Numbers 14:1

The People Refuse to Obey the LORD

1 That night all of the people in the community raised their voices. They sobbed out loud.

Numbers 14:1 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:1

And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried
This is not to be understood of every individual in the congregation of Israel, but of the princes, heads, and elders of the people that were with Moses and Aaron when the report of the spies was made; though indeed the report might quickly spread throughout the body of the people, and occasion a general outcry, which was very loud and clamorous, and attended with all the signs of distress imaginable, in shrieks and tears and lamentations:

and the people wept that night:
perhaps throughout the night; could get no sleep nor rest all the night, but spent it in weeping and crying, at the thought of their condition and circumstances, and the disappointments they had met with, as they conceived, of entering into and possessing the land.

Numbers 14:1 In-Context

1 That night all of the people in the community raised their voices. They sobbed out loud.
2 The people of Israel spoke against Moses and Aaron. The whole community said to them, "We wish we had died in Egypt or even in this desert.
3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land? We're going to be killed with swords. Our enemies will capture our wives and children. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
4 They said to one another, "We should choose another leader. We should go back to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They did it in front of the whole community of Israel that was gathered there.
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