Deuteronomy 9:23

23 And when he sent you from Cadesbarne, saying: Go up, and possess the land that I have given you, and you slighted the commandment of the Lord your God, and did not believe him, neither would you hearken to his voice:

Deuteronomy 9:23 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:23

Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadeshbarnea
From whence the spies were sent to search the land, though previous to it they had the following order to go up and possess it; see ( Numbers 32:8 ) ( Deuteronomy 1:19-21 )

saying, go up and possess the land which I have given you;
this they were bid to do, before they desired the spies might be sent to search it first; and after they had returned and made their report, they were encouraged to go up and take possession of it:

then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God; refusing
to go up into it: and ye believed him not;
that he would cast out and destroy the inhabitants of it, and put them into the possession of it; which they distrusted by reason of the gigantic stature of some that dwelt in it, and their fortified cities:

nor hearkened to his voice;
whether commanding or encouraging.

Deuteronomy 9:23 In-Context

21 And your sin that you had committed, that is, the calf, I took, and burned it with fire, and breaking it into pieces, until it was as small as dust, I threw it into the torrent, which cometh down from the mountain.

22 At the burning also, and at the place of temptation, and at the graves of lust you provoked the Lord:

23 And when he sent you from Cadesbarne, saying: Go up, and possess the land that I have given you, and you slighted the commandment of the Lord your God, and did not believe him, neither would you hearken to his voice:

24 But were always rebellious from the day that I began to know you.

25 And I lay prostrate before the Lord forty days and nights, in which I humbly besought him, that he would not destroy you as he had threatened: