Numbers 14:11
in Numbers 14And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?
KJV
And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
How long will this people treat Me with contempt
on Numbers 14:11-12
God names the charge as unbelief: How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them? Hebrews 3:19 reads the whole episode that way. The offer to start again from Moses repeats Exodus 32:10 after the calf.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the Lord said unto Moses,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
THE children of Israel were very prone to unbelief. They wanted something visible to worship and to trust. They could not learn the lesson of faith in the one great Invisible and, therefore, they were one day bowing before an idol and the next they were murmuring against the true God.
THE children of Israel were very prone to unbelief. They wanted something visible to worship and to trust. They could not learn the lesson of faith in the one great Invisible and, therefore, they were one day bowing before an idol and the next they were murmuring against the true God. Their life was according to the flesh, after the sight of the eyes and the hearing of the ears and so they praised God when Pharaoh was drowned and when manna lay round about their camp, but the moment they were in need or difficulty and saw no supply or relief, they could not trust in God, but began to mistrust and murmur. With what wonderful longsuffering the Lord bore with them! His mercy seemed to outrun their unbelief! They cried for water and they doubted God's power to give it to them in the desert sands, but lo, the smitten Rock poured forth a crystal stream! Then they cried for bread and charged the Lord with bringing them into the wilderness to kill them with hunger—and yet, in answer to their murmuring—the heavens were opened and there fell a shower of angels' food for them to feast upon! They then clamored for meat and they had not long began their unbelieving murmuring before a strong wind brought them up quail till they fed, even to the full! Such liberal answers to their vexatious murmuring ought to have silenced their fears and they should have exhibited confidence in their great Friend! Yet they did not do so, but for 40 years they provoked the Lord. The incident before us relates to that great and terrible provocation in which the longsuffering of God came to a pause.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
לרגום אתם [BUT ALL THE CONGREGATION BADE] TO OVERWHELM THEM WITH STONES — them viz., Joshua and Caleb.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
ואורישנו is an expression for “driving out” (here, driving out from the world, destroying). — And if you ask what I will do regarding the oath I have sworn to the Patriarchs (viz., to give the Land to their children; cf. Exodus:3—4), then I reply:
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אָ֥נָה | ʾanah | when? | H575 → | |
| יְנַאֲצֻ֖נִי | yenaatzuni | will they spurn me | H5006 → | 25 times |
| הָעָ֣ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אָ֙נָה֙ | ʾanah | when? | H575 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַאֲמִ֣ינוּ | yaaminu | will they believe | H539 → | 106 times |
| בִ֔י | vi | in <the> me | ||
| בְּכֹל֙ | bekhol | with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָֽאֹת֔וֹת | haotot | the signs | H226 → | 80 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשִׂ֖יתִי | ʾasiti | I did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃ | bekirbo | in midst its | H7130 → | 227 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
אָ֥נָהwhen?
ʾanahH575 →
יְנַאֲצֻ֖נִיwill they spurn me
yenaatzuniH5006 →25 times
הָעָ֣םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְעַד־and until
vead-H5704 →1261 times
אָ֙נָה֙when?
ʾanahH575 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַאֲמִ֣ינוּwill they believe
yaaminuH539 →106 times
בִ֔יin <the> me
vi
בְּכֹל֙with all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
הָֽאֹת֔וֹתthe signs
haototH226 →80 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָשִׂ֖יתִיI did
ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times
בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃in midst its
bekirboH7130 →227 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 106:24They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:32
But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 3:18–19
And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:31
But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
- Ezekiel 20:6
On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of…
- Hebrews 4:6
Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience,
- Deuteronomy 1:32
Through
Psalms 78:32In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
it leads to
- John 12:37
Although Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him.
- John 12:37
Through
Psalms 78:22because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.
it leads to
- Jude 1:5
Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.
- Hebrews 3:12
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Jude 1:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1498: “Mistrust of God Deplored and Denounced” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.