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32 [1] AND THEY BROUGHT FORTH ‘DIBATH’ (AN EVIL REPORT OF) THE LAND WHICH THEY HAD SPIED OUT UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. The meaning of this is that the spies left Moses and Aaron and [went around] saying in the [people’s] tents that *it is a Land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof*. For at first when they spoke to the people in front of Moses and Aaron [saying] that *the Land … floweth with milk and honey* but that *the people are fierce*, and Caleb said, *for we are well able to overcome it*, the people hesitated [between these two opinions], and there were some of them who [still] trusted in their power and strength, and some of them [who trusted] in *the help of the Eternal against the mighty*. Then the spies spread the evil report in front of the people themselves, as it is written, *the Land through which we have passed to spy it out, is a Land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof*, etc., until they caused *the whole congregation* to complain, this being the sense of the verse stating, *and they returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the Land*. This happened because when the spies saw the [Amorite] people *whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks*, *the fear of* them *was fallen upon them* and they made the hearts of their brothers melt. And when they saw that the Israelites were still considering going up [to the Land], and that Joshua and Caleb were encouraging them to do so, they invented a false report in order to frustrate their [intention of] going up by all possible means.
Know that *he who “bringeth forth ‘dibah’” is a fool* who speaks falsely, but he who tells a truthful [bad report] is called “one who ‘brings’ *dibah*,” as it is said, *and Joseph brought ‘dibatham ra’ah’* (*evil report of them*) *unto their father*. It was for this [false report] that they were punished by death through a plague, as it is said, *And those men that ‘brought forth’ an evil report of the Land, died by the plague before the Eternal*.
[2] IT IS A LAND THAT EATETH UP THE INHABITANTS THEREOF; AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WE SAW IN IT ARE MEN OF GREAT STATURE. If a land is bad and has scanty and poor water so that *the Land miscarrieth*, it does not sustain men of great [physical] stature, and its inhabitants are weak and flabby, small in size and lacking in strength! [So the question appears in what way is the spies’ statement that the Land produces *men of great stature* an *evil report?*] But the *evil report* of the spies consisted in saying that the Land has an overpowering atmosphere and a heavy nature, and its water and fruits are thick and heavy, so that [the fruits] grow to a very large size, such that people of an average temperament cannot take them, unless they are giants and men of powerful build who are naturally strong and exceptional in their height and stature. Therefore the Land supports very tall men but brings [premature] death to the rest of the people, as is the nature of coarse foods. The spies then continued and emphasized the strength of the giants, for at first they said, *and moreover, we saw the children of Anak there*, and now they exaggerated and called them *nephilim* [a word which implies that they were so enormous that the hearts of those who saw them “fell” through fear]; saying to the people, *and there we saw the Nephilim*, the three *sons of Anak* who are of the ancient *Nephilim* about whom you have heard, for *the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown*. And since the nature of the Nephilim who lived in the times of Noah was known throughout the world, the spies mentioned that these sons of Anak were their descendants, in order *to frighten them, and to terrify them*. Therefore the spies said now, *and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight*.
Version: Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH002108945/NLI
License: CC-BY