Numbers14
New American Standard
1Then all the congregation raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night.
2And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness!
3So why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
4So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”
5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.
6And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
7and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
8If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey.
9Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection is gone from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
10But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
11And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst?
12I will strike them with plague and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”
13But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people up from their midst,
14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are in the midst of this people, because You, Lord, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15Now if You put this people to death all at once, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
16‘Since the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
17So now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying,
18‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’
19Please forgive the guilt of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your mercy, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
20So the Lord said, “I have forgiven them in accordance with your word;
21however, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
22Certainly all the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,
23shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it.
24But as for My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.
25Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”
26The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying,
27“How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are voicing against Me.
28Say to them, ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you;
29your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all your numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me.
30By no means will you come into the land where I swore to settle you, except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
31Your children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.
32But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness.
33Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness.
34In accordance with the number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition.
35I, the Lord, have spoken, I certainly will do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be worn out in this wilderness, and there they shall die.’”
36As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and led all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing a bad report about the land,
37those men who brought the bad report of the land also died by a plague in the presence of the Lord.
38But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.
39Now when Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly.
40In the morning, however, they got up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Here we are; and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.”
41But Moses said, “Why then are you violating the command of the Lord, when doing so will not succeed?
42Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, to prevent you from being defeated by your enemies.
43For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there to confront you, and you will fall by the sword, since you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.”
44But they foolishly dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp.
45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and scattered them as far as Hormah.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Numbers 14.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: 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).
vv1-4
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.
vv5-10
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. (Nu 14:11-19)
vv11-19
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.
Key Words
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
עֵדָה: a stated assemblage (specifically, a concourse, or generally, a family or crowd)
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
קוֹל: a voice or sound
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
בָּכָה: to weep; generally to bemoan
לַיִל: properly, a twist (away of the light), i.e. night; figuratively, adversity
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
Cross References
Numbers 14Moses quotes God's self-revelation of mercy and justice as the basis for his intercession.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Nehemiah recalls the rebellion, noting they appointed a captain to return to their bondage.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
New Testament warning concerning those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness through unbelief.
Supported by JFB
Moses recounts how the children, presumed to be prey, were preserved to enter the land.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel intercession where Moses appeals to God's reputation among the Egyptians.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The solemn divine oath that this generation would not enter His rest.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Caleb's original faithful and quiet spirit in encouraging the people to go up.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Identifies the Amalekites and Canaanites who block Israel's forward progress.
Supported by JFB
Moses' later recollection of the defeat at Hormah by the pursuing Amorites.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Moses falling on his face as his characteristic appeal to God during crises.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Metaphor of eating up people like bread, mirroring Joshua and Caleb's description.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Previous instance where the people were ready to stone Moses in anger.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Paul's commentary that God was not pleased with them, overthrowing them in the wilderness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The historical census showing only Caleb and Joshua remained of that generation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The Psalmist characterizes the wilderness rebellion as despising the pleasant land.
Supported by John Calvin