Numbers 14:42

42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you: lest you fall before your enemies.

Numbers 14:42 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:42

Go not up, for the Lord [is] not among you
And therefore could not expect success, for victory is of the Lord; the Targum of Jonathan adds,

``the ark, and the tabernacle, and the cloud of glory move not,''

which were a plain indication that the Lord would not go with them, and therefore could not hope to prevail over their enemies and enter the land, but on the contrary might expect to be defeated by them, as follows:

that ye be not smitten before your enemies;
of which they would be in great danger should they attempt to go up the hill, and the Lord not with them.

Numbers 14:42 In-Context

40 And behold rising up very early in the morning, they went up to the top of the mountain, and said: We are ready to go up to the place, of which the Lord hath spoken: for we have sinned.

41 And Moses said to them: Why transgress you the word of the Lord, which shall not succeed prosperously with you?

42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you: lest you fall before your enemies.

43 The Amalecite and the Chanaanite are before you, and by their sword you shall fall, because you would not consent to the Lord, neither will the Lord be with you.

44 But they being blinded went up to the top of the mountain. But the ark of the testament of the Lord and Moses departed not from the camp.