Numbers 14:15

15 And thou shalt destroy this nation as one man; then all the nations that have heard thy name shall speak, saying,

Numbers 14:15 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:15

Now [if] thou shall kill [all] this people, as one man
Suddenly, and at once, as might be done by a pestilence; and as 185,000 were smitten at once, and as thought by the same disease, by the Angel of the Lord in the camp of the Assyrians, in later times, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) ;

then the nations which have heard the fame of thee;
the Egyptians, Canaanites, and others, as Aben Ezra observes; who had heard the report of the wonderful things done by him for Israel, and of the great favours he had bestowed upon them, and so of his power, and goodness, and other perfections displayed therein, which made him appear to be preferable to all the gods of the Gentiles:

will speak, saying;
as follows.

Numbers 14:15 In-Context

13 And Moses said to the Lord, So Egypt shall hear, for thou hast brought up this people from them by thy might.

14 Moreover all the dwellers upon this land have heard that thou art Lord in the midst of this people, who, O Lord, art seen face to face, and thy cloud rests upon them, and thou goest before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire.

15 And thou shalt destroy this nation as one man; then all the nations that have heard thy name shall speak, saying,

16 Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which he sware to them, he has overthrown them in the wilderness.

17 And now, O Lord, let thy strength be exalted, as thou spakest, saying,