Numbers 14:4-14

4 And they said to one another, ¹“Let us choose a leader and ²go back to Egypt. ”

5 Then ³Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.

6 ⁴And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes

7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ⁵“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

8 If ⁶the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, ⁷a land that flows with milk and honey.

9 Only ⁸do not rebel against the Lord. And ⁹do not fear the people of the land, for ¹⁰they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them. ”

10 ¹¹Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But ¹²the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people ¹³despise me? And how long will they not ¹⁴believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?

12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I ¹⁵will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they. ”

Moses Intercedes for the People

13 But ¹⁶Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them,

14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. ¹⁷They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and ¹⁸your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

Numbers 14:4-14 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.

Cross References

• 1. 14:4 Neh. 9:17
• 2. 14:4 [Deut. 17:16; Acts 7:39]
• 3. 14:5 ch. 16:4, 22; 20:6
• 4. 14:6 ver. 30; ch. 13:6, 8
• 5. 14:7 ch. 13:27; Deut. 1:25
• 6. 14:8 Deut. 10:15; 2 Sam. 22:20; 1 Kgs. 10:9; Ps. 18:19; 22:8; Isa. 62:4
• 7. 14:8 See Ex. 3:8
• 8. 14:9 Josh. 22:16, 18, 19, 29
• 9. 14:9 Deut. 7:18; 20:3
• 10. 14:9 ch. 24:8; [Ps. 14:4; 74:14]
• 11. 14:10 Ex. 17:4
• 12. 14:10 See Lev. 9:23
• 13. 14:11 ver. 23; ch. 16:30
• 14. 14:11 Deut. 1:32; 9:23; Ps. 78:22, 32; 106:24; Heb. 3:18; [John 12:37]
• 15. 14:12 Ex. 32:10
• 16. 14:13 Ex. 32:12; [Deut. 9:28; 32:27; Ps. 106:23; Ezek. 20:9, 14]
• 17. 14:14 Ex. 15:14; Josh. 2:9, 10; 5:1
• 18. 14:14 See Ex. 13:21