{"id":52941,"date":"2019-04-02T22:37:03","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T19:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=52941"},"modified":"2022-10-25T18:00:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T15:00:44","slug":"i-spy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/i-spy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Spy\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[430,856,807],"acf":{"old_id":"52941","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"189","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Successful recon in enemy territory","content":"

There are both similarities between, and differences regarding Joshua\u2019s mission to Jericho and the Torah\u2019s report on the earlier mission to scout the Land of Canaan launched by Moses (Numbers 12). The similarities speak for themselves: information of military and strategic value was required in each case and could be reliably secured only through the exercise of what has come to be known as \u201c<\/span>humint<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u2014human intelligence. The differences, however, are striking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Primarily, the scope was different. It required twelve scouts and forty days to complete the reconnaissance of the Land of Canaan, while only two spies and, arguably, only a few days were required for Jericho. It also appears that whereas the twelve scouts observed their objectives from afar (a recurring theme word in Numbers 12 is \u201cwe saw\u201d), the two spies interacted with Rahab, their local source. Perhaps it is in consideration of this particular difference that the Torah defines the earlier mission as \u201cscouting\u201d (<\/span>latur et ha`aretz<\/span><\/em>) while Joshua\u2019s agents are clearly designated \u201cspies\u201d (<\/span>meraglim<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding the intelligence gathered, there is a remarkable agreement between the information conveyed to the spies by Rahab and an implicit assumption made earlier in the Torah. The song Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea states, \u201c\u2026 the entire population of Canaan melted (<\/span>namogu<\/span><\/em>). Fear and terror fell upon them\u201d (Exodus 15:15-16). Rahab confirmed to the spies that \u201cthe fear of you has fallen upon us and the entire population has melted (<\/span>namogu<\/span><\/em>) before you\u201d (2:9). Small wonder, then, that of all they must have seen and heard during their mission, the words the spies chose to convey in their report to Joshua were \u201cindeed, the entire population has melted (<\/span>namogu<\/span><\/em>) before us\u201d (2:24).<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: <\/span>The Two Israelites Letting Themselves Down from Rahab’s House, Illustrators of the 1897 <\/span>Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us<\/span><\/i> by Charles Foster \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":52942,"id":52942,"title":"jo2-The_Two_Israelite_Spies","filename":"jo2-The_Two_Israelite_Spies.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo2-The_Two_Israelite_Spies.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/i-spy\/jo2-the_two_israelite_spies\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo2-the_two_israelite_spies","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":52941,"date":"2019-04-02 19:36:51","modified":"2019-04-02 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