Deuteronomy 9:23

23 And when Yahweh sent you [out] from Kadesh Barnea, {saying}, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen 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 sinful thing that you had made, the molten calf, I took and I burned it with fire, and I crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was crushed to dust, and I threw its dust into {the stream that flowed down the mountain}.

22 "And [also] at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to anger.

23 And when Yahweh sent you [out] from Kadesh Barnea, {saying}, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen to his voice.

24 You have been rebellious toward Yahweh {from the day I have known you}.

25 "And I lay prostrate before Yahweh through forty days, and through forty nights I prostrated myself, because Yahweh intended to kill you.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "to say"