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?
Yea, they despised H3988 the pleasant H2532 land, H776 they believed H539 not his word: H1697
Because they believed H539 not in God, H430 and trusted H982 not in his salvation: H3444
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:
For G1063 some, G5100 when they had heard, G191 did provoke: G3893 howbeit G235 not G3756 all G3956 that came G1831 out of G1537 Egypt G125 by G1223 Moses. G3475
Harden G4645 not G3361 your G5216 hearts, G2588 as G5613 in G1722 the provocation, G3894 in G2596 the day G2250 of temptation G3986 in G1722 the wilderness: G2048
If G1508 I had G4160 not G1508 done G4160 among G1722 them G846 the works G2041 which G3739 none G3762 other man G243 did, G4160 they had G2192 not G3756 had G2192 sin: G266 but G1161 now G3568 have they G3708 both G2532 seen G3708 and G2532 hated G3404 both G2532 me G1691 and G2532 my G3450 Father. G3962
And Moses H4872 and Aaron H175 came in H935 unto Pharaoh, H6547 and said H559 unto him, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of the Hebrews, H5680 How long H4970 wilt thou refuse H3985 to humble H6031 thyself before H6440 me? let my people H5971 go, H7971 that they may serve H5647 me.
He answereth G611 him, G846 and G1161 saith, G3004 O G5599 faithless G571 generation, G1074 how long G2193 G4219 shall I be G2071 with G4314 you? G5209 how long G2193 G4219 shall I suffer G430 you? G5216 bring G5342 him G846 unto G4314 me. G3165
For thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 As I thought H2161 to punish H7489 you, when your fathers H1 provoked me to wrath, H7107 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 and I repented H5162 not:
How long, ye simple ones, H6612 will ye love H157 simplicity? H6612 and the scorners H3887 delight H2530 in their scorning, H3944 and fools H3684 hate H8130 knowledge? H1847
And at Taberah, H8404 and at Massah, H4532 and at Kibrothhattaavah, H6914 ye provoked the LORD H3068 to wrath. H7107 Likewise when the LORD H3068 sent H7971 you from Kadeshbarnea, H6947 saying, H559 Go up H5927 and possess H3423 the land H776 which I have given H5414 you; then ye rebelled H4784 against the commandment H6310 of the LORD H3068 your God, H430 and ye believed H539 him not, nor hearkened H8085 to his voice. H6963
Remember, H2142 and forget H7911 not, how thou provokedst the LORD H3068 thy God H430 to wrath H7107 in the wilderness: H4057 from H4480 the day H3117 that thou didst depart out H3318 of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 until ye came H935 unto this place, H4725 ye have been rebellious H4784 against H5973 the LORD. H3068 Also in Horeb H2722 ye provoked H7107 the LORD H3068 to wrath, H7107 so that the LORD H3068 was angry H599 with you to have destroyed H8045 you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 14
Commentary on Numbers 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
Nu 14:1-45. The People Murmur at the Spies' Report.
1. all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried—Not literally all, for there were some exceptions.
2-4. Would God that we had died in Egypt—Such insolence to their generous leaders, and such base ingratitude to God, show the deep degradation of the Israelites, and the absolute necessity of the decree that debarred that generation from entering the promised land [Nu 14:29-35]. They were punished by their wishes being granted to die in that wilderness [Heb 3:17; Jude 5]. A leader to reconduct them to Egypt is spoken of (Ne 9:17) as actually nominated. The sinfulness and insane folly of their conduct are almost incredible. Their conduct, however, is paralleled by too many among us, who shrink from the smallest difficulties and rather remain slaves to sin than resolutely try to surmount the obstacles that lie in their way to the Canaan above.
5. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces—as humble and earnest suppliants—either to the people, entreating them to desist from so perverse a design; or rather, to God, as the usual and only refuge from the violence of that tumultuous and stiff-necked rabble—a hopeful means of softening and impressing their hearts.
6. Joshua … and Caleb, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes—The two honest spies testified their grief and horror, in the strongest manner, at the mutiny against Moses and the blasphemy against God; while at the same time they endeavored, by a truthful statement, to persuade the people of the ease with which they might obtain possession of so desirable a country, provided they did not, by their rebellion and ingratitude, provoke God to abandon them.
8. a land flowing with milk and honey—a general expression, descriptive of a rich and fertile country. The two articles specified were among the principal products of the Holy Land.
9. their defence is departed—Hebrew, "their shadow." The Sultan of Turkey and the Shah of Persia are called "the shadow of God," "the refuge of the world." So that the meaning of the clause, "their defence is departed from them," is, that the favor of God was now lost to those whose iniquities were full (Ge 15:16), and transferred to the Israelites.
10. the glory of the Lord appeared—It was seasonably manifested on this great emergency to rescue His ambassadors from their perilous situation.
12. the Lord said, … I will smite them with the pestilence—not a final decree, but a threatening, suspended, as appeared from the issue, on the intercession of Moses and the repentance of Israel.
17. let the power of my Lord be great—be magnified.
21. all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—This promise, in its full acceptation, remains to be verified by the eventual and universal prevalence of Christianity in the world. But the terms were used restrictively in respect to the occasion, to the report which would spread over all the land of the "terrible things in righteousness" [Ps 65:5] which God would do in the infliction of the doom described, to which that rebellious race was now consigned.
22. ten times—very frequently.
24. my servant Caleb—Joshua was also excepted, but he is not named because he was no longer in the ranks of the people, being a constant attendant on Moses.
because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully—Under the influence of God's Spirit, Caleb was a man of bold, generous, heroic courage, above worldly anxieties and fears.
25. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley)—that is, on the other side of the Idumean mountain, at whose base they were then encamped. Those nomad tribes had at that time occupied it with a determination to oppose the further progress of the Hebrew people. Hence God gave the command that they seek a safe and timely retreat into the desert, to escape the pursuit of those resolute enemies, to whom, with their wives and children, they would fall a helpless prey because they had forfeited the presence and protection of God. This verse forms an important part of the narrative and should be freed from the parenthetical form which our English translators have given it.
30. save Caleb … and Joshua—These are specially mentioned, as honorable exceptions to the rest of the scouts, and also as the future leaders of the people. But it appears that some of the old generation did not join in the mutinous murmuring, including in that number the whole order of the priests (Jos 14:1).
34. ye shall know my breach of promise—that is, in consequence of your violation of the covenant betwixt you and Me, by breaking the terms of it, it shall be null and void on My part, as I shall withhold the blessings I promised in that covenant to confer on you on condition of your obedience.
36-38. those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord—Ten of the spies struck dead on the spot—either by the pestilence or some other judgment. This great and appalling mortality clearly betokened the hand of the Lord.
40-45. they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain—Notwithstanding the tidings that Moses communicated and which diffused a general feeling of melancholy and grief throughout the camp, the impression was of very brief continuance. They rushed from one extreme of rashness and perversity to another, and the obstinacy of their rebellious spirit was evinced by their active preparations to ascend the hill, notwithstanding the divine warning they had received not to undertake that enterprise.
for we have sinned—that is, realizing our sin, we now repent of it, and are eager to do as Caleb and Joshua exhorted us—or, as some render it, though we have sinned, we trust God will yet give us the land of promise. The entreaties of their prudent and pious leader, who represented to them that their enemies, scaling the other side of the valley, would post themselves on the top of the hill before them, were disregarded. How strangely perverse the conduct of the Israelites, who, shortly before, were afraid that, though their Almighty King was with them, they could not get possession of the land; and yet now they act still more foolishly in supposing that, though God were not with them, they could expel the inhabitants by their unaided efforts. The consequences were such as might have been anticipated. The Amalekites and Canaanites, who had been lying in ambuscade expecting their movement, rushed down upon them from the heights and became the instruments of punishing their guilty rebellion.
45. even unto Hormah—The name was afterwards given to that place in memory of the immense slaughter of the Israelites on this occasion.