Parashas Shelach · Side page (TT silent on this passuk)
And Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying:
Rashi / Midrash Tanchuma Shelach 5 (on the opening of the meraglim section): why placed next to Miriam.
English: Why is the section of the spies placed next to the section of Miriam? Because she was punished over matters of slander, for speaking against her brother, and these wicked ones saw and did not take mussar.
Juxtaposition of sections (semichut parshiyos).
The fresh speech that opens the spy episode is set after Miriam’s punishment for dibbah — so that the generation that saw her affliction should have learned not to speak evil of the Land.