Sotah 68

כחנייתן עברו לדברי רבי אלעזר בר' שמעון בזה אחר זה עברו

they crossed over in the formation of their encampment, and according to the statement of R. Eleazar b. Simeon<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That the height was over three hundred mil. ');">¹</span> they crossed over in single file.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The time of crossing was much longer; consequently the heap of water had to be of greater height. ');">²</span>

וחד אמר בין מר ובין מר כחנייתן עברו מר סבר אדם קל ומר סבר מים קלים

The other said: According to the statement of both teachers they crossed over in the formation of their encampment. One teacher was of the opinion that man was swifter, and the other that water was swifter.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For that reason they suggest different heights for the water to enable the people to escape. ');">³</span> Send for thee men<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIII, 2. So the Hebrew literally. ');">⁴</span>

(במדבר יג, ב) שלח לך אנשים אמר ריש לקיש שלח לך מדעתך וכי אדם זה בורר חלק רע לעצמו והיינו דכתיב (דברים א, כג) וייטב בעיני הדבר אמר ריש לקיש בעיני ולא בעיניו של מקום

— Resh Lakish said: ['For thee' means] from thine own mind;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the plan did not emanate from God but from Moses. ');">⁵</span> because does anybody choose a bad position for himself?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Would God have sanctioned a plan which He knew was to end in disaster? ');">⁶</span>

(דברים א, כב) ויחפרו לנו את הארץ אמר ר' חייא בר אבא מרגלים לא נתכוונו אלא לבושתה של ארץ ישראל כתיב הכא ויחפרו לנו את הארץ וכתיב התם (ישעיהו כד, כג) וחפרה הלבנה ובושה החמה וגו'

That is what is written: And the thing pleased me well<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. I, 23. ');">⁷</span> — Resh Lakish said: It pleased me [Moses] well but not the All-Present.

(במדבר יג, ד) 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 (במדבר יג, יג) סתור בן מיכאל סתור שסתר מעשיו של הקב"ה מיכאל שעשה עצמו מך

That they search the land for us<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 22. The word for search is here given the meaning 'confound'. ');">⁸</span> — R. Hiyya b. Abba said: The spies aimed at nothing else than discrediting the land of Israel. Here it is written: That they may search [we-yahperu] the land for us, and elsewhere it is written: Then the moon shall be confounded [we-haferah] and the sun ashamed etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XXIV, 23. ');">⁹</span>

אמר רבי יוחנן אף אנו נאמר נחבי בן ופסי נחבי שהחביא דבריו של הקב"ה ופסי שפיסע על מדותיו של הקב"ה

And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIII, 4. ');">¹⁰</span> R. Isaac said: It is a tradition in our possession from our forefathers that the spies were named after their actions, but only with one has it survived with us: Sethur the son of Michael.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 13. ');">¹¹</span>

(במדבר יג, כב) ויעלו בנגב ויבא עד חברון ויבאו מבעי ליה אמר רבא מלמד שפירש כלב מעצת מרגלים והלך ונשתטח על קברי אבות אמר להן אבותי בקשו עלי רחמים שאנצל מעצת מרגלים

[He was named] Sethur because he undermined [sathar] the works of the Holy One, blessed be He; and Michael [was so named] because he suggested that God [el] was weak [mak].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'he made himself to be weak' — a reverential avoidance of a disparaging reference to God. He was the man who said: 'Even the master of the house cannot remove his furniture from there' (infra 35a). ');">¹²</span> R. Johanan said: We can also explain [the name] Nahbi the son of Vophsi.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 14. ');">¹³</span>

יהושע כבר בקש משה עליו רחמים שנאמר (במדבר יג, טז) ויקרא משה להושע בן נון יהושע יה יושיעך מעצת מרגלים והיינו דכתיב (במדבר יד, כד) ועבדי כלב עקב היתה רוח אחרת עמו וגו'

[He was named] Nahbi because he hid [hikbi] the words<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Did not truthfully report them. ');">¹⁴</span> of the Holy One, blessed be He; and Vophsi [was so named] because he stepped over [pasa'] the attributes<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He misrepresented them. ');">¹⁵</span>

ושם אחימן ששי ותלמי וגו' אחימן מיומן שבאחיו ששי שמשים את הארץ כשחתות תלמי שמשים את הארץ תלמים תלמים

of the Holy One, blessed be He. And they went up by the South and he came unto Hebron<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 22. So the Heb. literally. ');">¹⁶</span>

ד"א אחימן בנה ענת ששי בנה אלש תלמי בנה תלבוש ילידי הענק שמעניקין חמה בקומתן

— it should have read 'and they came'! — Raba said: It teaches that Caleb held aloof from the plan of the spies and went and prostrated himself upon the graves of the patriarchs, saying to them, 'My fathers, pray on my behalf that I may be delivered from the plan of the spies'. (As for Joshua, Moses had already prayed on his behalf; as it is said: And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIII, 16. ');">¹⁷</span> [meaning], May Jah save thee [yoshi'aka] from the plan of the spies.) That is the intention of what is written: But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XIV, 24. It continues: I will bring him into the land whereinto he went, viz. Hebron. V. Josh. XIV, 14. ');">¹⁸</span>

(במדבר יג, כב) וחברון שבע שנים נבנתה [מאי נבנתה] אילימא נבנתה ממש אפשר אדם בונה בית לבנו קטן קודם לבנו גדול דכתיב (בראשית י, ו) ובני חם כוש ומצרים וגו'

And there were Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIII, 22. ');">¹⁹</span> — Ahiman [was so named because he was] the strongest [meyuman] of them; Sheshai because he made the earth like pits [shehithoth];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Through his heavy tread. ');">²⁰</span>

אלא שהיתה מבונה על אחד משבעה בצוען ואין לך טרשים בכל א"י יתר מחברון (משום) דקברי בה שיכבי ואין לך מעולה בכל הארצות יתר מארץ מצרים שנאמר (בראשית יג, י) כגן ה' כארץ מצרים ואין לך מעולה בכל ארץ מצרים יתר מצוען דכתיב (ישעיהו ל, ד) כי היו בצוען שריו ואפילו הכי חברון מבונה אחד משבעה בצוען

Talmai because he made the earth like furrows [telamim]. Another explanation:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' These words should be deleted, and do not occur in the parallel passage Yoma 10a. ');">²¹</span> Ahiman built 'Anath, Sheshai built Alash, and Talmai built Telbesh.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Identified by Obermeyer (op. cit. pp. 102-3) with 'Anah, Alusa and Telbeth, three fortified island-towns on the Northern Euphrates.] ');">²²</span>

וחברון טרשים הוי והא כתיב (שמואל ב טו, ז) ויהי מקץ ארבעים שנה ויאמר אבשלום אל המלך אלכה נא וגו' ואמר רב אויא ואיתימא רבה בר בר חנן שהלך להביא כבשים מחברון ותניא אילים ממואב כבשים מחברון מינה איידי דקלישא ארעא עבדה רעיא ושמן קניינא

The children of Anak — [they are so called] because they wore the sun as a necklace [ma'anikin] owing to their stature. Now Hebron was built seven years<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIII, 22. ');">¹⁹</span>

(במדבר יג, כה) וישובו מתור הארץ

— what means 'was built'? If I say that it means actually built, is it possible that a man constructs a house for his younger son before his elder son; as it is written: And the sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. X, 6. Canaan was the youngest of his sons and Mizraim the second. ');">²³</span> But [the intention is], it was seven times more productive than Zoan. There is no worse stony ground in all the land of Israel than Hebron, and that is why they bury the dead there; and there is none among all the countries superior to the land of Egypt, as it is said: Like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XIII, 10. ');">²⁴</span> and there is no place superior to Zoan In all the land Egypt, as it is written: For his princes are at Zoan.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XXX, 4. ');">²⁵</span> Nevertheless Hebron was seven times more productive than Zoan. But was Hebron stony ground; behold it is written: And it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go [and pay my vow&nbsp;… in Hebron];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XV, 7. ');">²⁶</span> and R. Iwya — another version is, Rabbah b. Bar Hanan-said: He went to fetch lambs from Hebron; and there is also a teaching: [The best] rams are from Moab and lambs from Hebron! — From that very fact [it is proved that the land was stony]; because the soil is thin it produces pastures<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It does not yield any other produce. ');">²⁷</span> and the cattle grow fat there. And they returned from spying out the land&nbsp;…