39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
39 And Moses H4872 told H1696 these sayings H1697 unto all the children H1121 of Israel: H3478 and the people H5971 mourned H56 greatly. H3966
40 And they rose up early H7925 in the morning, H1242 and gat them up H5927 into the top H7218 of the mountain, H2022 saying, H559 Lo, H2009 we be here, and will go up H5927 unto the place H4725 which the LORD H3068 hath promised: H559 for we have sinned. H2398
41 And Moses H4872 said, H559 Wherefore now do ye transgress H5674 the commandment H6310 of the LORD? H3068 but it shall not prosper. H6743
42 Go not up, H5927 for the LORD H3068 is not among H7130 you; that ye be not smitten H5062 before H6440 your enemies. H341
43 For the Amalekites H6003 and the Canaanites H3669 are there before H6440 you, and ye shall fall H5307 by the sword: H2719 because ye are turned H7725 away H310 from the LORD, H3068 therefore the LORD H3068 will not be with you.
44 But they presumed H6075 to go up H5927 unto the hill H2022 top: H7218 nevertheless the ark H727 of the covenant H1285 of the LORD, H3068 and Moses, H4872 departed H4185 not out H7130 of the camp. H4264
45 Then the Amalekites H6003 came down, H3381 and the Canaanites H3669 which dwelt H3427 in that hill, H2022 and smote H5221 them, and discomfited H3807 them, even unto Hormah. H2767
39 And Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we are here, and will go up unto the place which Jehovah hath promised: for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah, seeing it shall not prosper?
42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten down before your enemies.
43 For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned back from following Jehovah, therefore Jehovah will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who dwelt in that mountain, and smote them and beat them down, even unto Hormah.
39 And Moses speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly,
40 and they rise early in the morning, and go up unto the top of the mountain, saying, `Here we `are', and we have come up unto the place which Jehovah hath spoken of, for we have sinned.'
41 And Moses saith, `Why `is' this? -- ye are transgressing the command of Jehovah, and it doth not prosper;
42 go not up, for Jehovah is not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies;
43 for the Amalekite and the Canaanite `are' there before you, and ye have fallen by the sword, because that ye have turned back from after Jehovah, and Jehovah is not with you.'
44 And they presume to go up unto the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and Moses have not departed out of the midst of the camp.
45 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and smite them, and beat them down -- unto Hormah.
39 And Moses told all these sayings to all the children of Israel; then the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and went up to the hill-top, saying, Here are we, and we will go up to the place of which Jehovah has spoken; for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Why now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah? but it shall not prosper!
42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies;
43 for the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; for as ye have turned away from Jehovah, Jehovah will not be with you.
44 Yet they presumed to go up to the hill-top; but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, did not depart from the midst of the camp.
45 And the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt on that hill, came down and smote them, and cut them to pieces, as far as Hormah.
39 Moses told these words to all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised: for we have sinned.
41 Moses said, Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh, seeing it shall not prosper?
42 Don't go up, for Yahweh isn't among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies.
43 For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you shall fall by the sword: because you are turned back from following Yahweh, therefore Yahweh will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn't depart out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.
39 And when Moses put these words before the children of Israel, the people were full of grief.
40 And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong.
41 And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?
42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.
44 But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle.
45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 14
Commentary on Numbers 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
Nu 14:1-45. The People Murmur at the Spies' Report.
1. all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried—Not literally all, for there were some exceptions.
2-4. Would God that we had died in Egypt—Such insolence to their generous leaders, and such base ingratitude to God, show the deep degradation of the Israelites, and the absolute necessity of the decree that debarred that generation from entering the promised land [Nu 14:29-35]. They were punished by their wishes being granted to die in that wilderness [Heb 3:17; Jude 5]. A leader to reconduct them to Egypt is spoken of (Ne 9:17) as actually nominated. The sinfulness and insane folly of their conduct are almost incredible. Their conduct, however, is paralleled by too many among us, who shrink from the smallest difficulties and rather remain slaves to sin than resolutely try to surmount the obstacles that lie in their way to the Canaan above.
5. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces—as humble and earnest suppliants—either to the people, entreating them to desist from so perverse a design; or rather, to God, as the usual and only refuge from the violence of that tumultuous and stiff-necked rabble—a hopeful means of softening and impressing their hearts.
6. Joshua … and Caleb, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes—The two honest spies testified their grief and horror, in the strongest manner, at the mutiny against Moses and the blasphemy against God; while at the same time they endeavored, by a truthful statement, to persuade the people of the ease with which they might obtain possession of so desirable a country, provided they did not, by their rebellion and ingratitude, provoke God to abandon them.
8. a land flowing with milk and honey—a general expression, descriptive of a rich and fertile country. The two articles specified were among the principal products of the Holy Land.
9. their defence is departed—Hebrew, "their shadow." The Sultan of Turkey and the Shah of Persia are called "the shadow of God," "the refuge of the world." So that the meaning of the clause, "their defence is departed from them," is, that the favor of God was now lost to those whose iniquities were full (Ge 15:16), and transferred to the Israelites.
10. the glory of the Lord appeared—It was seasonably manifested on this great emergency to rescue His ambassadors from their perilous situation.
12. the Lord said, … I will smite them with the pestilence—not a final decree, but a threatening, suspended, as appeared from the issue, on the intercession of Moses and the repentance of Israel.
17. let the power of my Lord be great—be magnified.
21. all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—This promise, in its full acceptation, remains to be verified by the eventual and universal prevalence of Christianity in the world. But the terms were used restrictively in respect to the occasion, to the report which would spread over all the land of the "terrible things in righteousness" [Ps 65:5] which God would do in the infliction of the doom described, to which that rebellious race was now consigned.
22. ten times—very frequently.
24. my servant Caleb—Joshua was also excepted, but he is not named because he was no longer in the ranks of the people, being a constant attendant on Moses.
because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully—Under the influence of God's Spirit, Caleb was a man of bold, generous, heroic courage, above worldly anxieties and fears.
25. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley)—that is, on the other side of the Idumean mountain, at whose base they were then encamped. Those nomad tribes had at that time occupied it with a determination to oppose the further progress of the Hebrew people. Hence God gave the command that they seek a safe and timely retreat into the desert, to escape the pursuit of those resolute enemies, to whom, with their wives and children, they would fall a helpless prey because they had forfeited the presence and protection of God. This verse forms an important part of the narrative and should be freed from the parenthetical form which our English translators have given it.
30. save Caleb … and Joshua—These are specially mentioned, as honorable exceptions to the rest of the scouts, and also as the future leaders of the people. But it appears that some of the old generation did not join in the mutinous murmuring, including in that number the whole order of the priests (Jos 14:1).
34. ye shall know my breach of promise—that is, in consequence of your violation of the covenant betwixt you and Me, by breaking the terms of it, it shall be null and void on My part, as I shall withhold the blessings I promised in that covenant to confer on you on condition of your obedience.
36-38. those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord—Ten of the spies struck dead on the spot—either by the pestilence or some other judgment. This great and appalling mortality clearly betokened the hand of the Lord.
40-45. they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain—Notwithstanding the tidings that Moses communicated and which diffused a general feeling of melancholy and grief throughout the camp, the impression was of very brief continuance. They rushed from one extreme of rashness and perversity to another, and the obstinacy of their rebellious spirit was evinced by their active preparations to ascend the hill, notwithstanding the divine warning they had received not to undertake that enterprise.
for we have sinned—that is, realizing our sin, we now repent of it, and are eager to do as Caleb and Joshua exhorted us—or, as some render it, though we have sinned, we trust God will yet give us the land of promise. The entreaties of their prudent and pious leader, who represented to them that their enemies, scaling the other side of the valley, would post themselves on the top of the hill before them, were disregarded. How strangely perverse the conduct of the Israelites, who, shortly before, were afraid that, though their Almighty King was with them, they could not get possession of the land; and yet now they act still more foolishly in supposing that, though God were not with them, they could expel the inhabitants by their unaided efforts. The consequences were such as might have been anticipated. The Amalekites and Canaanites, who had been lying in ambuscade expecting their movement, rushed down upon them from the heights and became the instruments of punishing their guilty rebellion.
45. even unto Hormah—The name was afterwards given to that place in memory of the immense slaughter of the Israelites on this occasion.