What are the implications of the word "Vatikr?vun elai Kulchem"?
Rashi and Targum Yonasan: They came en masse, 1 the children pushing the elders, the elders pushing the leaders 2 (even though they had leaders, they all came together- Seforno).
Yerushalmi Shekalim, 1:1: Refer to Sh'mos, 19:17:1:4 and note.
Rashi: As opposed to Matan Torah, where they approached Moshe in a civilized manner, the children sending the elders in front of them, and the elders showing respect to the leaders by allowing them to go first, as the Torah testifies in 5:20.
In a disorganized manner, a sure sign that it was the work of the Yeitzer ha'Ra. See Oznayim la'Torah, who gives three reasons to explain the inconsistency.
What did the people want to know when they said a. "Veyashivu osanu Davar", b. "es ha'Derech Asher Na'aleh bah, and c. "v'es he'Arim asher Navo aleihem"?
The people asked to [pick spies and send them. Why did Moshe pick and send them?
Seforno: Hashem instructed Moshe to pick and send the spies, because He suspected that the people would send Resha'im who would describe the Land in negative terms, 1 as a result of which the people would have rejected done the Land outright and would not have gone on to do Teshuvah.
Seforno: Whereas now Moshe sent Tzadikim, including Yehoshua and Calev, even the other spies claimed that they could not conquer the land, but did not describe the land in derogatry terms. which explains why Yisrael did Teshuvah, as the Torah relates in Bamidbar 13:41-45.
What is the meaning of "ve'Yachperu ... es ha'Aretz"?
Rashi (in Iyov, 39:21): It means 'They will ambush (the inhabitants of) the land'. 1
Targum Onkelos: It means 'And they will spy out the land.
Targum Yonasan: It means 'They went with the inmtention of broining a bad report'. 2
Why did Moshe say "Veyachperu ... es ha'Aretz", and not "Venasur ... ", as Hashem said at the beginning of Sh'lach-L'cha?
Sotah, 34b: Because, based on the Gezeirah Shavah "ve'Yachperu" "Vechafrah ha'Levanah" - Yeshayah, 24:23 - it has connotations of shame, and the people wanted a report on the 'shameful' parts of the land. 1
Refer also to Sh'lach-L'cha 13:2:6.1:1.
See also Torah Temimah, note 31.
