking Benay Yisrael?3 It was not because Moshe was incapable of responding
strongly to the people. Moshe forcefully responds to Benay Yisrael on a number
of occasions. Most notably, by the sin of the Golden Calf and by the rebellion of
Korah, Moshe responds quite effectively. He does not even need to consult with
Hashem in order to decide what to do. He knows intuitively how to react to the
rebellions and lead Benay Yisrael.
To summarize, we have presented difficulties with the role of the spies,
Yehoshua, and Moshe in this story. We have illustrated how the negative report of
the spies was not merely a failure of intelligence caused by a lack of faith but a
deliberate attempt by the spies to manipulate Benay Yisrael to reject their mission
to conquer Canaan. The motives of the spies, Yehoshua, and Moshe remain
perplexing. Furthermore, we do not understand why Yehoshua does not stand
together with Calev when Calev first interceded against the other spies. We also

3
Malbim answers this problem by quoting the account of the spies from Devarim where Moshe does
indeed intercede against tha spies. He says, Have not fear or dread of them. None other than the Lord your
G-d, who goes before you will fight for you, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes (Devarim
1:29-30) However, this answer is inadequate because in the main account of the spies in Bemidbar there is
not mention of Moshe responding to the people. He merely falls on his face before the congregation.

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wonder why the Torah mentions in the prologue to this story the name change
from Hoshea to Yehoshua, an event that clearly predates the rest of the story.
Finally, we question Moshes passive role in the spy ordeal rather than actively
rebuking them.
The motives of the spies begin to become apparent upon analysis of a
fascinating Zohar. The Zohar states, They were the heads of Benay Yisrael and
virtuous but they took bad advice through false reasoning. They said, If Israel
enters the land, we will be superseded, since it is only in the desert that we are
accounted worthy to be leaders. This is what caused their death and the death of
all that followed them. (Zohar 158b)
According to this account, what motivated the spies was the fear that they
would lose their positions upon entrance into the land of Israel. They knew that
once Benay Yisrael conquered Canaan, it would be time for a new generation of
leaders to take over. Moshe would step down and with him the other spies, who
constituted Moshes cabinet, would also be replaced. They realized that the only
way to prevent this change was to convince Benay Yisrael to remain in the desert.
Therefore, they plotted to give a bad report and influence the nation to reject the
conquest of Canaan.
The diminished role of Yehoshua in this episode now becomes obvious.
Since he had the most to gain from Benay Yisraels entrance into the land of
Israel, he was silenced by the other spies. The spies knew that once they entered
Canaan Moshe would step down and it was obvious to them that Yehoshua would
then become Moshes successor. This is indicated from the perplexing verse
where it says, But Moshe changed the name of Hoshea bin Nun to Yehoshua.
(Bemidbar 13:16) This incident actually took place much earlier. Rashbam that
Moshe changed the name of Hoshea to Yehoshua when he appointed him to be
his personal attach and made him the head of the household. Rashbam cites other
examples from Tanakh where the changing of a name represent an appointment to
a new position. For example, Yosefs name is changed to Zafnat Pnah after he is
appointed by Pharaoh to the position of viceroy of Egypt. Likewise, Daniels

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name is changed to Balshazar after he is appointed to a similar leadership

position.
We now understand why the Torah placed the verse describing the name
change to Yehoshua at the onset of the story of the spies. The promotion of
Yehoshua by Moshe as demonstrated by his name change made him a marked
man. The spies resented the person who would eventually replace Moshe and then
appoint his own advisors to replace them. The actions of the spies must then be
interpreted with this motivation in mind.
We now understand why Yehoshua did not respond to the spies first
speech. He could not respond. As Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch explains, We
can understand why here, where it was a matter of supporting Moshe, it was not
Yehoshua but Calev who stepped forth. Through the close association of
Yehoshua and Moshe, his reassurance would carry little weight with the people.
(Hirsch 205) Not only would Yehoshua carry little weight in defending Moshe but
anything he said would be viewed as mere self interest, a defense of Yehoshuas
own future aspirations to be ruler. Observers would think that the reason
Yehoshua wanted so badly to enter Israel was that his future leadership was
contingent on it. The real motives of the spies were projected by the people onto
Yehoshua. Yehoshua was perceived as motivated by a desire to retain his power.
The spies were viewed by Benay Yisrael as the courageous defenders of truth.
This also explains why Moshe did not respond either. He realized that the
spies unlike the rest of Benay Yisrael were not chronically weak of faith but
represented a challenge to Moshes entire mission to bring the people to the
Promised Land. They were purposely challenging Moshe in order to retain
personal power. When Moshe saw this he knew that his only proper response
would be to abdicate his position. Since the spies plan was to stay in power as
advisors to Moshe, once Moshe stepped down as leader their power play failed.

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When Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces, they were, in effect, resigning their
positions as leaders of Benay Yisrael.4
The spies accounted for all of the parties. They skillfully manipulated
Benay Yisrael. They silenced Yehoshua before he had any chance to respond. The
only person that they misjudged was Calev. Why did they not try to silence him?
Why did they let him speak and almost spoil everything that they were attempting
to accomplish? Rashi explains that Calev fooled the spies into letting him speak
by acting as if he too was ready to denigrate the mission of Moshe to conquer
Israel. He said, Is this all that Moshe did for us? With this Calev peaked the
interest of the people. The nation thought that he too would condemn Moshe. He
then continued, Did not Moshe also split the sea for us and case the manna to
fall?(Rashi, Bemidbar 13:30) Like the speech of Marc Anthony in
Shakespeares play Julius Caesar, Calev manipulated the murderous mob from
condemnation to exaltation of their maligned leader, Moshe.
Another Midrash explains how Calevs subterfuge was much more direct.
The Midrash states, Originally, Calev told the spies that he was with them in
their plans while in his heart he knew that he would tell the truth. (Bemidbar
Rabbah quoted in Torah Shleimah Vol 39, Pg 34) Through our understanding of
the spies motives we can explain this Midrash figuratively. Calev did not need to
actually lie to the spies and tell them that he was with them in their plot. The spies
assumed that Calev would be with them. This was as the leader of Shevet
Yehudah, the most powerful tribe, Calev had the most to lose through the
promotion of Moshe to the leadership position that was rightfully his. He would
be expected to prevent Yehoshua from taking over at any cost. The spies felt no
need to consult with Calev about their plan because he was assumed to be their
most trusted ally.
The role of Calev is now elevated tremendously. Only Calev had the
courage to forsake his own personal position because of his love for the land of
Israel. He was unafraid to challenge the spies with the rallying cry, Let us by all

4
Rabbi Hirsch explains this in the following way: By throwing themselves down before them they gave
their leadership back to the people, and expressed thereby that with this renouncement by the people of
obedience to them, their power was at an end, and humanly they could do nothing further.

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means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.
(Bemidbar 13:30) Calev in the later books of Yehoshua and Shoftim becomes the
symbol of the person who loves the land of Israel so strongly and possesses so
much faith in Hashem that he in unafraid to fight for every city and town. He is
the true leader to emerge from the story of the spies.
After Calevs speech, the spies plans begin to unravel. They had never
expected to need to defend their version of events. They planned to present their
semi-true account and, after the people sided with them and the opposition of
Yehoshua and Moshe was silenced, they would lead Benay Yisrael back into the
desert. Calevs speech changed all of this. After he challenged the spies, they
desperately tried to gain the upper hand once again. They started to further distort
the truth, stating opinions as fact, using hyperbole, and eventually resorting to
outright lies.
Calevs brave speech created a second positive outcome. Now Yehoshua
too could join Calev in defending the mission to conquer Canaan. Calevs
presence gave Yehoshua credibility, effectively silencing critics who claimed
Yehoshua was only out for personal gain. Together, Yehoshua and Calev tore
their garments imploring the nation to discount the false reports of the other spies.
Unfortunately for the history of Benay Yisrael, the people chose to side was the
majority against Calev and Yehoshuas pleas of reason. However, the heroism of
Calev, the leader who cared more about his land and people than retaining his
position of power was not forgotten. It was recorded for posterity in Hashems
speech lauding the actions of his trusted servant, Calev.
But my servant Calev, because he was imbued with a different spirit and
remained loyal to me- him will I bring into the land that he entered, and
his offspring shall hold it as a possession. (Bemidbar 14:24)

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Works Cited
Bible. (1985) Jewish Publication Society Trans.
Hirsch, S. R. (1956) The Pentateuch. (Levy, I. Trans.) Bloch Publishing.
Kasher, M. (1927) Torah Shleimah.
Leibowitz, N. (1996) Studies in Bamidbar. (Newman, A. Trans.) Eliner Library.
Zohar (1931) Simon, M. & Sperling H. Trans.

Originally published in:

HaMelucha VeHaMemshala: Issues of Authority and Leadership. Hendler, Aryeh
(ed.) Brooklyn, NY: Yeshivat Sha'alvim, 2007. 2007, Hardcover.

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