Pt1 The Story of the Spies in Numbers 13-14 in the Talmud (Sotah 34b-35a)

This is the first part of a three-part series. The outline of the series is below.

The biblical narrative of the Twelve Spies sent by Moses to scout the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14) stands as one of Scripture’s pivotal moments of failure and consequence. When ten of the twelve scouts returned with reports that instilled fear rather than faith in the Israelites, their words triggered a rebellion that would condemn an entire generation to perish in the wilderness.

The singular verb in “he came to Hebron” (Numbers 13:22) transforms into evidence of Caleb‘s separation from the other Spies to pray at the Patriarchs‘ graves. Similarly, the description of the Anakim as “children of Anak“ inspires etymological explanations of their extraordinary height.

Beyond linguistic analysis, these rabbinic commentaries reveal a moral framework that consistently emphasizes divine providence and human accountability. The spies’ mission itself is reinterpreted as Moses’ discretionary decision rather than divine command, their names are decoded to reveal their corrupt intentions, and their deaths are portrayed as measure-for-measure justice for their slander. The rabbis even trace the establishment of the Ninth of Av as a day of national mourning to this episode, linking ancient transgression to ongoing collective remembrance.

Perhaps most striking is the sugya’s psychological discussions. The Talmud reconstructs Caleb’s rhetorical strategy to win over a hostile audience, analyzes the Spies’ effective technique of beginning their slander with truth, and examines how divine protection (causing deaths among Canaanites to distract them from noticing the spies) was tragically misinterpreted as evidence against entering the land. Even the seemingly impossible claim that “we were like grasshoppers in their eyes” is given a plausible explanation through the spies overhearing conversations while hiding in trees.

Outline

Intro

The Passage - The Story of the Spies in Numbers 13-14 in the Talmud (Sotah 34b-35a)

Part 1

1. R’ Yehuda - The Weight of the Jordan Stones and the Cluster of Grapes (Numbers 13:23): Measuring the Stones from the Jordan; The Rule of Load Carrying; Calculating the Weight of the Spies’ Cluster of Grapes

2. R’ Yitzḥak - The Number of Spies Carrying the Fruit

3. Reish Lakish - The Spies Were Not Commanded by God, Rather They Were Sent at Moses’ Discretion (Numbers 13:2; Deuteronomy 1:23)

4. R’ Ḥiyya bar Abba - The Spies Intended to Shame the Land (Deuteronomy 1:22; Isaiah 24:23)

5. The Spies and Their Names as Reflections of Their Actions (Numbers 13:4,13-14)

   1. R’ Yitzḥak - the names of the spies correspond to their actions; etymology of “Sethur ben Michael”

   2. R’ Yoḥanan - etymology of “Nahbi ben Vophsi”

Part 2

1. Rava - Caleb’s Visit to the Patriarchs’ Graves in Hebron (Numbers 13:22)

2. Joshua and Caleb’s Differing Paths of Loyalty (Numbers 13:16, 14:24): Joshua’s Protection Through Moses’ Prayer; Caleb’s Change Over Time; Joshua’s Steadfast Opposition

3. The Significance of the Names of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai (Numbers 13:22)

   1. Etymologies of their names based on their physical traits

   2. City that each one established

   3. “Children of Anak” = extraordinary height

4. R’ Yoḥanan citing R’ Shimon ben Yoḥai - The Spies’ Wicked Intentions (Numbers 13:25–26)

5. R’ Yoḥanan citing R’ Meir - The Strategy of the Spies’ Slander (Numbers 13:27–28)

6. Rabba - Caleb’s Appeal to the People (Numbers 13:30): Silencing the Crowd, The Rejection of Joshua, A Strategic Approach, and a Call to Trust Moses

   1. Part 1

   2. Part 2

Part 3

1. R’ Ḥanina bar Pappa - Spies Claimed That Even God Cannot Prevail over the Native Canaanites (Numbers 13:31)

2. Rava - Misinterpreting Divine Intent: The Spies’ Mistake (Numbers 13:32): A Divine Strategy for Protection

   1. By causing many deaths in Canaan, God ensured that the Canaanites would be distracted with mourning and not notice the Spies

   2. The Death of Job as a Distraction

3. Rav Mesharshiyya - The Spies Lied (Numbers 13:33)

   1. Validation of the Spies’ Perception

4. Rabba citing R’ Yoḥanan - Establishment of the Ninth of Av as a Day of Mourning (Numbers 14:1)

5. R’ Ḥiyya bar Abba - Rebellion Against God (Numbers 14:10)

6. The Spies’ Deaths

   1. R’ Shimon ben Lakish - The Spies’ Unusual Deaths (Numbers 14:37)

   2. R’ Ḥanina bar Pappa citing R’ Sheila of Kefar Temarta - their tongues stretched out while worms consumed them

   3. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak - they died of diphtheria

Appendix 1 - Absalom’s Vow and Hebron’s Sheep (Sotah 34b; II Samuel 15:7)

Appendix 2 - Homiletic Readings of Verses in the Talmudic Sugya on the Spies: All the Number 13-14 verses discussed in the text and their interpretations, organized in order by chapter and verse, with concise summary of each homiletic reading

1. Numbers 13:2 - “Send you men”

2. Numbers 13:4, 13-14 - Names of the Spies

3. Numbers 13:16 - Moses Renames Hoshea

4. Numbers 13:22 - “And he came to Hebron”

5. Numbers 13:22 - The Anakim in Hebron

6. Numbers 13:22 - “Hebron was built seven years before Zoan”

7. Numbers 13:23 - The Cluster of Grapes

8. Numbers 13:25-26 - Return from the Mission

9. Numbers 13:27-28 - The Spies’ Report

10. Numbers 13:30 - Caleb’s Response

11. Numbers 13:31 - “Stronger than us”

12. Numbers 13:32 - “Land that consumes its inhabitants”

13. Numbers 13:33 - “Like grasshoppers in their eyes”

14. Numbers 14:1 - “The congregation cried”

15. Numbers 14:10 - “Stone them with stones”

16. Numbers 14:24 - “Caleb had another spirit”

17. Numbers 14:37 - The Spies’ Death

The Passage

Sotah.34a.8-34b.10

R’ Yehuda - The Weight of the Jordan Stones and the Cluster of Grapes (Numbers 13:23): Measuring the Stones from the Jordan; The Rule of Load Carrying; Calculating the Weight of the Spies’ Cluster of Grapes

R’ Yehuda states that Abba Ḥalafta, R’ Eliezer ben Matya, and Ḥananya ben Ḥakhinai stood on the same stones that the Jewish people took from the Jordan. They measured them and determined that each stone weighed approximately 40 se’a.

A tradition (גמירי) states that a person can lift (מדלי) onto their shoulders one-third of the weight they can carry if others place it upon them.

Using this principle, the size of the cluster of grapes (אשכול) carried by the spies from Eretz Yisrael can be estimated:

The verse states, “And they carried it upon a pole (מוט) between two” (Numbers 13:23).

Since carrying something on a pole inherently requires two people, the phrase “between two” implies that the cluster was carried with two poles, requiring four people.¹

אמר רבי יהודה:

1. אבא חלפתא

2. ורבי אליעזר בן מתיא

3. וחנניא בן חכינאי

עמדו על אותן אבנים,

ושיערום

כל אחת ואחת שקולה כארבעים סאה.

וגמירי:

דטעונא דמדלי איניש לכתפיה, תילתא דטעוניה הוי.

מכאן אתה מחשב לאשכול,

שנאמר: ״וישאהו במוט בשנים״.

ממשמע שנאמר ״במוט״, איני יודע שבשנים?

מה תלמוד לומר ״בשנים״?

בשני מוטות.

R’ Yehuda says:

1. Abba Ḥalafta,

2. and R’ Eliezer ben Matya,

3. and Ḥananya ben Ḥakhinai

stood on those same stones that the Jewish people took from the Jordan,

and they measured them

and found that each and every one weighed about 40 se’a.

And it is learned as a tradition that

a load that one can lift onto his shoulders is 1/3rd of the weight of the load that he can carry when others load it onto him.

From here you can calculate the size of the cluster of grapes that the spies carried together from Eretz Yisrael,

as it is stated: “And they carried it upon a pole between 2” (Numbers 13:23).

From the fact that it is stated that they carried the cluster of grapes “on a pole” do I not know that it was carried by 2 people? That is the only way it can be carried on a pole.

What is the meaning when the verse states: “Between 2”?

It means that the spies carried it on 2 poles, and 4 people carried the cluster of grapes together.

R’ Yitzḥak - The Number of Spies Carrying the Fruit

R’ Yitzḥak explains that the cluster was suspended like a balance scale (טורטני), requiring eight spies to carry it. Additionally, one spy carried a pomegranate and another carried a fig.²

Joshua and Caleb did not carry anything, either because of their higher status (חשיבי - “importance”) or because they refused to take part in the spies’ negative report about the land.

אמר רבי יצחק:

טורטני, וטורטני דטורטני,

הא כיצד?

1. שמנה

   1. נשאו אשכל,

2. אחד

   1. נשא רימון,

3. ואחד

   1. נשא תאינה.

R’ Yitzḥak said:

They were configured like upper rods of scales [turtanei] that are balanced on the lower rods of scales, i.e., there were not 2 but 4 poles.

How so?

• 8 of the spies

  • carried the cluster of grapes,

• 1 of them

  • carried a pomegranate,

• and 1

  • carried a fig.

יהושע וכלב לא נשאו כלום.

• אי בעית אימא:

  • משום דחשיבי.

• ואי בעית אימא:

  • שלא היו באותה עצה.

[...]

Joshua and Caleb did not carry anything.

Why did Joshua and Caleb not carry anything?

• If you wish, say that

  • it is because they were more prominent than the others and it was beneath their dignity to carry such a load.

• And if you wish, say instead that

  • they did not take part in the wicked counsel of the spies, as the cluster of grapes was brought by the spies to scare the people.

[...]

Reish Lakish - The Spies Were Not Commanded by God, Rather They Were Sent at Moses’ Discretion (Numbers 13:2; Deuteronomy 1:23)

The Torah states that God told Moses, “Send you men” (Numbers 13:2), which prompts discussion about whether this was a divine command or a discretionary choice.

Reish Lakish explains that “Send you” means that Moses sent the spies of his own accord, not by God’s directive. If it were truly a divine command, God would not have chosen spies who would bring a negative report.

Reish Lakish further supports this by citing Deuteronomy 1:23, where Moses recalls the event and says, “And it was good in my eyes.” This phrasing implies that it was good in Moses’ view but not in God’s, reinforcing that the mission was not divinely mandated.

״שלח לך אנשים״,

אמר ריש לקיש:

״שלח לך״ —

מדעתך.

וכי אדם זה בורר חלק רע לעצמו?!

והיינו דכתיב: ״וייטב בעיני הדבר״.

אמר ריש לקיש:

״בעיני״,

ולא בעיניו של מקום.

Since the Talmud mentioned the cluster of grapes that the spies brought back from Eretz Yisrael, it continues discussing the story of the spies. It is stated in the Torah that God told Moses: “Send you men” (Numbers 13:2).

Reish Lakish says:

“Send you”

means that you should send them at your own discretion and not as a divine command.

As, if it were a divine command, does a person choose a bad portion for himself?! Since God knew the nature of these spies and that they would ultimately slander the land, He certainly would not have sent them Himself.

And this is the meaning of that which is written in the passage where Moses retold the story of the spies: “And it was good in my eyes” (Deuteronomy 1:23),

and Reish Lakish says:

The implication of these words is that it seemed good “in my eyes,”

but not in the eyes of God

R’ Ḥiyya bar Abba - The Spies Intended to Shame the Land (Deuteronomy 1:22; Isaiah 24:23)

R’ Ḥiyya bar Abba notes that the spies’ true purpose was to bring shame upon Eretz Yisrael.

He connects the word “ve-yaḥperu” (יחפרו - “they will search”) to “ve-ḥafera” (חפרה - “will be embarrassed”) in Isaiah 24:23, suggesting their reconnaissance was designed to disgrace (בושתה) the land (rather than assess it fairly).

״ויחפרו לנו את הארץ״,

אמר רבי חייא בר אבא:

מרגלים לא נתכוונו אלא לבושתה של ארץ ישראל

• כתיב הכא:

  • ״ויחפרו לנו את הארץ״,

• וכתיב התם:

  • ״וחפרה הלבנה

  • ובושה החמה וגו׳״.

The Torah relates that the people asked Moses to send spies so “that they may search the land for us” (Deuteronomy 1:22).

R’ Ḥiyya bar Abba says:

When the Jewish people asked to send spies, their intention was only to shame Eretz Yisrael.

• It is written here:

  • “That they may search [ve-yaḥperu] the land for us,”

• and it is written there:

  • “Then the moon will be embarrassed [ve-ḥafera],

  • and the sun will be ashamed” (Isaiah 24:23).

The Spies and Their Names as Reflections of Their Actions (Numbers 13:4,13-14)

R’ Yitzḥak - the names of the spies correspond to their actions; etymology of “Sethur ben Michael”

R’ Yitzḥak states that the names of the spies correspond to their actions,³ though only the meaning of one name, Sethur ben Michael, is explicitly known:

• “Sethur” (סתור) signifies that he “hid” (סתר - “satar”) God’s deeds (disregarding the miracles in Egypt and the wilderness).

• “Michael” (מיכאל) implies that he “weakened” (מך - “makh”) God’s image (by claiming the land lacked sufficient food).

״ואלה שמותם:

למטה ראובן --

שמוע בן זכור״,

אמר רבי יצחק:

דבר זה מסורת בידינו מאבותינו:

מרגלים על שם מעשיהם נקראו.

ואנו לא עלתה בידינו אלא אחד:

״סתור בן מיכאל״,

• ״סתור״ —

  • שסתר מעשיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא.

• ״מיכאל״ —

  • שעשה עצמו מך.

The Torah states with regard to the spies: “And these were their names:

Of the tribe of Reuben —

Shammua the son of Zaccur” (Numbers 13:4).

R’ Yitzḥak says:

This statement that follows is a tradition of ours that was passed down to us from our ancestors:

The spies were named after their actions,

but we have obtained the interpretation of only one name,

the name of “Sethur the son of Michael” (Numbers 13:13).

• He is called Sethur,

  • as he hid [satar] the actions of God. In other words, he ignored the miracles that God performed for the Jewish people in Egypt and in the wilderness.

• He is called Michael,

  • as he made Him, God, appear weak [makh] by saying that there was not enough food in the land for everyone.

R’ Yoḥanan - etymology of “Nahbi ben Vophsi”

R’ Yoḥanan offers an explanation for Nahbi the son of Vophsi:

• “Nahbi” (נחבי) means he “concealed” (החביא - “heḥbi”) God’s statement (that the land was good, distorting its description).

• “Vophsi” (ופסי) suggests he “trampled” (פיסע - “pisse’a”) on God’s attributes (מדותיו - rejecting His promise of the land to the Jewish people).

אמר רבי יוחנן:

אף אנו נאמר:

״נחבי בן ופסי״,

• ״נחבי״ —

  • שהחביא דבריו של הקדוש ברוך הוא.

• ״ופסי״ —

  • שפיסע על מדותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא.

R’ Yoḥanan says:

We can also say an interpretation of the name:

“Nahbi the son of Vophsi” (Numbers 13:14):

• He is called Nahbi,

  • as he concealed [heḥbi] the statement of God, that the land is good, by delivering a distorted description of it.

• He is called Vophsi,

  • as he stomped [pisse’a] on the attributes of God, i.e., he did not believe in His promise to give Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish people.

1. Ed. Steinsaltz adds this conclusion:

From here it can be deduced that the weight of the cluster was 480 se’a.

Summary of the calculation:

1. Base weight: Each portion that a person could lift onto his own shoulders weighed 40 se’a.

2. Rule of loading: A person can carry three times as much when others load it onto him (since he can lift only one-third of that amount by himself).

3. Number of carriers: The verse says the spies carried the grape cluster “on a pole between two.” The double expression—“on a pole” (implying two people already) and “between two”—is interpreted to mean two poles, with four people carrying (two on each pole).

4. Calculation:

   • One man’s load (with help) = 3 × 40 se’a = 120 se’a.

   • Four men carried the load: 4 × 120 se’a = 480 se’a total weight of the grape cluster.

(Note: There is empirical data showing that carrying tasks can permit somewhat higher loads in certain setups compared to awkward self‐lifts, but the claim that one can carry three (!) times as much simply because someone else lifts it onto the other person is not substantiated in the ergonomic literature.)

On the Talmudic trope of the supernaturally massive fruits of Eretz Yisrael, compare my recent two-part series “Eretz Yisrael’s Miraculous Agricultural Fertility: Past, Present, and Future (Ketubot 111b-112a)“, final part here.

2. Pomegranates and figs are mentioned at the end of the verse, see the full verse in Numbers.13.23:

ויבאו עד־נחל אשכל

ויכרתו משם זמורה ואשכול ענבים אחד

וישאהו במוט בשנים

ומן־הרמנים ומן־התאנים

They reached the wadi Eshcol,

and there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes—

it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them—

and some pomegranates and figs.

3. On this very common Talmudic trope in general, see my ““Why Was He Called Thus?”: An Anthology of Talmudic Passages Relating to Explanations of Biblical Names, Unification of Ostensibly Separate Biblical Personalities, and Etymologies of Biblical Words“.

And compare also my discussion in “From Abba to Zebedee: A Comprehensive Survey of Naming Conventions in the Mishnah, Talmud, and Late Antique Midrash“, section “Aptronyms, Word Plays on Names, Patterns within Individual Sages“, pp. 7-9.