Numberi 20:6

6 Toen gingen Mozes en Aaron van het aangezicht der gemeente tot de deur van de tent der samenkomst, en zij vielen op hun aangezichten; en de heerlijkheid des HEEREN verscheen hun.

Numberi 20:6 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 20:6

And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly,
&c.] Like fugitives, as Aben Ezra; they fled from them through fear, lest they should rise and fall upon them, and stone them, as their fathers were ready to do in a like case, ( Exodus 17:4 ) . It is very likely this assembly gathered about the tents of Moses and Aaron, who went from thence unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; where the Lord had promised to meet Moses, and speak unto him, ( Exodus 29:42 )

and they fell upon their faces;
to pray, as Aben Ezra, that God would forgive the sin, of the people, and not break forth in his wrath against them, as he sometimes had done, and as their sin deserved, and that he would grant them what was needful for them. In the Vulgate Latin version the following words are added as their prayer,

``and they cried unto the Lord, and said, Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, the fountain of living water, that they being satiated, their murmuring may cease.''

But they are not neither in the Hebrew text, nor in the Greek version, nor the Chaldee paraphrases:

and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them;
either to Moses and Aaron, to encourage them to expect their prayers would be answered; or to the people, to terrify them, and silence their murmurings; see ( Numbers 16:19 ) .

Numberi 20:6 In-Context

4 Waarom toch hebt gijlieden de gemeente des HEEREN in deze woestijn gebracht, dat wij daar sterven zouden, wij en onze beesten?

5 En waarom hebt gijlieden ons doen optrekken uit Egypte, om ons te brengen in deze kwade plaats? Het is geen plaats van zaad, noch van vijgen, noch van wijnstokken, noch van granaatappelen; ook is er geen water om te drinken.

6 Toen gingen Mozes en Aaron van het aangezicht der gemeente tot de deur van de tent der samenkomst, en zij vielen op hun aangezichten; en de heerlijkheid des HEEREN verscheen hun.

7 En de HEERE sprak tot Mozes, zeggende:

8 Neem dien staf, en verzamel de vergadering, gij en Aaron, uw broeder, en spreekt gijlieden tot den steenrots voor hun ogen, zo zal zij hun water geven; alzo zult gij hun water voortbrengen uit den steenrots, en gij zult de vergadering en haar beesten drenken.