Numbers 14:23-33

23 shall in no wise see the land which I did swear unto their fathers: none of them that despised me shall see it.

24 But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he came; and his seed shall possess it.

25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley.) To-morrow turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness, on the way to the Red sea.

26 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

28 Say unto them, As surely as I live, saith Jehovah, if I do not do unto you as ye have spoken in mine ears!

29 In this wilderness shall your carcases fall; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number from twenty years old and upwards, who have murmured against me,

30 shall in no wise come into the land, concerning which I have lifted up my hand to make you dwell in it; save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

31 But your little ones, of whom ye said they should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land that ye have despised.

32 And as to you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness.

33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

Numbers 14:23-33 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'with.'
• [b]. See Note, Gen. 24.38; 'saith' is as Gen. 22.16.
• [c]. Lit. 'if they shall: ' a strong testifying negative in Hebrew, already noticed, Gen. 21.23; and see Num. 32.11; Heb. 3.11.
• [d]. 'feed,' as 1Sam. 25.16.