If the Lord delight in us ,.... Continue to delight in them as he had, and as appears by what he had done for, them in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; see Deuteronomy 10:15 , then he will bring us into this land, and give it us , as he has promised: a land which floweth with milk and honey ; as the Lord himself hath described it, and as the unbelieving spies themselves had owned it; Numbers 13:27 . read more
Only rebel not ye against the Lord ,.... Nothing, it is suggested, could hinder them from the, possession of it but their rebellion against the Lord; which might provoke him to cut them off by his immediate hand, or to deliver them into the hands of their enemies; for rebellion is a dreadful sin, and highly provoking, 1 Samuel 15:23 , neither fear ye the people the land ; on account of their number, strength, the walled cities they dwell in; they had nothing to fear from them, so be it... read more
But all the congregation bade stone them with stones ,.... Namely, Joshua and Caleb, who had made such a faithful report of the good land, and had delivered such an animating and encouraging speech to the people. This is not to be understood of the body of the people, and of all the individuals thereof, for who then should they bid to stone Joshua and Caleb? unless the sense is, that they stirred up and animated one another to it; but rather it means the princes and heads of the... read more
And the Lord said unto Moses ,.... Out of the cloud upon the tabernacle: how long will this people provoke me ? which suggests that they had often provoked him, and had done it long ago, and still continued to do so; and he had long bore their provocations; but it was not reasonable, nor could it be expected by Moses or any other, that he would bear them much longer: and how long will it be ere they believe me ; unbelief was a sin they had often and long been guilty of, and which... read more
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them ,.... Deprive them of inhabiting the land; so as many as died of the pestilence were even all the spies who brought an evil report of the good land, Numbers 14:37 ; with respect to the body of the people, this is to be considered not as a peremptory decree or a determined point; but is delivered partly by way of proposal to Moses, to draw out from him what he would say to it; and partly by way of threatening to the people, to bring... read more
And Moses said unto the Lord ,.... In an abrupt manner, as the following words show, his mind being greatly disturbed and distressed by the above threatening: then the Egyptians shall hear it ; that the Lord had smitten the Israelites with the pestilence; the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of the children of the Egyptians who were suffocated in the sea: for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them ; they were once sojourners among them, and slaves unto them,... read more
And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land ,.... The land of Canaan, between which and Egypt there was an intercourse, though not by the way of the wilderness, being neighbours, and their original ancestors brethren, as Mizraim and Canaan were; or "they will say" F20 יאמרו "et dicent", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, &c.; , and that with joy, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; but what they would say does not appear so plain; either it was that the Israelites were killed... read more
Now if thou shall kill all this people, as one man ,.... Suddenly, and at once, as might be done by a pestilence; and as 185,000 were smitten at once, and as thought by the same disease, by the Angel of the Lord in the camp of the Assyrians, in later times, 2 Kings 19:35 , then the nations which have heard the fame of thee ; the Egyptians, Canaanites, and others, as Aben Ezra observes; who had heard the report of the wonderful things done by him for Israel, and of the great favours... read more
Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them ,.... That though he brought them out of Egypt, he was not able to bring them through the wilderness into Canaan; and that though he had wrought many signs and wonders for them, he could work no more, his power failed him, he had exhausted all his might, and could not perform the promise and oath he had made: therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness ; because he could not fulfil his word, and... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 14:7
And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel ,.... To as many as could hear them, to the heads of them: saying, the land which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land ; they observe that they were of the number of the spies that were appointed and sent to search the land of Canaan, and they had searched it, and therefore could give an account of it from their own knowledge; and they had not only entered into it, or just looked at a part of it, but... read more