Numbers 14:15
in Numbers 14If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
KJV
Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The Egyptians will hear of 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.
This site's exposition
If You kill this people as one man
As one man pictures the whole nation cut down at once. The nations who have heard of Your fame are the ones Exodus 15:14-16 said would hear and tremble, Philistia, Edom, Moab and Canaan. Barnes compares Moses to Paul, pressing argument upon argument when deeply moved.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Now if thou shall kill all this people, as one man,....
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,
He does not ask that they may not be corrected, but that they may not be disinherited. And this proclamation of God's name was the more apposite to his purpose because it was made upon occasion of the pardoning of their sin in making the golden calf. This sin which they had now fallen into was bad enough, but it was not idolatry.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵמַתָּ֛ה | vehematah | and you will put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָ֥ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כְּאִ֣ישׁ | keish | like a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶחָ֑ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וְאָֽמְרוּ֙ | veameru | and they will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֔ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שָׁמְע֥וּ | shameu | they have heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שִׁמְעֲךָ֖ | shimakha | report your | H8088 → | |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וְהֵמַתָּ֛הand you will put to death
vehematahH4191 →839 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָעָ֥םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
כְּאִ֣ישׁlike a person
keishH376 →1663 times
אֶחָ֑דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
וְאָֽמְרוּ֙and they will say
veameruH559 →5305 times
הַגּוֹיִ֔םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
שָׁמְע֥וּthey have heard
shameuH8085 →1159 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שִׁמְעֲךָ֖report your
shimakhaH8088 →
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Judges 6:16“Surely I will be with you,” the LORD replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.”
it leads to
- Joshua 1:5
No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
- Acts 11:21
The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
- Exodus 3:12
“I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will…
- Mark 16:20
And they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked through them, confirming His word by the signs that accompanied it.
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Joshua 1:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.