Numbers 14:21

21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

Numbers 14:21 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:21

But [as truly as] I live
Which is the form of an oath, as the Targum; the Lord swears by his life, or by himself, because he could swear by no greater:

all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord;
this is not the thing sworn unto or confirmed, but that by which the oath is made and confirmed; and the sense is, that as sure as the earth "had been" filled with the glory of the Lord, as it may be rendered, as it had been with the fame of what he had done in Egypt, and at the Red sea; or as it "should be" filled with it in later times, especially in the kingdom of the Messiah in the latter day; see ( Isaiah 6:3 ) ( Habakkuk 1:14 ) ; so sure the men that had provoked him should not see the land of Canaan.

Numbers 14:21 In-Context

19 Pardon now the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.

20 Then the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word.

21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

22 Because all those men who saw my glory and my signs which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice,

23 surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of those that provoked me see it.