Numbers 14:1-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 14:1-4

Here we see what mischief the evil spies made by their unfair representation. We may suppose that these twelve that were impanelled to enquire concerning Canaan had talked it over among themselves before they brought in their report in public; and Caleb and Joshua, it is likely, had done their utmost to bring the rest over to be of their mind, and if they would but have agreed that Caleb, according to his pose, should have spoken for them all, as their foreman, all had been well; but the evil... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 14:1

And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried ,.... This is not to be understood of every individual in the congregation of Israel, but of the princes, heads, and elders of the people that were with Moses and Aaron when the report of the spies was made; though indeed the report might quickly spread throughout the body of the people, and occasion a general outcry, which was very loud and clamorous, and attended with all the signs of distress imaginable, in shrieks and tears and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 14:2

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses, and against Aaron ,.... They being the instruments of bringing them out of Egypt, and conducting them hither: and the whole congregation said unto them ; some of them, the rest assenting to it by their cries and tears and gestures: would God we had died in the land of Egypt ; and then what they left behind they thought might have come into the hands of their children or relations; but now they concluded it would become a prey to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 14:3

Wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land ,.... Unto the borders of it: their murmuring did not cease at Moses and Aaron, the instruments, but proceeded against God himself, who had done such wonderful things for them, not only in bringing them out of Egypt, but since they had been in the wilderness; and yet so ungrateful to complain of him and argue with him about favours bestowed on them, as if they were injuries done to them; and particularly as if God had no other intention in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 14:4

And they said one to another, let us make a captain ,.... An head over them instead of Moses, who they knew would never take the government and care of them, should they resolve to return to Egypt as they proposed, and besides were now so disaffected to him, that they might not care he should. Captains they had over their several tribes, but they chose to have one chief commander and general over them all; Nehemiah says they did appoint one; which they either actually did, or this proposal... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 14:1

Cried; and - wept that night - In almost every case this people gave deplorable evidence of the degraded state of their minds. With scarcely any mental firmness, and with almost no religion, they could bear no reverses, and were ever at their wit's end. They were headstrong, presumptuous, pusillanimous, indecisive, and fickle. And because they were such, therefore the power and wisdom of God appeared the more conspicuously in the whole of their history. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 14:4

Let us make a captain - Here was a formal renunciation of the authority of Moses, and flat rebellion against God. And it seems from Nehemiah 9:17 ; that they had actually appointed another leader, under whose direction they were about to return to Egypt. How astonishing is this! Their lives were made bitter, because of the rigor with which they were made to serve in the land of Egypt; and yet they are willing, yea eager, to get back into the same circumstances again! Great evils, when once... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 14:1

Verse 1 1.And all the congregation lifted up their voice. Here we see how easily, by means of a few incentives, sedition is excited in a great multitude; for the people, unless governed by the counsel of others, is like the sea, exposed to many tempests; and the corruption of human nature produces this amongst innumerable other evils, that lies and impostures prevail over truth. There was, indeed, some pretext for the error of the people, in that they saw ten most choice leaders of their tribes... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 14:3

Verse 3 3.And wherefore has the Lord brought us into this land? The pride, and even the madness of their impiety here more fully betrays itself, when they accuse God of deception and cruelty, as if tie were betraying them to the Canaanitish nations, and leading them forth to slaughter; for they conclude that they ought not to obey His command, because He would destroy them, and not only so, but that He would at the same time give their wives and children to be a prey. We see how mad is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Numbers 14:1

And the people wept that night. As the spies repeated their dismal tidings, each to the leading men of his own tribe, and as the report was spread swiftly through the tents (cf. Deuteronomy 1:27 ) with ever-increasing exaggerations, the lamentation became universal. read more

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