It says in [Shemos (13,17)](http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9874#v=17) “And it was that when Pharaoh sent the people, G-d did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines **for it was near**, because G-d said: Lest the people reconsider when they see war and return to Egypt.”

Why is the fact that "it was near" given as the reason why the people might want to return to Egypt? We see later on in [Bamidbar (14,4)](http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9942#v=4) that even when they were far away they nevertheless said “let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt” when they heard about the giants that they had to conquer in Eretz Yisrael! Therefore, since the fact that there being near or far did not seem to make a difference to their inclination to want to return to Egypt when they saw war, why mention it as a factor?