במדבר, פרק י״ג, פסוק כ״ה

The scouting mission into the land of Canaan comes to an end, marking a critical turning point where objective observation transforms into a disastrous report. The duration and conclusion of this journey carry deep geographical, historical, and spiritual implications that would shape the future of the nation for decades.

The return of the scouts was a coordinated effort. Rather than immediately rushing back to Moses individually, the men first gathered at a designated meeting point and then approached the camp together as a unified group [העמק דבר]. More significantly, their return signified a profound shift in their mindset. Throughout the forty days of their journey, they had remained faithful to the command of Moses, acting as objective observers. It was only at the very end of their mission that they abandoned their original purpose, resolving to spread slander [מלבי״ם] and straying from the path of the Torah [שפתי כהן].

The conclusion of the mission occurred at the start of the fortieth day [אבן עזרא, ביאור יש״ר]. The scouts had departed on the twenty-ninth of Sivan and returned near nightfall on the ninth of Av. To ensure the journey lasted exactly forty days, the intervening month of Tammuz was exceptionally established as a full thirty-day month. This precise alignment of the calendar was orchestrated by Heaven so that their return would fall specifically on the ninth of Av, a date destined for calamity. On this night, the people would weep for no valid reason, leading to the divine decree that they would not enter the land and cementing the ninth of Av as a day of mourning for all future generations [תורה תמימה, ריב״א, חזקוני].

The pace at which the scouts completed their journey is a subject of discussion. The primary approach among commentators is that the expedition was aided by a miracle that unnaturally shortened the distance. The land is vast, and a thorough exploration on foot should have taken many months. However, God knew the scouts would ultimately sin and that the nation would be punished with one year of wandering for every day of the mission. To minimize the duration of this future punishment, God miraculously expedited their travel [רש״י, שפתי כהן, משכיל לדוד, ברכת אשר]. It is even suggested that the scouts wanted to continue their exploration, but God forced them to return [שפתי כהן]. While this type of miracle is typically reserved for the righteous, it was performed here for wicked men solely to mitigate the impending decree. Consequently, these men are not counted in tradition among the righteous figures who experienced this phenomenon [ריב״א, פענח רזא].

Conversely, another perspective argues that no miracle was necessary. According to this view, the land was small enough for a person to naturally traverse it in forty days [אברבנאל]. Furthermore, the objective of the mission was not to conduct a meticulous survey of every single city and valley, but rather to gather a general impression of the territory, making a forty-day timeframe entirely sufficient [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Immediately upon their return, the severe transgressions of the scouts came to light. Instead of delivering a discreet intelligence report to Moses, as is standard military practice, they broadcasted their findings publicly with the explicit intent of terrifying the nation. They distorted their answers, drastically exaggerated the size of the fortified cities, and falsely claimed that the entire land was populated by giants. By using words of absolute despair, they created the illusion that a military conquest was impossible, completely ignoring the power of God and His promise to give them the land [אברבנאל].