Bamidbar 14

1 4 And Kol HaEdah lifted up their voice, and cried; and HaAm wept that night.

2 And Kol Bnei Yisroel murmured against Moshe and against Aharon: and the Kol HaEdah said unto them, If only we had died in Eretz Mitzrayim! Or if only we had died in this midbar!

3 And why hath Hashem brought us unto this land, to fall by the cherev, that nasheinu (our wives) and our children should be as plunder? Were it not better for us to go back unto Mitzrayim?

4 And they said one to another, Let us make a Rosh (Leader), and let us go back unto Mitzrayim.

5 Then Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before Kol Kehal Adat Bnei Yisroel.

6 And Yehoshua ben Nun, and Kalev ben Yephunneh, which were of them that explored HaAretz, tore their clothes:

7 And they spoke unto Kol Adat Bnei Yisroel, saying, HaAretz, which we passed through to explore it, is a tovah haaretz me’od me’od.

8 If Hashem delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land zavat cholov udevash.

9 Only rebel not ye against Hashem, neither fear ye the Am HaAretz; for they are lachmeinu (our bread): their protection is departed from them, and Hashem is with us: fear them not.

10 But Kol HaEdah talked of stoning them with avanim. And the Kavod Hashem appeared in the Ohel Mo’ed before Kol Bnei Yisroel.

11 And Hashem said unto Moshe, How long will this people treat Me with contempt? And how long will it be until they believe in Me, for all the otot which I have performed among them?

12 I will strike them down with dever (pestilence), and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

13 And Moshe said unto Hashem, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for Thou broughtest up this people in Thy ko’ach [might] from among them;)

14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land; for they have heard that Thou Hashem art among this people, that Thou Hashem art seen eye to eye, and that Thy Anan standeth over them, and that Thou goest before them, by day in an Ammud Anan, and in an Ammud Eish by night.

15 Now if Thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the Goyim which have heard the fame of Thee will speak, saying,

16 Because Hashem was not able to bring this people into HaAretz which He promised them by oath, therefore He hath slaughtered (shachat) them in the midbar.

17 And now, I beseech thee, let the Ko’ach Adonoi be great, according as Thou hast spoken, saying,

18 Hashem is slow of anger, and of rav chesed, forgiving avon and peysha, and by no means exonerating the guilty, visiting the avon of the avot upon the banim unto the third and fourth generation.

19 Selach (forgive!), I beseech thee, the avon of this people according unto the greatness of Thy chesed, just as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Mitzrayim even until now.

20 And Hashem said, I have pardoned according to thy word [of petition]:

21 But as surely as I live, Kol HaAretz (all the Earth) shall be filled with the Kavod Hashem.

22 Because all those men which have seen My kavod, and My otot (miraculous signs), which I performed in Mitzrayim and in the midbar, and have tested Me now these ten times, and have not paid heed to My voice;

23 Surely they shall not see HaAretz which I swore unto their avot, neither shall any of them that treated Me with contempt see it:

24 But Avdi Kalev, because he hath a ruach acheret in him, and hath followed after Me fully, him will I bring into HaAretz whereinto he went; and his zera shall inherit it.

25 (Now the Amaleki and the Kena’ani dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn and get you into the midbar by the way of the Yam Suph.

26 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe and unto Aharon, saying,

27 How long shall I bear with this Edah Hara’ah, which murmur against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the Bnei Yisroel, which they murmur against Me.

28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith Hashem, as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you:

29 Your corpses shall fall in this midbar; and all that were numbered of you, according to your entire mispar (number, census), from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against Me.

30 Not one of you shall come into HaAretz, concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein, except for Kalev ben Yephunneh, and Yehoshua ben Nun.

31 But your little ones, which ye said would be plunder, them will I bring in, and they shall know HaAretz which ye have rejected.

32 But as for you, your corpses, they shall fall in this midbar.

33 And your banim shall wander [wandering ro’im] in the midbar arba’im shanah, and bear [the penalty of] your whoredoms [zenut, spiritual disloyalty and rebellion], until the last of your corpses lies in the midbar.

34 After the number of the days in which ye explored HaAretz, even arba’im, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even arba’im shanah, and ye shall know My Tenu’a (Opposition).

35 I, Hashem, have spoken, I will surely do it unto this Kol HaEdah, that are gathered together against Me: in this midbar they shall come to an end, and there they shall die.

36 And the anashim, which Moshe sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made Kol HaEdah to murmur against him, the ones spreading a dibbah (bad report, slander) about HaAretz,

37 Even those anashim that did bring up the evil report of HaAretz, died by the maggefah before Hashem.

38 But Yehoshua ben Nun, and Kalev ben Yephunneh survived of the anashim that went to explore HaAretz.

39 And Moshe told these sayings unto Kol Bnei Yisroel: and HaAm mourned greatly.

40 And they rose up early in the boker, and went up into the height of the hill country, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up unto the place which Hashem hath promised: for we have sinned.

41 And Moshe said, Why now do ye transgress the utterance of Hashem? This will not succeed.

42 Go not up, for Hashem is not among you; that ye be not struck down before your enemies.

43 For the Amaleki and the Kena’ani are there before you, and ye shall fall by the cherev: because ye are turned away from Hashem, therefore Hashem will not be with you.

44 But they presumed to go up unto the ridge of the mountain: nevertheless the Aron Brit Hashem, and Moshe, departed not out of the machaneh.

45 Then the Amaleki came down, and the Kena’ani which dwelt in that hill country, and struck them down, and put them to rout, even unto Chormah.

Bamidbar 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

The people murmur at the account of the spies. (1-4) Joshua and Caleb labour to still the people. (5-10) The Divine threatenings, The intercession of Moses. (11-19) The murmurers forbidden to enter the promised land. (20-35) Death of the evil spies. (36-39) Defeat of the people, who now would invade the land. (40-45)

Verses 1-4 Those who do not trust God, continually vex themselves. The sorrow of the world worketh death. The Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and in them reproached the Lord. They look back with causeless discontent. See the madness of unbridled passions, which makes men prodigal of what nature accounts most dear, life itself. They wish rather to die criminals under God's justice, than to live conquerors in his favour. At last they resolve, that, instead of going forward to Canaan, they would go back to Egypt. Those who walk not in God's counsels, seek their own ruin. Could they expect that God's cloud would lead them, or his manna attend them? Suppose the difficulties of conquering Canaan were as they imagined, those of returning to Egypt were much greater. We complain of our place and lot, and we would change; but is there any place or condition in this world, that has not something in it to make us uneasy, if we are disposed to be so? The way to better our condition, is to get our spirits in a better frame. See the folly of turning from the ways of God. But men run on the certain fatal consequences of a sinful course.

Verses 5-10 Moses and Aaron were astonished to see a people throw away their own mercies. Caleb and Joshua assured the people of the goodness of the land. They made nothing of the difficulties in the way of their gaining it. If men were convinced of the desirableness of the gains of religion, they would not stick at the services of it. Though the Canaanites dwell in walled cities, their defence was departed from them. The other spies took notice of their strength, but these of their wickedness. No people can be safe, when they have provoked God to leave them. Though Israel dwell in tents, they are fortified. While we have the presence of God with us, we need not fear the most powerful force against us. Sinners are ruined by their own rebellion. But those who, like Caleb and Joshua, faithfully expose themselves for God, are sure to be taken under his special protection, and shall be hid from the rage of men, either under heaven or in heaven.

Verses 11-19 Moses made humble intercession for Israel. Herein he was a type of Christ, who prayed for those that despitefully used him. The pardon of a nation's sin, is the turning away the nation's punishment; and for that Moses is here so earnest. Moses argued that, consistently with God's character, in his abundant mercies, he could forgive them.

Verses 20-35 The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take away his loving kindness.

Verses 36-39 Here is the sudden death of the ten evil spies. They sinned in bringing a slander upon the land of promise. Those greatly provoke God, who misrepresent religion, raise dislike in men's minds toward it, or give opportunity to those to do so, who seek occasion. Justly are murmurers made mourners. If they had mourned for the sin, when they were faithfully reproved, the sentence had been prevented; but as they mourned for the judgment only, it did them no service. There is in hell such mourning as this; but tears will not quench the flames, nor cool the tongue.

Verses 40-45 Some of the Israelites were now earnest to go forward toward Canaan. But it came too late. If men would but be as earnest for heaven while their day of grace lasts, as they will be when it is over, how well would it be for them! That which has been duty in its season, when mistimed, may be turned into sin. Those who are out of the way of their duty, are not under God's protection, and go at their peril. God bade them go, and they would not; he forbade them, and they would go. Thus is the carnal mind enmity against God. They had distrusted God's strength; they now presume upon their own without his. And the expedition fails accordingly; now the sentence began to be executed, that their carcases should fall in the wilderness. That affair can never end well, which begins with sin. The way to obtain peace with our friends, and success against our enemies, is, to have God, as our Friend, and to keep in his love. Let us take warning from the fate of Israel, lest we perish after the same example of unbelief. Let us go forth, depending on God's mercy, power, promise, and truth; he will be with us, and bring our souls to everlasting rest.

Chapter Summary

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.