Numbers 14:5-15

5 And when this was heard, Moses and Aaron fell down low to the earth (Moses and Aaron fell down on the ground), before all the multitude of the sons of Israel.
6 And soothly Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which also compassed the land, rent their clothes, (And truly Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, two of the spies who had gone throughout the land, tore their clothes,)
7 and they spake thus to all the multitude of the sons of Israel, (and said,) The land which we compassed is full good; (and they spoke thus to all the multitude of the Israelites, and said, The land which we went about is very good;)
8 if the Lord is merciful to us, he shall lead us into it, and he shall give us the land flowing with milk and honey.
9 Do not ye rebel against the Lord, neither dread ye the people of this land, for we be able to devour them so as bread; all their help hath passed away from them, the Lord is with us, do not ye dread. (Do not ye rebel against the Lord, nor fear ye the people of this land, for we be able to eat them up like a piece of bread; all their help hath passed away from them, yea, the Lord is with us, do not ye fear.)
10 And when all the multitude cried (out), and would have oppressed them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared upon the roof of the bond of peace, while all the sons of Israel saw. (But when all the multitude shouted, and would have killed them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared over the Tabernacle of the Covenant, before all the Israelites.)
11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long shall this people backbite me, or mis-deem me? How long shall they not believe to me, in (spite of) all the signs which I have done before them? (And the Lord said to Moses, How long shall these people backbite me, or mis-judge me? How long shall they not believe me, or not trust in me, in spite of all the miracles which I have done before them?)
12 Therefore I shall smite them with pestilence, and I shall waste them; soothly I shall make thee prince upon a greater folk, and stronger than is this. (And so I shall strike them with a pestilence, or a plague, and I shall destroy them; and then I shall make thee the leader of a greater, and of a stronger, nation than these people be.)
13 And Moses said to the Lord, [The] Egyptians hear not, from whose middle thou leddest out this people, (And Moses said to the Lord, But then the Egyptians, from whose midst thou leddest out these people, shall hear of it,)
14 and (they shall tell it to) the dwellers of this land, which heard that thou, Lord, art in this people (who have heard that thou, Lord, art with these people), and art seen face to face, and that thy cloud defendeth them, and that thou goest before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night,
15 that thou hast slain so great a multitude as (if they be just) one man, and (then they shall) say,

Numbers 14:5-15 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.