The spies who toured the land had this to say about it:  The land through which we passed to scout is a land that consumes those who dwell in it. What does this mean? According to Jacob Milgrom, the spies complained that the land of Israel was in a tough neighborhood. In ancient times, the future Jewish homeland lay at the geographical crossroads between Near Eastern empires to the east, south and north. The geographic placement alone struck terror into the hearts of the spies and they exclaimed it is in a neighborhood that consumes those who dwell in it!