The Kedushat Levi (R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev) offers a sympathetic reading: the spies loved the desert experience of miraculous Divine closeness (manna, clouds of glory) and feared that entering a 'natural' land would diminish their spiritual level. Their sin was a misdirected love of holiness rather than outright rebellion.
או יבואר, שלח לך וכו' ויתורו את ארץ כנען אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל. וכבר צווחו על תיבת לך. ונראה, כי עיקר כוונת הבורא ברוך הוא לשלוח אנשים יריאים ושלימים אשר כל מגמתם עבודת הבורא ברוך הוא ולא חס ושלום לתור את ארץ ישראל גשמיותה של ארץ רק צוה הבורא ברוך הוא למשה רבינו עליו השלום לשלוח עבדי השם מקודם שיעשו רשימה שמה בעבודה, דהיינו בתורה ובתפלה להמשיך חיות ושפע מהארץ עליונה לארץ תחתונה בכדי שהארץ בעצמו יתאוה שיבאו בני אברהם יצחק ויעקב. וזהו שלח, לשון המשכה מגזרת ותשלח את אמתה (שמות ב, ה) כמאמר חכמינו ז"ל (סוטה יב:) דהיינו שימשיכו מהם אנשותם שיבואו למדריגת משה רבינו עליו השלום. וזהו שלח לך אנשים , שימשיכו את אנשותם , דהיינו התפשטות הגשמיות עד שיבאו לך, דהיינו מדריגת שלך, היינו שיבאו לארץ כנען לא לתור אותה בגשמיותיה חס ושלום , רק מיד כשיבואו שמה יעמדו על התורה ועל העבודה. וזהו ויתורו, מגזרת תורה. והעיקר כשישראל עוסקים בתורה ובמצות יש להם חלק בארץ ישראל מלבד ירושת אבותיהם, כי יש להם חלק מהתפעלות שלהם, דהיינו מהתורה והמצות. וזהו אשר אני נותן לשון הוה, היינו כשישראל עוסקים בתורה ובמצות אני נותן תמיד ארץ הקודש לבני ישראל אבל לא כן עצת הכסילים הם סברו ששלח משה רבינו עליו השלום לתור ארץ ישראל בגשמותיה. וזהו שהתפלל משה רבינו עליו השלום י"ה יושיעך מעצת מרגלים, דהיינו שלא תהיה עמהם בעצה להיות מרגלים בגשמיות, רק שהעיקר ויתורו מגזרת תורה: ונהי בעינינו כחגבים וכן היינו בעיניהם (במדבר יג, לג). פירש רש"י שמענו אומרים נמלים יש בכרמים. ולכאורה קשה הלא בפסוק כתיב חגבים. והנראה, כי הכלל כשישראל עושין רצון הבורא ברוך הוא אז כביכול יש עליות למלכות הבורא ברוך הוא. וזהו הרמז ויהס כלב עלה נעלה, כלומר עלה יהיה עליות למלכותו נעלה כשיהיה לנו עליות לעשות רצון הבורא ברוך הוא. וזהו שרמז רש"י בכאן, כי המרגלים פרקו מעליהם עול מלכותו יתברך. וזה שפירש רש"י ז"ל נמלים כמאמר הפסוק (משלי ו, ו) לך אל נמלה כו' אשר אין לה כו', לרמז על הנ"ל:
Another look at “send for yourself men to tour the land of Canaan which I am about to give to the Children of Israel.” Most commentators already focused on the word לך, “for yourself,” in this verse, finding it difficult to understand I believe that G’d’s principal purpose was that Moses should use the most G’d fearing individuals from each tribe to make up this delegation, men whose devotion and sincerity to the highest principles of Judaism was beyond doubt. The word לתור, usually translated as to “tour,” i.e. to examine visually, in this instance was not intended as an instruction for these men to examine the material benefits that the land of Canaan had to offer the Jewish people. By dispatching truly G’d fearing men to tour this land, G’d intended for this land to become attuned to the presence of G’d fearing human beings, [seeing that since the day Yaakov had left it there had not been anyone residing there who was a servant of the Creator. Ed.] It was hoped that after being visited by such individuals, the soil of the land of Canaan itself would experience a desire to become the home of the people who had sent such emissaries. The mere temporary presence of these “tourists,” would encourage the response from the celestial sources of G’d’s largesse to bestow it in generous measure on this land, much as it had done while the patriarchs had resided there. We may therefore understand the word שלח in the sense of המשכה, extension, continuation, similar to Exodus where Pharaoh’s daughter whose arm was not long enough, dispatched her servant maid to bring her the basket that contained the infant Moses. One of the sages in Sotah 12 discussing that verse understands the word אמתה as referring to the princess’ arm and not to her maid servant. We may extrapolate on this allegory somewhat further, following our approach when dealing with true service of the Lord, and understand Pharaoh’s daughter as “stripping herself” of material physical concerns when setting out to save the life of Jewish baby after seeing the basket had aroused maternal instincts in her. Similarly, in our portion, when Moses dispatched the twelve emissaries to examine the qualities of the land of Israel, he charged them with divesting themselves, שלח, of material concerns when setting out on a mission approved by the Lord Himself. (Numbers 13,1) The choice of the word ויתורו, instead of וירגלו, “and to spy out,” or ויחפרו, as in Deuteronomy 1,22 is an allusion to the word תורה, and points to the difference between what the people had demanded and what G’d had agreed to. To repeat, G’d’s i.e. Moses’ purpose in agreeing to the people’s request to spy out the land of Canaan was to sublimate what was a material quest into becoming a spiritual quest and to thereby convert it into an act of worship. The word לך, “for you,” therefore simply means that Moses should select the kind of men for this mission that best guaranteed that G’d’s criteria for allowing it would be met. This is also the reason why G’d repeats to Moses: אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל, “that the land that I give to the Children of Israel” in order to perform His commandments when they are in that land, not for any other reason. The fact that this land is a gift from G’d for a purpose must never be absent from the minds of the men viewing the land for the first time. When Moses prayed that Joshua should remain steadfast against any attempt by his colleagues to abort the purpose of this mission by adding a letter ה as a reminder of G’d’s name to his name, this is what he had in mind. (Compare 13,16) He did not want him to become a מרגל, “spy.” The תורה element in this mission had to be preserved for it to be crowned with success. Numbers 13,33 “we looked like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we looked in their eyes.” Rashi explains that they had heard the Canaanites say that their vineyards had been invaded by “ants.” On the face of it, this seems very difficult, seeing that according to our text they had referred to them as grasshoppers. Apparently, we have to understand this as follows: when the Israelites perform the will of G’d this reflects favourably on their G’d and His kingdom. This is also what Calev referred to when the Torah quotes him (13,30) as ויהס כלב את העם עלה נעלה, usually translated as “Calev hushed the people, saying: “we will most certainly be able to ascend, etc.” He meant that if only they would acquire the necessary merits by remaining on the same “wavelength” as G’d they would overcome any apparent difficulties. Rashi had hinted that the “spies” had been guilty of throwing off the yoke of the Torah, and that is what he meant by his reference to “ants,” similar to what Solomon had to say about the ants in Proverbs 6,6 when he urged his people to learn a lesson from the ant which in spite of not even having a ruler who forces them to act diligently still do so due to their own intelligence. [grasshoppers are destructive, living for the immediate satisfaction of their desires without concern for the future, whereas the ants provide for the winter when the grasshoppers will not find anything fit to eat. Ed.]