במדבר, פרק י״ג, פסוק כ״ח

The report of the spies reaches a dramatic turning point as they intentionally pivot from praising the land's agricultural wealth to planting deep seeds of despair. Their goal is to convince the Israelites that conquering the territory is an impossible mission. They completely negate all the positive things they just shared, arguing that the land's great abundance is entirely worthless because taking it is simply unachievable [רש״ר הירש, ביאור יש״ר, מלבי״ם]. This total dismissal also hints at the moral emptiness of the local inhabitants, suggesting they lack any drop of mercy or goodness and will therefore never surrender [אדרת אליהו].

Moving to describe the people, the spies characterize them not just as physically strong, but as possessing an arrogant, audacious, and relentless bravery [העמק דבר, ביאור יש״ר]. Naturally, this was a severe exaggeration; spending only a few days in the land would never allow them to accurately judge if this local strength was truly enduring [ביאור יש״ר]. To build the terror, they note how these strong individuals live scattered outside the cities, fully confident in their own might [אור החיים], or that they might even be foreign mercenaries hired specifically to guard the territory [העמק דבר].

This narrative directly and intentionally contradicts a principle Moses had given the spies before their journey. Moses had explained that a weak nation hides behind fortified walls, while a strong, confident nation lives in open, undefended cities. The spies, however, construct a terrifying double threat: they claim the nation is both fiercely strong and deeply entrenched in fortified cities [אור החיים, טור הארוך, תולדות יצחק, בכור שור, חזקוני]. These fortifications are described as immensely powerful [רש״י, מזרחי, גור אריה]. While some understand this simply as walled cities [שד״ל], others explain that the walls were perfectly round—an advanced engineering design that eliminates corners and makes breaching them incredibly difficult [רש״י, ברכת אשר על התורה]. The spies claim these are massive, impenetrable fortresses built by giants [רש״ר הירש]. Yet, this too was a fabrication, as most Canaanite cities at the time were actually small and completely unfortified [ביאור יש״ר].

To ensure the Israelites do not interpret the presence of defensive walls as a sign of underlying weakness, the spies introduce a third threat: the giants [אור החיים, בכור שור]. Their account is carefully framed to suggest that even the young children of the land are terrifying giants [שפתי כהן, מנחת שי]. To maximize the panic, the spies claim these giant families are scattered everywhere across the region [העמק דבר, צאינה וראינה], even though, in reality, there were only three giants living exclusively in the city of Hebron [ביאור יש״ר]. By layering these three impossible obstacles—a fierce population, impenetrable walls, and giant defenders—the spies attempt to prove that the cities cannot fall under any circumstances. They argue that the enemy has no weakness in manpower, defenses, or readiness, making any thought of war completely hopeless [ספורנו, תולדות יצחק, שד״ל].