The Twelve Spies

When ten of the twelve spies showed little faith in the negative reports they gave about the land, they were slandering what they believed God had promised them.

[2] Joshua and Caleb were the two spies who brought back a good report and believed that God would help them succeed.

However, during their tour, the spies saw fortified cities and resident giants, which frightened them and led them to believe that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the land as God had promised.

Ten of the spies decided to bring back an unbalanced report, emphasizing the difficulty of the task before them.

After the incident with the 12 spies, Joshua lived through the 40 year wandering period, and was named successor to Moses as instructed by God.

He was also chosen to explore the land of Canaan, and he was (along with Joshua) the other man who said that the God of Israel could help the Israelite people to victory against the Canaanites.

[7] The names of the twelve spies were:[8] The Israelites' belief of the false report amounted to the acceptance of lashon hara (lit."

Moreover, the entire generation of men who left Egypt during the Exodus would die in the desert, save for Joshua and Caleb who did not slander the land.

According to Rabbinic tradition (as seen in the Mishnah Taanit 4:6), the sin of the spies produced the annual fast day of Tisha B'Av.

The night that the people cried was the ninth of Av, which became a day of weeping and misfortune for all time.