Study Sotah folio 35A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
וילכו ויבאו״. אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי שמעון בן יוחי: מקיש הליכה לביאה, מה ביאה — בעצה רעה, אף הליכה — בעצה רעה.
And they went and they came” (Numbers 13:25–26). R' Yoḥanan says in the name of R' Shimon ben Yoḥai: This verse likens their going to their coming. Just as their coming back was with wicked counsel, so too, their going to Eretz Yisrael was with wicked counsel.
״ויספרו לו ויאמרו באנו וגו׳״, וכתיב: ״אפס כי עז העם״, אמר רבי יוחנן (סימן אמת לבדו לויה) משום רבי מאיר: כל לשון הרע שאין בו דבר אמת בתחילתו — אין מתקיים בסופו.
The Torah states: “And they told him, and said: We came to the land to which you sent us, and it also flows with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27), and then it is written: “However the people that reside in the land are fierce” (Numbers 13:28). Why did the spies praise the land and then slander it? R' Yoḥanan says 3 statements in the name of R' Meir, represented by the mnemonic device: Truth, alone, borrowing. The first statement answers this question: Any slander that does not begin with a truthful statement ultimately does not stand, i.e., it is not accepted by others.
״ויהס כלב את העם אל משה״, אמר רבה: שהסיתן בדברים.
The verse states: “And Caleb stilled [vayyahas] the people toward Moses” (Numbers 13:30). Rabba says: This means that he persuaded them [hesitan] with his words. Vayyahas and hesitan share the same root in Hebrew.
פתח יהושע, דקא משתעי אמרי ליה: דין ראש קטיעה ימלל?
How did he do so? Joshua began to address the people, and as he was speaking they said to him: Should this person, who has a severed head, as he has no children, speak to the people about entering Eretz Yisrael?
אמר: אי משתעינא — אמרי בי מילתא וחסמין לי. אמר להן: וכי זו בלבד עשה לנו בן עמרם? סברי בגנותיה קא משתעי, אישתיקו.
Caleb said to himself: If I speak they will also say something about me and stop me from speaking. He began to speak and said to them: And is this the only thing that the son of Amram, Moses, has done to us? They thought that he wanted to relate something to the discredit of Moses, and they were silent.
Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.