Numbers 14:13
in Numbers 14But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses said unto Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;
KJV
And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The syntax of these verses is singularly broken. As did Paul when deeply moved, so Moses presses his arguments one on the other without pausing to ascertain the grammatical finish of his expressions. He speaks here as if in momentary apprehension of an outbreak of God’s wrath, unless he could perhaps arrest it by crowding in every topic of deprecation and intercession that he could mention on the instant.
This site's exposition
Then the Egyptians shall hear it
on Numbers 14:13-16
Moses answers the offer by arguing about what Egypt and Canaan will conclude, and he never once argues that Israel deserves better. His case is that the nations will say the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land. It is the same argument he made at Exodus 32:12, and both times he puts God's reputation where a man would have put his own advantage.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Moses was often scorned by an ungrateful and faithless people and almost stoned, and yet with mildness and patience he prayed to the Lord in their behalf.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Moses said unto the Lord,....
A mitigation of the sentence in answer to the prayer of Moses; they shall not all be cut off, but the decree goes forth ratified with an oath, published to the people, again and again repeated, that this whole congregation should perish in the wilderness, and none of them enter Canaan but Caleb and Joshua only,
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
AND THE EGYPTIANS SHALL HEAR ‘KI HE’ELITHA’ IN THY MIGHT. “And the Egyptians shall hear that you have killed them. Ki he’elitha.
2 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:
THAT THOU, ETERNAL, ‘NIR’AH’ (HAST BEEN SEEN) EYE TO EYE. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that “[this verse is to be understood in the light of what it says], And the appearance of the Glory of the Eternal etc. in the eyes of the children of Israel. 113 Exodus:17.
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֖ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְשָׁמְע֣וּ | veshameu | and they will hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4713 → | 70 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הֶעֱלִ֧יתָ | heelita | you brought up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בְכֹחֲךָ֛ | vekhochakha | by strength your | H3581 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָ֥ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| מִקִּרְבּֽוֹ׃ | mikirbo | from midst its | H7130 → | 227 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֹשֶׁ֖הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְשָׁמְע֣וּand they will hear
veshameuH8085 →1159 times
מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4713 →70 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הֶעֱלִ֧יתָyou brought up
heelitaH5927 →890 times
בְכֹחֲךָ֛by strength your
vekhochakhaH3581 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָעָ֥םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
מִקִּרְבּֽוֹ׃from midst its
mikirboH7130 →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
Ezekiel 20:9But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to…
it leads to
- Exodus 32:12
Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 39:7
So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One…
- Ezekiel 20:22
But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
- Ezekiel 36:21–22
But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.
- Exodus 32:12
Through
Psalms 106:23So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:13–14
The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- Deuteronomy 9:25
So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
- Ezekiel 22:30
I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no…
- Deuteronomy 9:13–14
Through
Deuteronomy 32:27if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”
it leads to
- Numbers 14:15–16
If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
- Numbers 14:15–16
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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyprian, Treatise IX. On the Advantage of Patience 10; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.