1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
18 The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
29 Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me.
30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
32 But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
1 And all the congregation H5712 lifted up H5375 their voice, H6963 and cried; H5414 and the people H5971 wept H1058 that night. H3915
2 And all the children H1121 of Israel H3478 murmured H3885 against Moses H4872 and against Aaron: H175 and the whole congregation H5712 said H559 unto them, Would God H3863 that we had died H4191 in the land H776 of Egypt! H4714 or would God H3863 we had died H4191 in this wilderness! H4057
3 And wherefore hath the LORD H3068 brought H935 us unto this land, H776 to fall H5307 by the sword, H2719 that our wives H802 and our children H2945 should be a prey? H957 were it not better H2896 for us to return H7725 into Egypt? H4714
4 And they said H559 one H376 to another, H251 Let us make H5414 a captain, H7218 and let us return H7725 into Egypt. H4714
5 Then Moses H4872 and Aaron H175 fell H5307 on their faces H6440 before H6440 all the assembly H6951 of the congregation H5712 of the children H1121 of Israel. H3478
6 And Joshua H3091 the son H1121 of Nun, H5126 and Caleb H3612 the son H1121 of Jephunneh, H3312 which were of them that searched H8446 the land, H776 rent H7167 their clothes: H899
7 And they spake H559 unto all the company H5712 of the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 saying, H559 The land, H776 which we passed H5674 through to search H8446 it, is an exceeding H3966 H3966 good H2896 land. H776
8 If the LORD H3068 delight H2654 in us, then he will bring H935 us into this land, H776 and give H5414 it us; a land H776 which floweth H2100 with milk H2461 and honey. H1706
9 Only rebel H4775 not ye against the LORD, H3068 neither fear H3372 ye the people H5971 of the land; H776 for they are bread H3899 for us: their defence H6738 is departed H5493 from them, and the LORD H3068 is with us: fear H3372 them not.
10 But all the congregation H5712 bade H559 stone H7275 them with stones. H68 And the glory H3519 of the LORD H3068 appeared H7200 in the tabernacle H168 of the congregation H4150 before all the children H1121 of Israel. H3478
11 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto Moses, H4872 How long will this people H5971 provoke H5006 me? and how long will it be ere H3808 they believe H539 me, for all the signs H226 which I have shewed H6213 among H7130 them?
12 I will smite H5221 them with the pestilence, H1698 and disinherit H3423 them, and will make H6213 of thee a greater H1419 nation H1471 and mightier H6099 than they.
13 And Moses H4872 said H559 unto the LORD, H3068 Then the Egyptians H4714 shall hear H8085 it, (for thou broughtest up H5927 this people H5971 in thy might H3581 from among H7130 them;)
14 And they will tell H559 it to the inhabitants H3427 of this land: H776 for they have heard H8085 that thou LORD H3068 art among H7130 this people, H5971 that thou LORD H3068 art seen H7200 face H5869 to face, H5869 and that thy cloud H6051 standeth H5975 over them, and that thou goest H1980 before H6440 them, by day time H3119 in a pillar H5982 of a cloud, H6051 and in a pillar H5982 of fire H784 by night. H3915
15 Now if thou shalt kill H4191 all this people H5971 as one H259 man, H376 then the nations H1471 which have heard H8085 the fame H8088 of thee will speak, H559 saying, H559
16 Because the LORD H3068 was not H1115 able H3201 to bring H935 this people H5971 into the land H776 which he sware H7650 unto them, therefore he hath slain H7819 them in the wilderness. H4057
17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power H3581 of my Lord H136 be great, H1431 according H834 as thou hast spoken, H1696 saying, H559
18 The LORD H3068 is longsuffering, H750 H639 and of great H7227 mercy, H2617 forgiving H5375 iniquity H5771 and transgression, H6588 and by no means H5352 clearing H5352 the guilty, visiting H6485 the iniquity H5771 of the fathers H1 upon the children H1121 unto the third H8029 and fourth H7256 generation.
19 Pardon, H5545 I beseech thee, the iniquity H5771 of this people H5971 according unto the greatness H1433 of thy mercy, H2617 and as thou hast forgiven H5375 this people, H5971 from Egypt H4714 even until now. H2008
20 And the LORD H3068 said, H559 I have pardoned H5545 according to thy word: H1697
21 But as truly H199 as I live, H2416 all the earth H776 shall be filled H4390 with the glory H3519 of the LORD. H3068
22 Because all those men H582 which have seen H7200 my glory, H3519 and my miracles, H226 which I did H6213 in Egypt H4714 and in the wilderness, H4057 and have tempted H5254 H853 me now these ten H6235 times, H6471 and have not hearkened H8085 to my voice; H6963
23 Surely they shall not H518 see H7200 the land H776 which I sware H7650 unto their fathers, H1 neither shall any of them that provoked H5006 me see H7200 it:
24 But my servant H5650 Caleb, H3612 because H6118 he had another H312 spirit H7307 with him, and hath followed H310 me fully, H4390 him will I bring H935 into the land H776 whereinto he went; H935 and his seed H2233 shall possess H3423 it.
25 (Now the Amalekites H6003 and the Canaanites H3669 dwelt H3427 in the valley.) H6010 To morrow H4279 turn H6437 you, and get H5265 you into the wilderness H4057 by the way H1870 of the Red H5488 sea. H3220
26 And the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto Moses H4872 and unto Aaron, H175 saying, H559
27 How long shall I bear with this evil H7451 congregation, H5712 which murmur H3885 against me? I have heard H8085 the murmurings H8519 of the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 which they murmur H3885 against me.
28 Say H559 unto them, As truly as H3808 I live, H2416 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 as ye have spoken H1696 in mine ears, H241 so will I do H6213 to you:
29 Your carcases H6297 shall fall H5307 in this wilderness; H4057 and all that were numbered H6485 of you, according to your whole number, H4557 from twenty H6242 years H8141 old H1121 and upward, H4605 which have murmured H3885 against me,
30 Doubtless ye shall not H518 come H935 into the land, H776 concerning which I sware H3027 H5375 to make you dwell H7931 therein, save Caleb H3612 the son H1121 of Jephunneh, H3312 and Joshua H3091 the son H1121 of Nun. H5126
31 But your little ones, H2945 which ye said H559 should be a prey, H957 them will I bring in, H935 and they shall know H3045 the land H776 which ye have despised. H3988
32 But as for you, your carcases, H6297 they shall fall H5307 in this wilderness. H4057
33 And your children H1121 shall wander H7462 in the wilderness H4057 forty H705 years, H8141 and bear H5375 your whoredoms, H2184 until your carcases H6297 be wasted H8552 in the wilderness. H4057
34 After the number H4557 of the days H3117 in which ye searched H8446 the land, H776 even forty H705 days, H3117 each day H3117 for a year, H8141 H3117 H8141 shall ye bear H5375 your iniquities, H5771 even forty H705 years, H8141 and ye shall know H3045 my breach of promise. H8569
35 I the LORD H3068 have said, H1696 I will surely H518 H3808 do H6213 it H2063 unto all this evil H7451 congregation, H5712 that are gathered together H3259 against me: in this wilderness H4057 they shall be consumed, H8552 and there they shall die. H4191
36 And the men, H582 which Moses H4872 sent H7971 to search H8446 the land, H776 who returned, H7725 and made all the congregation H5712 to murmur H3885 H3885 against him, by bringing up H3318 a slander H1681 upon the land, H776
37 Even those H582 men H582 that did bring up H3318 the evil H7451 report H1681 upon the land, H776 died H4191 by the plague H4046 before H6440 the LORD. H3068
38 But Joshua H3091 the son H1121 of Nun, H5126 and Caleb H3612 the son H1121 of Jephunneh, H3312 which were of the men H1992 H582 that went H1980 to search H8446 the land, H776 lived H2421 still.
39 And Moses H4872 told H1696 these sayings H1697 unto all the children H1121 of Israel: H3478 and the people H5971 mourned H56 greatly. H3966
40 And they rose up early H7925 in the morning, H1242 and gat them up H5927 into the top H7218 of the mountain, H2022 saying, H559 Lo, H2009 we be here, and will go up H5927 unto the place H4725 which the LORD H3068 hath promised: H559 for we have sinned. H2398
41 And Moses H4872 said, H559 Wherefore now do ye transgress H5674 the commandment H6310 of the LORD? H3068 but it shall not prosper. H6743
42 Go not up, H5927 for the LORD H3068 is not among H7130 you; that ye be not smitten H5062 before H6440 your enemies. H341
43 For the Amalekites H6003 and the Canaanites H3669 are there before H6440 you, and ye shall fall H5307 by the sword: H2719 because ye are turned H7725 away H310 from the LORD, H3068 therefore the LORD H3068 will not be with you.
44 But they presumed H6075 to go up H5927 unto the hill H2022 top: H7218 nevertheless the ark H727 of the covenant H1285 of the LORD, H3068 and Moses, H4872 departed H4185 not out H7130 of the camp. H4264
45 Then the Amalekites H6003 came down, H3381 and the Canaanites H3669 which dwelt H3427 in that hill, H2022 and smote H5221 them, and discomfited H3807 them, even unto Hormah. H2767
1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore doth Jehovah bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes:
7 and they spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.
8 If Jehovah delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it unto us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
9 Only rebel not against Jehovah, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is removed from over them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel.
11 And Jehovah said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.
13 And Moses said unto Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;
14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou Jehovah art in the midst of this people; for thou Jehovah art seen face to face, and thy cloud standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
16 Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
17 And now, I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
18 Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; and that will by no means clear `the guilty', visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.
19 Pardon, I pray thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy lovingkindness, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20 And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
21 but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah;
22 because all those men that have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
23 surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it:
24 but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
25 Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: to-morrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
26 And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
27 How long `shall I bear' with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Say unto them, As I live, saith Jehovah, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, that have murmured against me,
30 surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected.
32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation.
35 I, Jehovah, have spoken, surely this will I do unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36 And the men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,
37 even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Jehovah.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men that went to spy out the land.
39 And Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we are here, and will go up unto the place which Jehovah hath promised: for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah, seeing it shall not prosper?
42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten down before your enemies.
43 For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned back from following Jehovah, therefore Jehovah will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who dwelt in that mountain, and smote them and beat them down, even unto Hormah.
1 And all the company lifteth up and give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night;
2 and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, `O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died!
3 and why is Jehovah bringing us in unto this land to fall by the sword? our wives and our infants are become a prey; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt?'
4 And they say one unto another, `Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.'
5 And Moses falleth -- Aaron also -- on their faces, before all the assembly of the company of the sons of Israel.
6 And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying the land, have rent their garments,
7 and they speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, `The land into which we have passed over to spy it, `is' a very very good land;
8 if Jehovah hath delighted in us, then He hath brought us in unto this land, and hath given it to us, a land which is flowing with milk and honey;
9 only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they `are'; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah `is' with us; fear them not.'
10 And all the company say to stone them with stones, and the honour of Jehovah hath appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the sons of Israel.
11 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Until when doth this people despise Me? and until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst?
12 I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.'
13 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `Then have the Egyptians heard! for Thou hast brought up with Thy power this people out of their midst,
14 and they have said `it' unto the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that Thou, Jehovah, `art' in the midst of this people, that eye to eye Thou art seen -- O Jehovah, and Thy cloud is standing over them, -- and in a pillar of cloud Thou art going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 `And Thou hast put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Thy fame have spoken, saying,
16 From Jehovah's want of ability to bring in this people unto the land which He hath sworn to them -- He doth slaughter them in the wilderness.
17 `And now, let, I pray Thee, the power of my Lord be great, as Thou hast spoken, saying:
18 Jehovah `is' slow to anger, and of great kindness; bearing away iniquity and transgression, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third `generation', and on a fourth; --
19 forgive, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Thy kindness, and as Thou hast borne with this people from Egypt, even until now.'
20 And Jehovah saith, `I have forgiven, according to thy word;
21 and yet, I live -- and it is filled -- the whole earth -- `with' the honour of Jehovah;
22 for all the men who are seeing My honour, and My signs, which I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and try Me these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice --
23 they see not the land which I have sworn to their fathers, yea, none of those despising Me see it;
24 and My servant Caleb, because there hath been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me -- I have brought him in unto the land whither he hath entered, and his seed doth possess it.
25 `And the Amalekite and the Canaanite are dwelling in the valley; to-morrow turn ye and journey for yourselves into the wilderness -- the way of the Red Sea.'
26 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,
27 `Until when hath this evil company that which they are murmuring against Me? the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against Me, I have heard;
28 say unto them, I live -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- if, as ye have spoken in Mine ears -- so I do not to you;
29 in this wilderness do your carcases fall, even all your numbered ones, to all your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have murmured against Me;
30 ye -- ye come not in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to cause you to tabernacle in it, except Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun.
31 `As to your infants -- of whom ye have said, A spoil they are become -- I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which ye have kicked against;
32 as to you -- your carcases do fall in this wilderness,
33 and your sons are evil in the wilderness forty years, and have borne your whoredoms till your carcases are consumed in the wilderness;
34 by the number of the days `in' which ye spied the land, forty days, -- a day for a year, a day for a year -- ye do bear your iniquities, forty years, and ye have known my breaking off;
35 I `am' Jehovah, I have spoken; if I do not this to all this evil company who are meeting against me; -- in this wilderness they are consumed, and there they die.'
36 And the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land, and they turn back and cause all the company to murmur against him, by bringing out an evil account concerning the land,
37 even the men bringing out an evil account of the land die by the plague before Jehovah;
38 and Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, have lived of those men who go to spy out the land.
39 And Moses speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly,
40 and they rise early in the morning, and go up unto the top of the mountain, saying, `Here we `are', and we have come up unto the place which Jehovah hath spoken of, for we have sinned.'
41 And Moses saith, `Why `is' this? -- ye are transgressing the command of Jehovah, and it doth not prosper;
42 go not up, for Jehovah is not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies;
43 for the Amalekite and the Canaanite `are' there before you, and ye have fallen by the sword, because that ye have turned back from after Jehovah, and Jehovah is not with you.'
44 And they presume to go up unto the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and Moses have not departed out of the midst of the camp.
45 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and smite them, and beat them down -- unto Hormah.
1 And the whole assembly lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died!
3 And why is Jehovah bringing us to this land that we may fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones may become a prey? Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the whole congregation of the assembly of the children of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of them that searched out the land, rent their garments.
7 And they spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it out, is a very, very good land.
8 If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land that flows with milk and honey;
9 only rebel not against Jehovah; and fear not the people of the land; for they shall be our food. Their defence is departed from them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not.
10 And the whole assembly said that they should be stoned with stones. And the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel.
11 And Jehovah said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe me, for all the signs which I have done among them?
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.
13 And Moses said to Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for in thy might thou broughtest up this people from the midst of them;
14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, [who] have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night;
15 if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying,
16 Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness.
17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
18 Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in goodness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth [generation].
19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20 And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word.
21 But as surely as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah!
22 for all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice,
23 shall in no wise see the land which I did swear unto their fathers: none of them that despised me shall see it.
24 But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he came; and his seed shall possess it.
25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley.) To-morrow turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness, on the way to the Red sea.
26 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Say unto them, As surely as I live, saith Jehovah, if I do not do unto you as ye have spoken in mine ears!
29 In this wilderness shall your carcases fall; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number from twenty years old and upwards, who have murmured against me,
30 shall in no wise come into the land, concerning which I have lifted up my hand to make you dwell in it; save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, of whom ye said they should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land that ye have despised.
32 And as to you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which ye have searched out the land, forty days, each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities forty years, and ye shall know mine estrangement [from you].
35 I Jehovah have spoken; I will surely do it unto all this evil assembly which have gathered together against me! in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36 And the men whom Moses had sent to search out the land, who returned, and made the whole assembly to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report upon the land,
37 even those men who had brought up an evil report upon the land, died by a plague before Jehovah.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, lived still of the men that had gone to search out the land.
39 And Moses told all these sayings to all the children of Israel; then the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and went up to the hill-top, saying, Here are we, and we will go up to the place of which Jehovah has spoken; for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Why now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah? but it shall not prosper!
42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies;
43 for the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; for as ye have turned away from Jehovah, Jehovah will not be with you.
44 Yet they presumed to go up to the hill-top; but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, did not depart from the midst of the camp.
45 And the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt on that hill, came down and smote them, and cut them to pieces, as far as Hormah.
1 All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3 Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn't it be better for us to return into Egypt?
4 They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes:
7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.
8 If Yahweh delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey.
9 Only don't rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us: don't fear them.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. The glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel.
11 Yahweh said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.
13 Moses said to Yahweh, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them;
14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are in the midst of this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if you shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,
16 Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.
17 Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying,
18 Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.
19 Pardon, Please, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20 Yahweh said, I have pardoned according to your word:
21 but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh;
22 because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice;
23 surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it:
24 but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess it.
25 Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
26 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Tell them, As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you:
29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,
30 surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, that you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected.
32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
33 Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my alienation.
35 I, Yahweh, have spoken, surely this will I do to all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36 The men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,
37 even those men who did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Yahweh.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.
39 Moses told these words to all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised: for we have sinned.
41 Moses said, Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh, seeing it shall not prosper?
42 Don't go up, for Yahweh isn't among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies.
43 For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you shall fall by the sword: because you are turned back from following Yahweh, therefore Yahweh will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn't depart out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.
1 Then all the people gave load cries of grief, and all that night they gave themselves up to weeping.
2 And all the children of Israel, crying out against Moses and Aaron, said, If only we had come to our death in the land of Egypt, or even in this waste land!
3 Why is the Lord taking us into this land to come to our death by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will get into strange hands: would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?
4 And they said to one another, Let us make a captain over us, and go back to Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron went down on their faces before the meeting of the people.
6 And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, two of those who had been to see the land, giving signs of grief,
7 Said to all the children of Israel, This land which we went through to see is a very good land.
8 And if the Lord has delight in us, he will take us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
9 Only, do not go against the Lord or go in fear of the people of the land, for they will be our food; their strength has been taken from them and the Lord is with us: have no fear of them.
10 But all the people said they were to be stoned. Then the glory of the Lord was seen in the Tent of meeting, before the eyes of all the children of Israel.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people have no respect for me? how long will they be without faith, in the face of all the signs I have done among them?
12 I will send disease on them for their destruction, and take away their heritage, and I will make of you a nation greater and stronger than they.
13 And Moses said to the Lord, Then it will come to the ears of the Egyptians; for by your power you took this people out from among them;
14 And they will give the news to the people of this land: they have had word that you, Lord, are present with this people, letting yourself be seen face to face, and that your cloud is resting over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if you put to death all this people as one man, then the nations who have had word of your glory will say,
16 Because the Lord was not able to take this people into the land which he made an oath to give them, he sent destruction on them in the waste land.
17 So now, may my prayer come before you, and let the power of the Lord be great, as you said:
18 The Lord is slow to wrath and great in mercy, overlooking wrongdoing and evil, and will not let wrongdoers go free; sending punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation.
19 May the sin of this people have forgiveness, in the measure of your great mercy, as you have had mercy on them from Egypt up till now.
20 And the Lord said, I have had mercy, as you say:
21 But truly, as I am living, and as all the earth will be full of the glory of the Lord;
22 Because all these men, having seen my glory and the signs which I have done in Egypt and in the waste land, still have put me to the test ten times, and have not given ear to my voice;
23 They will not see the land about which I made an oath to their fathers; not one of these by whom I have not been honoured will see it.
24 But my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit in him, and has been true to me with all his heart, him I will take into that land into which he went, and his seed will have it for their heritage.
25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are in the valley; tomorrow, turning round, go into the waste land by the way to the Red Sea.
26 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
27 How long am I to put up with this evil people and their outcries against me? The words which they say against me have come to my ears.
28 Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, as certainly as your words have come to my ears, so certainly will I do this to you:
29 Your dead bodies will be stretched out in this waste land; and of all your number, all those of twenty years old and over who have been crying out against me,
30 Not one will come into the land which I gave my word you would have for your resting-place, but only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.
31 And your little ones, whom you said would come into strange hands, I will take in, and they will see the land which you would not have.
32 But as for you, your dead bodies will be stretched in this waste land.
33 And your children will be wanderers in the waste land for forty years, undergoing punishment for your false ways, till your bodies become dust in the waste land.
34 And as you went through the land viewing it for forty days, so for forty years, a year for every day, you will undergo punishment for your wrongdoing, and you will see that I am against you.
35 I the Lord have said it, and this I will certainly do to all this evil people who have come together against me: in this waste land destruction will come on them, and death will be their fate.
36 And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses,
37 Those same men who said evil of the land, came to their death by disease before the Lord.
38 But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of those who went to see the land, were not touched by disease.
39 And when Moses put these words before the children of Israel, the people were full of grief.
40 And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong.
41 And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?
42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.
44 But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle.
45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 14
Commentary on Numbers 14 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Uproar among the People. - Numbers 14:1-4. This appalling description of Canaan had so depressing an influence upon the whole congregation (cf. Deuteronomy 1:28 : they “made their heart melt,” i.e., threw them into utter despair), that they raised a loud cry, and wept in the night in consequence. The whole nation murmured against Moses and Aaron their two leaders, saying “ Would that we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness! Why will Jehovah bring us into this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should become a prey (be made slaves by the enemy; cf. Deuteronomy 1:27-28) ? Let us rather return into Egypt! We will appoint a captain, they said one to another, and go back to Egypt. ”
At this murmuring, which was growing into open rebellion, Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the whole of the assembled congregation, namely, to pour out their distress before the Lord, and move Him to interpose; that is to say, after they had made an unsuccessful attempt, as we may supply from Deuteronomy 1:29-31, to cheer up the people, by pointing them to the help they had thus far received from God. “In such distress, nothing remained but to pour out their desires before God; offering their prayer in public, however, and in the sight of all the people, in the hope of turning their minds” ( Calvin ). Joshua and Caleb, who had gone with the others to explore the land, also rent their clothes, as a sign of their deep distress at the rebellious attitude of the people (see at Leviticus 10:6), and tried to convince them of the goodness and glory of the land they had travelled through, and to incite them to trust in the Lord. “ If Jehovah take pleasure in us, ”; they said, “ He will bring us into this land. Only rebel not ye against Jehovah, neither fear ye that people of the land; for they are our food; ” i.e., we can and shall swallow them up, or easily destroy them (cf. Numbers 22:4; Numbers 24:8; Deuteronomy 7:16; Psalms 14:4). “ Their shadow is departed from them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not! ” “ Their shadow ” is the shelter and protection of God (cf. Ps 91; Psalms 121:5). The shadow, which defends from the burning heat of the sun, was a very natural figure in the sultry East, to describe defence from injury, a refuge from danger and destruction (Isaiah 30:2). The protection of God had departed from the Canaanites, because God had determined to destroy them when the measure of their iniquity was full (Genesis 15:16; cf. Exodus 34:24; Leviticus 18:25; Leviticus 20:23). But the excited people resolved to stone them, when Jehovah interposed with His judgment, and His glory appeared in the tabernacle to all the Israelites; that is to say, the majesty of God flashed out before the eyes of the people in a light which suddenly burst forth from the tabernacle (see at Exodus 16:10).
Intercession of Moses. - Numbers 14:11, Numbers 14:12. Jehovah resented the conduct of the people as base contempt of His deity, and as utter mistrust of Him, notwithstanding all the signs which He had wrought in the midst of the nation; and declared that He would smite the rebellious people with pestilence, and destroy them, and make of Moses a greater and still mightier people. This was just what He had done before, when the rebellion took place at Sinai (Exodus 32:10). But Moses, as a servant who was faithful over the whole house of God, and therefore sought not his own honour, but the honour of his God alone, stood in the breach on this occasion also (Psalms 106:23), with a similar intercessory prayer to that which he had presented at Horeb, except that on this occasion he pleaded the honour of God among the heathen, and the glorious revelation of the divine nature with which he had been favoured at Sinai, as a motive for sparing the rebellious nation (Numbers 14:13-19; cf. Exodus 32:11-13, and Exodus 34:6-7). The first he expressed in these words (Numbers 14:13.): “ Not only have the Egyptians heard that Thou hast brought out this people from among them with Thy might; they have also told it to the inhabitants of this land. They (the Egyptians and the other nations) have heard that Thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people; that Thou, Jehovah, appearest eye to eye, and Thy cloud stands over them, and Thou goest before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Now, if Thou shouldst slay this people as one man, the nations which have heard the tidings of Thee would say, Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which He sware to them, He has slain them in the desert .” In that case God would be regarded by the heathen as powerless, and His honour would be impaired (cf. Deuteronomy 32:27; Joshua 7:9). It was for the sake of His own honour that God, at a later time, did not allow the Israelites to perish in exile (cf. Isaiah 48:9, Isaiah 48:11; Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22-23). - ואמרוּ ... ושׁמעוּ (Numbers 14:13, Numbers 14:14), et audierunt et dixerunt; ו - ו = et - et , both - and. The inhabitants of this land (Numbers 14:13) were not merely the Arabians, but, according to Exodus 15:14., the tribes dwelling in and round Arabia, the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and Canaanites, to whom the tidings had been brought of the miracles of God in Egypt and at the Dead Sea. שׁמעוּ , in Numbers 14:14, can neither stand for שׁמעוּ כּי ( dixerunt ) se audivisse , nor for שׁמעוּ אשׁר , qui audierunt . They are neither of them grammatically admissible, as the relative pronoun cannot be readily omitted in prose; and neither of them would give a really suitable meaning. It is rather a rhetorical resumption of the שׁמעוּ in Numbers 14:13, and the subject of the verb is not only “ the Egyptians, ” but also “ the inhabitants of this land ” who held communication with the Egyptians, or “ the nations ” who had heard the report of Jehovah (Numbers 14:15), i.e., all that God had hitherto done for and among the Israelites in Egypt, and on the journey through the desert. “ Eye to eye: ” i.e., Thou hast appeared to them in the closest proximity. On the pillar of cloud and fire, see at Exodus 13:21-22. “ As one man, ” equivalent to “with a stroke” (Judges 6:16). - In Numbers 14:17, Numbers 14:18, Moses adduces a second argument, viz., the word in which God Himself had revealed His inmost being to him at Sinai (Exodus 34:6-7). The words, “ Let the power be great, ” equivalent to “show Thyself great in power,” are not to be connected with what precedes, but with what follows; viz., “ show Thyself mighty by verifying Thy word, 'Jehovah, long-suffering and great in mercy,' etc.; forgive, I beseech Thee, this people according to the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. ” נשׁא (Numbers 14:19) = עון נשׁא (Numbers 14:18).
In answer to this importunate prayer, the Lord promised forgiveness, namely, the preservation of the nation, but not the remission of the well-merited punishment. At the rebellion at Sinai, He had postponed the punishment “till the day of His visitation” (Exodus 32:34). And that day had now arrived, as the people had carried their continued rebellion against the Lord to the furthest extreme, even to an open declaration of their intention to depose Moses, and return to Egypt under another leader, and thus had filled up the measure of their sins. “ Nevertheless, ” added the Lord (Numbers 14:21, Numbers 14:22), “ as truly as I live, and the glory of Jehovah will fill the whole earth, all the men who have seen My glory and My miracles...shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers .” The clause, “all the earth,” etc., forms an apposition to “as I live.” Jehovah proves Himself to be living, by the fact that His glory fills the whole earth. But this was to take place, not, as Knobel , who mistakes the true connection of the different clauses, erroneously supposes, by the destruction of the whole of that generation, which would be talked of by all the world, but rather by the fact that, notwithstanding the sin and opposition of these men, He would still carry out His work of salvation to a glorious victory. The כּי in Numbers 14:22 introduces the substance of the oath, as in Isaiah 49:18; 1 Samuel 14:39; 1 Samuel 20:3; and according to the ordinary form of an oath, אם in Numbers 14:23 signifies “ not .” - “They have tempted Me now ten times.” Ten is used as the number of completeness and full measure; and this answered to the actual fact, if we follow the Rabbins, and add to the murmuring (1) at the Red Sea, Exodus 14:11-12; (2) at Marah, Exodus 15:23; (3) in the wilderness of Sin, Exodus 16:2; (4) at Rephidim, Exodus 17:1; (5) at Horeb, Ex 32; (6) at Tabeerah, Numbers 11:1; (7) at the graves of lust, Numbers 11:4.; and (8) here again at Kadesh, the twofold rebellion of certain individuals against the commandments of God at the giving of the manna (Exodus 16:20 and Exodus 16:27). The despisers of God should none of them see the promised land.
But because there was another spirit in Caleb, - i.e., not the unbelieving, despairing, yet proud and rebellious spirit of the great mass of the people, but the spirit of obedience and believing trust, so that “he followed Jehovah fully” (lit., “fulfilled to walk behind Jehovah”), followed Him with unwavering fidelity, - God would bring him into the land into which he had gone, and his seed should possess it. ( אחרי מלּא here, and at Numbers 32:11-12; Deuteronomy 1:36; Joshua 14:8-9; 1 Kings 11:6, is a constructio praegnans for אחרי ללכת מלּא ; cf. 2 Chronicles 34:31.) According to the context, the reference is not to Hebron particularly, but to Canaan generally, which God had sworn unto the fathers (Numbers 14:23, and Deuteronomy 1:36, comp. with Deuteronomy 1:35); although, when the land was divided, Caleb received Hebron for his possession, because, according to his own statement in Joshua 14:6., Moses had sworn that he would give it to him. But this is not mentioned here; just as Joshua also is not mentioned in this place, as he is at Numbers 14:30 and Numbers 14:38, but Caleb only, who opposed the exaggerated accounts of the other spies at the very first, and endeavoured to quiet the excitement of the people by declaring that they were well able to overcome the Canaanites (Numbers 13:30). This first revelation of God to Moses is restricted to the main fact; the particulars are given afterwards in the sentence of God, as intended for communication to the people (Numbers 14:26-38).
The divine reply to the intercession of Moses terminated with a command to the people to turn on the morrow, and go to the wilderness to the Red Sea, as the Amalekites and Canaanites dwelt in the valley. “ The Amalekites, ” etc.: this clause furnishes the reason for the command which follows. On the Amalekites, see at Genesis 36:12, and Exodus 17:8. The term Canaanites is a general epithet applied to all the inhabitants of Canaan, instead of the Amorites mentioned in Deuteronomy 1:44, who held the southern mountains of Canaan. “The valley” is no doubt the broad Wady Murreh (see at Numbers 13:21), including a portion of the Negeb, in which the Amalekites led a nomad life, whilst the Canaanites really dwelt upon the mountains (Numbers 14:45), close up to the Wady Murreh .
Sentence upon the Murmuring Congregation. - After the Lord had thus declared to Moses in general terms His resolution to punish the incorrigible people, and not suffer them to come to Canaan, He proceeded to tell him what announcement he was to make to the people.
Numbers 14:27
This announcement commences in a tone of anger, with an aposiopesis , “ How long this evil congregation ” (sc., “shall I forgive it,” the simplest plan being to supply אשּׂא , as Rosenmüller suggests, from Numbers 14:18), “ that they murmur against Me? ”
Numbers 14:28-31
Jehovah swore that it should happen to the murmurers as they had spoken. Their corpses should fall in the desert, even all who had been numbered, from twenty years old and upwards: they should not see the land into which Jehovah had lifted up His hand (see at Exodus 6:8) to lead them, with the sole exception of Caleb and Joshua. But their children, who, as they said, would be a prey (Numbers 14:3), them Jehovah would bring, and they should learn to know the land which the others had despised.
Numbers 14:32-33
“ As for you, your carcases will fall in this wilderness. But your sons will be pasturing (i.e., will lead a restless shepherd life) in the desert forty years, and bear your whoredom (i.e., endure the consequences of your faithless apostasy; see Exodus 34:16), until your corpses are finished in the desert, ” i.e., till you have all passed away.
Numbers 14:34
“ After the number of the forty days that he have searched the land, shall ye bear your iniquity, (reckoning) a day for a year, and know My turning away from you, ” or תּנוּאה , abalienatio , from נוא (Numbers 32:7).
Numbers 14:35
As surely as Jehovah had spoken this, would He do it to that evil congregation, to those who had allied themselves against Him ( נועד , to bind themselves together, to conspire; Numbers 16:11; Numbers 27:3). There is no ground whatever for questioning the correctness of the statement, that the spies had travelled through Canaan for forty days, or regarding this as a so-called round number - that is to say, as unhistorical. And if this number is firmly established, there is also no ground for disputing the forty years' sojourn of the people in the wilderness, although the period during which the rebellious generation, consisting of those who were numbered at Sinai, died out, was actually thirty-eight years, reaching from the autumn of the second year after their departure from Egypt to the middle of the fortieth year of their wanderings, and terminating with the fresh numbering (ch. 26) that was undertaken after the death of Aaron, and took place on the first of the fifth month of the fortieth year ( Numbers 20:23., compared with Numbers 33:38). Instead of these thirty-eight years, the forty years of the sojourn in the desert are placed in connection with the forty days of the spies, because the people had frequently fallen away from God, and been punished in consequence, even during the year and a half before their rejection; and in this respect the year and a half could be combined with the thirty-eight years which followed into one continuous period, during which they bore their iniquity, to set distinctly before the minds of the disobedient people the contrast between that peaceful dwelling in the promised land which they had forfeited, and the restless wandering in the desert, which had been imposed upon them as a punishment, and to impress upon them the causal connection between sin and suffering. “Every year that passed, and was deducted from the forty years of punishment, was a new and solemn exhortation to repent, as it called to mind the occasion of their rejection” ( Kurtz ). When Knobel observes, on the other hand, that “it is utterly improbable that all who came out of Egypt (that is to say, all who were twenty years old and upward when they came out) should have fallen in the desert, with the exception of two, and that there should have been no men found among the Israelites when they entered Canaan who were more than sixty years of age,” the express statement, that on the second numbering there was not a man among those that were numbered who had been included in the numbering at Sinai, except Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 26:64.), is amply sufficient to overthrow this “improbability” as an unfounded fancy. Nor is this statement rendered at all questionable by the fact, that “Aaron's son Eleazar, who entered Canaan with Joshua” (Joshua 14:1, etc.), was most likely more than twenty years old at the time of his consecration at Sinai, as the Levites were not qualified for service till their thirtieth or twenty-fifth year. For, in the first place, the regulation concerning the Levites' age of service is not to be applied without reserve to the priests also, so that we could infer from this that the sons of Aaron must have been at least twenty-five or thirty years old when they were consecrated; and besides this, the priests do not enter into the question at all, for the tribe of Levi was excepted from the numbering in ch. 1, and therefore Aaron's sons were not included among the persons numbered, who were sentenced to die in the wilderness. Still less does it follow from Joshua 24:7 and Judges 2:7, where it is stated that, after the conquest of Canaan, there were many still alive who had been eye-witnesses of the wonders of God in Egypt, that they must have been more than twenty years old when they came out of Egypt; for youths from ten to nineteen years of age would certainly have been able to remember such miracles as these, even after the lapse of forty or fifty years.
Numbers 14:36-38
But for the purpose of giving to the whole congregation a practical proof of the solemnity of the divine threatening of punishment, the spies who had induced the congregation to revolt, through their evil report concerning the inhabitants of Canaan, were smitten by a “stroke before Jehovah,” i.e., by a sudden death, which proceeded in a visible manner from Jehovah Himself, whilst Joshua and Caleb remained alive.
(cf. Deuteronomy 1:41-44). The announcement of the sentence plunged the people into deep mourning. But instead of bending penitentially under the judgment of God, they resolved to atone for their error, by preparing the next morning to go to the top of the mountain and press forward into Canaan. And they would not even suffer themselves to be dissuaded from their enterprise by the entreaties of Moses, who denounced it as a transgression of the word of God which could not succeed, and predicted their overthrow before their enemies, but went presumptuously ( לעלות יעפּלוּ ) up without the ark of the covenant and without Moses, who did not depart out of the midst of the camp, and were smitten by the Amalekites and Canaanites, who drove them back as far as Hormah. Whereas at first they had refused to enter upon the conflict with the Canaanites, through their unbelief in the might of the promise of God, now, through unbelief in the severity of the judgment of God, they resolved to engage in this conflict by their own power, and without the help of God, and to cancel the old sin of unbelieving despair through the new sin of presumptuous self-confidence, - an attempt which could never succeed, but was sure to plunge deeper and deeper into misery. Where “ the top (or height) of the mountain ” to which the Israelites advanced was, cannot be precisely determined, as we have no minute information concerning the nature of the ground in the neighbourhood of Kadesh. No doubt the allusion is to some plateau on the northern border of the valley mentioned in Numbers 14:25, viz., the Wady Murreh , which formed the southernmost spur of the mountains of the Amorites, from which the Canaanites and Amalekites came against them, and drove them back. In Deuteronomy 1:44, Moses mentions the Amorites instead of the Amalekites and Canaanites, using the name in a broader sense for all the Canaanites, and contenting himself with naming the leading foes with whom the Amalekites who wandered about in the Negeb had allied themselves, as Bedouins thirsting for booty. These tribes came down (Numbers 14:45) from the height of the mountain to the lower plateau or saddle, which the Israelites had ascended, and smote them and יכּתוּם (from כּתת , with the reduplication of the second radical anticipated in the first: see Ewald , §193, c.), “discomfited them, as far as Hormah,” or as Moses expressed it in Deuteronomy 1:44, They “chased you, as bees do” (which pursue with great ferocity any one who attacks or disturbs them), “and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.” There is not sufficient ground for altering “in Seir” into “from Seir,” as the lxx, Syriac , and Vulgate have done. But בּשׂעיר might signify “into Seir, as far as Hormah.” As the Edomites had extended their territory at that time across the Arabah towards the west, and taken possession of a portion of the mountainous country which bounded the desert of Paran towards the north (see at Numbers 34:3), the Israelites, when driven back by them, might easily be chased into the territory of the Edomites. Hormah (i.e., the ban-place) is used here proleptically (see at Numbers 21:3).