Numbers 14:40-45

40 And they rose up early in the morning and climbed up into the top of the mountain, saying, Here we are prepared to go up unto the place of which the LORD has spoken; for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Why do ye break the commandment of the LORD? This also shall not prosper.
42 Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you; do not be smitten before your enemies.
43 For the Amalekite and the Canaanite are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; because ye are turned away from following 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, did not depart out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekite came down and the Canaanite who dwelt in that hill and smote them and defeated them, pursuing them unto Hormah.

Numbers 14:40-45 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 14

This chapter treats or the murmurings of the children of Israel upon the evil report of the spies, which greatly distressed Moses and Aaron, Nu 14:1-5; and of the endeavours of Joshua and Caleb to quiet the minds of the people with a good account of the land, and of the easy conquest of it, but to no purpose, Nu 14:6-10; and of the Lord's threatening to destroy the people with the pestilence, Nu 14:11,12; and of the intercession of Moses for them, which so far succeeded as to prevent their immediate destruction, Nu 14:13-20; nevertheless they are assured again and again, in the strongest terms, that none of them but Joshua and Caleb should enter into the land, but their carcasses should fall in the wilderness, even all the murmurers of twenty years old and upwards, Nu 14:21-35; and the ten men that brought the evil report of the good land died of a plague immediately, but the other two lived, Nu 14:36-38; and the body of the people that attempted to go up the mountain and enter the land were smitten and discomfited by their enemies, after they had with concern heard what the Lord threatened them with, Nu 14:39-45.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010