HaShem was also angry with me because of you (Devarim 1,37)
Moshe speaks at great length about the sin of the spies, and about the decree on the generation of the desert(verse 36): “If any of these men of this evil generation sees the good land... except Kalev the son of Yefuneh, he will see it... because he followed HaShem wholeheartedly.” Moshe interrupts {this narrative}, continuing (37): “HaShem was also angry with me because of you, saying, ‘You too will not enter {the land}.’” Following this interruption, Moshe then continues his narration of the sin of the spies (38): “Yehoshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he will go there... and your little ones, whom you said will be prey... they will go there....”
This is, seemingly, baffling. Why does Moshe interject, in the middle of narrating the sin of the spies, to say: “HaShem was also angry with me because of you, saying, ‘You too will not enter {the land}’”? This implies that HaShem’s decree that Moshe not to enter the land also was because of the sin of the spies. Yet the Torah explicitly writes that this decree was because of the sin of the waters of dispute: “Since you did not have faith in Me... therefore, you shall not bring this assembly to the land which I have given them.” Why does Moshe then mention his own predicament in the middle of the narrative of the spies? This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the incidents concerning the spies and the waters of dispute happened almost forty years apart:
- Ramban: Group together of all people that were prevented from entering Eretz Yisrael, even though different sins.
- Kli Yakar: The Jews at the time of the Spies displayed a lack of Emunah in HaShem. Now at the place of Mei Merivah, the people similarly had a lack of Emunah. If they had a proper level of Emunah, then Moshe’s act of striking the rock would not have had much of an effect. But since the Jews were at a low level of Emunah, Moshe’s act caused a sever effect in the Jews, resulting in Moshe being punished.
- Sforno: Spies were afraid to go into Eretz Yisrael, which had an affect into future generations. If Moshe had gone into Eretz Yisrael, then the effect would not have happened. Thus, Moshe was stopped from going in order that the affect should occur.
This group of commenters agree that the Spies were mentioned here since that incident contributed to Moshe not entering into Eretz Yisrael.
Another group of commenters who learn that Moshe was punished due to his actions during the sin of the Spies.
- Abarbanel: HaShem agreed to send the Spies to bring back intelligence about the land to be conquered. But Moshe added additional items which induced the Spies to bring back a bad report. Thus, Moshe indirectly led to the bad report.
- Ohr haChaim: If Moshe entered Eretz Yisrael, the Bais haMikdash would have been built and be eternal, not subject to destruction. If so, when later the Jews sinned, HaShem would not have the option to destroy the Bais haMikdash (vent His anger on wood and stones), but would have had to punish the Jews directly.
- Malbim: Moshe punished also in a sense for the sin of the Spies. By Mei Merivah, Moshe had the opportunity to possible overturn the decree, but did not act properly to overturn the decree.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Lekutei Sichos 14): Rashi explains all difficulties that arise when reading the verse. Why then does Rashi not address the following question (addressed by other commentators): What is the connection between Moshe not entering the land because of the sin of the waters of strife, and the sin of the spies?
The Explanation:
This verse is a parenthetical statement, explaining the difference between Calev and Yehoshua. They were both exempt from the punishment of the rest of their generation, who were banned from seeing the land, yet there was a difference between Yehoshua and Calev. Regarding Calev, the Torah states, “he will see it, and I will give him the land,” whereas regarding Yehoshua the Torah states, “he will cause Israel to inherit it.” Yehoshua, and not Moshe, would cause Israel to inherit the land, because “HaShem was also angry with me {Moshe} because of you.” (Moshe was banned from entering the land because of the incident of the waters of strife. According to Rashi, this is not written here, because this verse is parenthetical; therefore, it is not necessary to state the reason for Moshe being banned.)
