Numbers 14:15

15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say

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 said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people,
14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say
16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them.
17 So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said,
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.