Numbers 14:15

15 If You kill this people with a single blow,^{[a] [b]} the nations that have heard of Your fame^[c] will declare,

Numbers 14:15 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:15

Now [if] thou shall kill [all] this people, as one man
Suddenly, and at once, as might be done by a pestilence; and as 185,000 were smitten at once, and as thought by the same disease, by the Angel of the Lord in the camp of the Assyrians, in later times, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) ;

then the nations which have heard the fame of thee;
the Egyptians, Canaanites, and others, as Aben Ezra observes; who had heard the report of the wonderful things done by him for Israel, and of the great favours he had bestowed upon them, and so of his power, and goodness, and other perfections displayed therein, which made him appear to be preferable to all the gods of the Gentiles:

will speak, saying;
as follows.

Numbers 14:15 In-Context

13 But Moses replied to the Lord, "The Egyptians will hear about it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from them.

14 They will tell [it to] the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people, how You, Lord, are seen face to face, how Your cloud stands over them, and how You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

15 If You kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of Your fame will declare,

16 'Since the Lord wasn't able to bring this people into the land He swore to [give] them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.'

17 "So now, may My Lord's power be magnified just as You have spoken:

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit people as one man
• [b]. Ex 32:9-12
• [c]. Dt 2:25; Jos 2:10; 9:9; Isa 66:19; Hab 3:2