Shelach 14:04 · EXTRA 1 — let us appoint a head and return to Egypt EXTRA

Parashas Shelach · Side page (TT silent)

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֑יו נִתְּנָ֥ה רֹ֖אשׁ וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃

And they said one to another: Let us appoint a head, and let us return to Egypt.

Rashi / Sanhedrin 107a: נִתְּנָה רֹאשׁ — appoint a king; Sages also read it as a turn toward idolatry.

Core Text

נִתְּנָה רֹאשׁ — כְּתַרְגּוּמוֹ נְמַנֵּי רֵישָׁא; וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ פֵּרְשׁוּ לְשׁוֹן עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה.

English: “Let us appoint a head” — as the Targum: let us appoint a chief; and our Rabbis explained it as language of idolatry.

Appointing a leader to reverse the Exodus.

TT silent; the plan is not only retreat but a new head — Rashi’s second reading makes it a spiritual reversal as well as a geographic one.