When Moses heard that the spies had returned from their enterprise, he
went to his great house of study, where all Israel too assembled, for
it was a square of twelve miles, affording room to all. [521] There too
the spies betook themselves and were requested to give their report.
Pursuing the tactics of slanderers, they began by extolling the land,
so that they might not by too unfavorable a report arouse the suspicion
of the community. They said: "We came unto the land whither thou
sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey." This was not an
exaggeration, for honey flowed from the trees under which the goats
grazed, out of whose udders poured mile, so that both mile and honey
moistened the ground. But they used these words only as an
introduction, and the passed on to their actual report, which they had
elaborated during those forty days, and by means of which they hoped to
be able to induce the people to desist from their plan of entering
Palestine. [522] "Nevertheless," they continued, "the people be strong
that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and
moreover we saw children of Anak there." Concerning the latter they
spoke an untruth with the intention of inspiring Israel with fear, for
the sons of Anak dwelt in Hebron, whither Caleb alone had gone to pray
at the graves of the Patriarchs, [523] at the same time as the Shekinah
went there to announce to the Patriarch that their children were now on
the way to take possession of the land which had been promised to them
of yore. [524] To intensify to the uttermost their fear of the
inhabitants of Palestine, they furthermore said: "The Amalekites dwell
in the land of the South." They threatened Israel with Amalek as one
threatens a child with a strap that had once been employed to chastise
him, for they had had bitter experiences with Amalek. The statement
concerning Amalek was founded on fact, for although southern Palestine
had not originally been their home, still they had recently settled
there in obedience to the last wish of their forefather Esau, who had
bidden them cut off Israel from their entrance into the promised land.
"If, however," continued the spies in their report, "you are planning
to enter the land from the mountain region in order to evade Amalek,
let us inform you that the Hittites, and the Jebussites, and the
Amorites dwell in the mountains; and if you plan to go there by sea,
let us inform you that the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the
Jordan." [525]
As soon as the spies had completed their report, Joshua arose to
contradict them, but they gave him no chance to speak, calling out to
him: "By what right dost thou, foolish man, presume to speak? Thou hast
neither sons nor daughters, so what dost thou care if we perish in our
attempt to conquer the land? We, on the other hand, have to look out
for our children and wives." Joshua, therefore, very much against his
will, had to be silent. Caleb now considered in what way he could
manage to get a hearing without being shouted down as Joshua had been.
Caleb had given his comrades an entirely false impression concerning
his sentiments, for when these formed the plan to try to make Israel
desist from entering Palestine, they drew him into their council, and
he pretended to agree with them, whereas he even then resolved to
intercede for Palestine. Hence, when Caleb arose, the spies were
silent, supposing he would corroborate their statements, a supposition
which his introductory words tended to strengthen. He began: "Be
silent, I will reveal the truth. This is not all for which we have to
thank the son of Amram." But to the amazement of the spies, his next
words praised, not blamed, Moses. He said: "Moses - it is he who drew
us up out of Egypt, who clove the sea for us, who gave us manna as
food." In this way he continued his eulogy on Moses, closing with the
words: "We should have to obey him even if he bade us ascend to heaven
upon ladders!" [526] These words of Caleb were heard by all the people,
for his words were so mighty that they could be heard twelve miles off.
It was this same powerful voice that had saved the life of the spies.
For when the Canaanites first took note of them and suspected them of
being spies, the three giants, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai pursued them
and caught up with them in the plain of Judea. When Caleb, hidden
behind a fence, saw that the giants were at their heels, he uttered
such a shout that the giants fell down in a swoon because of the
frightful din. When they had recovered, the giants declared that they
had pursued the Israelites not because of the fruits, but because they
had suspected them of the wish to burn their cities. [527]
Caleb's mighty voice did not, however, in the least impress the people
or the spies, for the latter, far from retracting their previous
statements, went so far as to say: "We be not able to go up against the
people; for they are stronger than we, they are so strong that even God
can not get at them. The land through which we had gone to search it is
a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof through disease; and all
the people that we saw in it are men of wicked traits. And here we saw
men upon sight of whom we almost swooned in fright, the giants, the
sons of Anak, which come of giants: and we were in our own sight as
grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." [528] At these last
words, God said: "I have not objection to your saying, 'We were in our
own sight as grasshoppers,' but I take it amiss if you say, 'And so we
were in their sight,' for how can you tell how I made you appear in
their sight? How do you know if you did not appear to them to be
angels?" [529]