| א וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ-בִּן-נוּן מִן-הַשִּׁטִּים שְׁנַיִם-אֲנָשִׁים מְרַגְּלִים, חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר, לְכוּ רְאוּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, וְאֶת-יְרִיחוֹ; וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵּית-אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה, וּשְׁמָהּ רָחָב--וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ-שָׁמָּה. | 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly, saying: 'Go view the land, and Jericho.' And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there. |
But what in the world is Yehoshua thinking?! He was one of the 12 spies, and he saw what disaster ensued! This is a great question Ralbag asks.
His answer is that there are two reasons for sending out spies. One is to find out if one should engage the enemy or avoid them. And this was the intent of the people in Moshe's time. The other is, knowing of course that one will indeed engage the enemy, to encourage the people and strengthen their courage. Just as Gideon, though certainly fighting with a small force, spied and heard the dream of the soldier, which gave Gideon extra courage. And this was Yehoshua's intent. It was a different kind of spying.
We could support this with the reaction of Rachav, about how the Canaanite hearts melted in fear, and how they report this at the very end of the perek. This seems to be an intent of this episode.
We could support this with the reaction of Rachav, about how the Canaanite hearts melted in fear, and how they report this at the very end of the perek. This seems to be an intent of this episode.
However much I may like the question, I am not entirely convinced by the answer. I am not sure, e.g. that this was Moshe's intent in sending the spies. He might have done it as well to inspire courgage. Further, I would propose two other reasons for Yehoshua sending the spies.
The first reason is specifically in order to replay the failed mission. This was take two, under new leadership. It was a "tikkun" for the failure of the last generation, and a demonstration that this generation was going to get it right. Rachav's description of hearts melting shows a reversal of the attitude of the dor hamidbar, as does the last pasuk in the perek:
| כד וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֶל-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, כִּי-נָתַן ה' בְּיָדֵנוּ, אֶת-כָּל-הָאָרֶץ; וְגַם-נָמֹגוּ כָּל-יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ, מִפָּנֵינוּ. {ס} | 24 And they said unto Joshua: 'Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us.' {S} |
The second reason is that this is how one fights a war. Just as the men would not go to battle unarmed with weapons and shields (chamushim alu...), the men would not go to battle without military intelligence and some strategy. What was the reason that Yosef's brothers were purportedly spying in Egypt, according to Yosef's accusation in parshat Miketz?
The ervat ha`aretz is the weakness of its defenses. A similar question might be read into Moshe's instructions to his spies. And see, here, how the king of Yericho reacts:
Why should the king care about these spies? They came "to search out the land" -- that is, to gather intelligence to plan the conquest. And he pursues them hoping to catch them before they make it back to the Israelite camp. This all strongly suggests to me that they were serving a military purpose. But my addition is that this military purpose is part of the derech hateva and hishtadlus aspect inherent in the military campaign.
Now I see that Malbim suggests as much as part of his five-pronged answer to how this sending differs from Moshe's sending. I don't agree entirely with Malbim that there must be a distinction between tarim and meraglim, but I do somewhat in this conclusion.
Radak also grapples with this question. His solution, which he says in passing, is to note that the first pasuk reads:
| א וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ-בִּן-נוּן מִן-הַשִּׁטִּים שְׁנַיִם-אֲנָשִׁים מְרַגְּלִים, חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר, לְכוּ רְאוּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, וְאֶת-יְרִיחוֹ; וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵּית-אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה, וּשְׁמָהּ רָחָב--וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ-שָׁמָּה. | 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly, saying: 'Go view the land, and Jericho.' And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there. |
secretly: Secretly. So did Jon. render it. He said to them: Disguise yourselves as deaf-mutes (חרשים) so that they will not conceal their affairs from you. Another explanation is: חרש [with a “shin”] is like חרש [with a “sin” or “samech,” namely pottery.] Load yourselves with pots so that you appear as potters.
But Radak suggests that the secret is from the Israelites. They are conduct the mission without telling anyone from their own camp of the mission, and so only Yehoshua is to receive the report. This makes their missing safe.
1 comment:
Admittedly without reading your whole post, I think you can derive an answer to the question in the title of the post from Devarim 32:44, and the Kli Yakar there.
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