And they said: ''Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very fertile. And you are doing nothing. Do not be slow to go, and enter in and possess the land.'' (וַיֹּאמְרוּ קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה עֲלֵיהֶם כִּי־רָאִינוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וְהִנָּהּ טוֹבָה מְאֹד וְאַתֶּם עוֹמְדִים תַּחְשׁוּ אַל־תִּתְמַהְמְהוּ לָלֶכֶת וּלָבוֹא לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת־הָאָרֶץ). The spies' report frames the mission as both desirable and urgent: the land is ``very good'' (טוֹבָה מְאֹד), encouraging Danite settlement, and the Danites should not delay (אַל־תִּתְמַהְמְהוּ, don't hesitate). The spies use inclusive language (``we have seen,'' ``enter and possess'') to bind the tribe to the expedition. The recommendation to seize Laish is framed as a positive tribal opportunity rather than as conquest and displacement of an existing people.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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