Musar for Sotah 69:13
(במדבר יד, לז) וימותו האנשים מוציאי דבת הארץ רעה במגפה אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש שמתו מיתה משונה אמר רבי חנינא בר פפא דרש ר' שילא איש כפר תמרתא מלמד שנשתרבב לשונם ונפל על טיבורם והיו תולעים יוצאות מלשונם ונכנסות בטיבורם ומטיבורם ונכנסות בלשונם ורב נחמן בר יצחק אמר באסכרה מתו
But all the congregation bade them stone them with stones,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 10. ');"><sup>23</sup></span> and it continues, And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting. R. Hiyya b. Abba said: It teaches that they took stones and hurled them against Him Who is above.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The word 'them' includes God, ');"><sup>24</sup></span>
Shemirat HaLashon
We also find that the spies, because of the sin of lashon hara, died an unnatural death, as it is written (Sotah 35a) (Bamidbar 14:37): "And they died, the men who had uttered an evil report of the land, etc." R. Shimon b. Lakish said: "They died an unnatural death." And it is stated there in the Gemara: "We are hereby taught that their tongues descended to their navels, and worms left their mouths onto their tongues, and from their tongues they descended to their navels."
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