Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Numbers 13:27/אור החיים על במדבר י״ג:כ״ז
אוַיְסַפְּרוּ לוֹ וְגוֹ׳. דִּקְדֵּק לוֹמַר לוֹ, שֶׁהָיוּ מְיַחֲדִים הַדִּבּוּר בְּיִחוּד אֵלָיו, אֲבָל הַמַּאֲמָר לֹא הָיָה לְמֹשֶׁה לְבַד אֶלָּא לְכָל הָעֵדָה הַשּׁוֹמְעִים, וְהוּא אָמְרוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ וְלֹא אָמַר לוֹ.
1 ויספרו לו, They told him, etc. The Torah specifies: "to him" instead of to them, i.e. Moses and Aaron. The trick the spies played on Moses was that whereas ostensibly they addressed their words to Moses, they ensured that the whole community could hear them at the same time. The Torah teaches us this nuance by adding ויאמרו without the suffix "to him"; in this way we would understand that they made sure the people would hear what they had to say.
בבָּאנוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ וְגוֹ׳. פֵּרוּשׁ שֶׁהִגַּעְנוּ שָׁמָּה לְשָׁלוֹם וְלֹא אֵרַע לָהֶם תַּקָּלָה, וְגָמְרוּ אוֹמֶר הַטַּעַם אֲשֶׁר שְׁלַחְתָּנוּ, פֵּרוּשׁ, לְצַד שֶׁעָשִׂינוּ מִצְוַת שְׁלִיחוּתְךָ נִשְׁמַרְנוּ. אוֹ יִרְצוּ לוֹמַר לְצַד שֶׁעָשָׂה לָהֶם לְוָיָה שֶׁשְּׁלָחָם הִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לָהֶם לָבוֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ בְּשָׁלוֹם. וְאוּלַי כִּי לָזֶה דִּקְדֵּק לוֹמַר וַיְסַפְּרוּ לוֹ, לוֹמַר שֶׁסִּפְּרוּ דָּבָר הַנּוֹגֵעַ לְמַעֲלַת מֹשֶׁה כִּי זְכוּתוֹ עָמְדָה לָהֶם. וְאָמְרוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ הוּא תְּשׁוּבַת הָאָרֶץ מַה שֶׁנּוֹגֵעַ לִכְלָלוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל לָזֶה לֹא אָמַר לוֹ.
2באנו אל הארץ, "we have come to the land, etc." They meant that they arrived there without mishap. They added the words: "to which you have sent us," to make dear that they attributed their safe return from the land of Canaan to the fact that they had carried out Moses' commandment faithfully. Alternatively, they may have referred to the fact that 40 days earlier Moses had accompanied them on the commencement of their mission. They now acknowledged that Moses' merit then had assisted them in traversing the land and returning safely. Perhaps the words ויספרו לו were a reference by the Torah to the spies acknowledging that Moses' merit had assisted them. When the Torah failed to use the word לו after ויאמרו, the reason is that what followed applied to the Israelites as a whole and not to Moses in particular.
גוְגַם זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ וְגוֹ׳. אָמְרוֹ ״וְגַם״ – לְצַד שֶׁקָּדְמָה הוֹדָעָה בְּמִדָּה טוֹבָה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה לָהֶם נֵס בַּהֲלִיכָה, מוֹסִיפִין לְהוֹדוֹת גַּם בְּטוֹבַת הָאָרֶץ כִּי זָבַת חָלָב וְגוֹ׳:
3וגם זבת חלב ודבש, "and it does indeed flow with milk and honey." The word וגם, "and also," is justified as it is a continuation of a previous comment the spies made, namely that they experienced G'd's protective hand while traversing the land. The goodness of the land was an additional positive element they were able to comment upon.