[Avodah] meraglim

[Ben Waxman]

See the Ramban; this is exactly his point. What they said before was either
a factual statement (i.e. the land has good fruit, the people are strong,
the cities are fortified) or interpretations of the fact (we can't conquer
them).

Saying the diba (the land consumes its inhabitants) was outright lie; the
proof that it was a lie was what they said before about how strong the
people were.

It is one thing to argue about the facts and what they mean. It is something
else entirely to lie to win your arguement.

Ben
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org>


> when the meraglim were punished, for what part of the message was it?
>
> ie when the tora says they said dibat haaretz, is the implication that
> everything prior to that was a legitimate reaction? had there been no
> dibah, it would have been ok?
>
> i am having trouble seeing what was different in the pasuk that was
> dibah compared to the prior part of their response.....