(25) At the end of forty days they returned from scouting the land. (26) They went straight to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, and they made their report to them and to the whole community, as they showed them the fruit of the land. (27) This is what they told him: “We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. (28) However, the people who inhabit the country are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the Anakites there. (29) Amalekites dwell in the Negeb region; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites inhabit the hill country; and Canaanites dwell by the Sea and along the Jordan.”
(ל) וַיַּ֧הַס כָּלֵ֛ב אֶת־הָעָ֖ם אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר עָלֹ֤ה נַעֲלֶה֙ וְיָרַ֣שְׁנוּ אֹתָ֔הּ כִּֽי־יָכ֥וֹל נוּכַ֖ל לָֽהּ׃ (לא) וְהָ֨אֲנָשִׁ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־עָל֤וּ עִמּוֹ֙ אָֽמְר֔וּ לֹ֥א נוּכַ֖ל לַעֲל֣וֹת אֶל־הָעָ֑ם כִּֽי־חָזָ֥ק ה֖וּא מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ (לב) וַיֹּצִ֜יאוּ דִּבַּ֤ת הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תָּר֣וּ אֹתָ֔הּ אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר הָאָ֡רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֩ עָבַ֨רְנוּ בָ֜הּ לָת֣וּר אֹתָ֗הּ אֶ֣רֶץ אֹכֶ֤לֶת יוֹשְׁבֶ֙יהָ֙ הִ֔וא וְכׇל־הָעָ֛ם אֲשֶׁר־רָאִ֥ינוּ בְתוֹכָ֖הּ אַנְשֵׁ֥י מִדּֽוֹת׃ (לג) וְשָׁ֣ם רָאִ֗ינוּ אֶת־הַנְּפִילִ֛ים בְּנֵ֥י עֲנָ֖ק מִן־הַנְּפִלִ֑ים וַנְּהִ֤י בְעֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙ כַּֽחֲגָבִ֔ים וְכֵ֥ן הָיִ֖ינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃
Sota 35a
The souts said: "We cannot attack that people for it is strong then we" (Numbers 13:31). "Than we" mimenu could also be understood "than [God]." What the scouts suggested was that even God could not overcome the Canaanites. Israel was punished for this lack of faith in God, not for disbelief in its own strength.
Josee Wolff, The Torah: A Woman's Commentary, p.889
"As long as we see ourselves merely as grasshoppers up against giants, we will set ourselves up for failure. If we want to create anything new to enter into the Promsed Land, then we have no choice but to leap into the unknown, to belueve in ourselves, and to trust in God's faith in us. This voice of optimism and hope is what separates Joshua and Caleb from the other scouts. This is what-- in spite of a long history filled with good reasons to see ourselves as grasshoppers and give up-- has enabled the Jewish people to continue and to thrive."
Talmud Bavli Sotah 35a
"The spies were liars. The determination that 'we were like grasshoppers in our eyes' is possible to accept, but 'and also in their eyes' — from where would they know how the Canaanites viewed them?"
Mishnah Ta'an 4:6
God's judgement that the rebellious generation would die in the wilderness was issued on the 9th of the Hebrew month Av. It was the first of the evil events that befell Israel on this calendar day.
(3) When the guards of the house become shaky, And the men of valor are bent, And the maids that grind, grown few, are idle, And the ladies that peer through the windows grow dim, (4) And the doors to the street are shut— With the noise of the hand mill growing fainter, And the song of the bird growing feebler, And all the strains of music dying down; (5) When one is afraid of heights And there is terror on the road.— For the almond tree may blossom, The grasshopper be burdened, And the caper bush may bud again; But man sets out for his eternal abode, With mourners all around in the street.—
Legends of the Jews 1:1
The grasshopper also has a lesson to teach to man. All the summer through it sings, until its belly bursts, and death claims it. Though it knows the fate that awaits it, yet it sings on. So man should do his duty toward God, no matter what the consequences.
Rabbi Efraim Sholmo of Luntshits, Poland
He explained that the Israel men of the wilderness generation hated the Land of Israel while the women loved it. He based this on the Israelite mens' complaint in Numbers 14:4: "Let us head back to Egypt." On the contrary, Zelophehad's daughters in Numbers 27:4 say "Give us a holding in the Land of Israel among our father's kinsmen!" He claimed that the voices of these women were indicative of all of the women. If God had chosen the scouts, argues Rabbi Efraim Sholo, God would have chosen females, so as to ensure a positive report. Unfortunately, Moses, who was given permission to choose the scouts chose all men, which caused a rather serious tactical issue.
Harvey Fields, A Torah Commentary for Our TImes, 1993, p. 42
We can "conquer 'Promised Lands' when we have regard for our talents and believe in our creative powers. The sin of the spies grows from their failure of self-ove and self-respect....Only Joshua and Caleb, who refuse to see themselves as 'grasshoppers,' are worthy of entering the Promised Land.'
Menachem Mendl of Kotzk, 19th-century Hasidic rebbe
God responded, “Why are you so concerned about how you look in the eyes of the Canaanites, to the point that it distracts you from your sacred task?”