Numbers 14:30
in Numbers 14Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
KJV
Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseDoubtless ye shall not come into the land,.... The land of Canaan; or "if ye shall come" (a); that is, I swear ye shall not, so the Targum of Jonathan: concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein; not them personally, but the people and nation of which they were, and to which they belonged, the seed and posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the oath was made: save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun; who brought a good report of the land.
This site's exposition
as ye have spoken in mine ears
on Numbers 14:28-30
The sentence is their own words returned to them, and the verse says so before it says anything else. They had wished to die in this wilderness at verse 2, and verse 29 gives it back as your carcases shall fall in this wilderness. Every man numbered from twenty years old and upward is included, with Caleb and Joshua named as the two exceptions, which is exactly what Numbers 26:64-65 reports at the end of the forty years.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The frequent repetitions of the same things in it speak these resolves to be unalterable. Let us see the particulars. The extremity of the sentence is receded from (
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) Joshua stands with him, compassed with the same favours and crowned with the same honours, having stood with him in the same services. Mercy to the children even of these rebels.
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Note, Disbelief of the promise is a forfeiture of the benefit of it. Those that despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their posterity, but not to them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
save Caleb . . . and Joshua--These are specially mentioned, as honorable exceptions to the rest of the scouts, and also as the future leaders of the people.
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The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אַתֶּם֙ | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תָּבֹ֣אוּ | tavou | you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָשָׂ֙אתִי֙ | nasati | I lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יָדִ֔י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לְשַׁכֵּ֥ן | leshaken | to cause to dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בָּ֑הּ | bah | in <the> it | ||
| כִּ֚י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| כָּלֵ֣ב | kalev | Caleb | H3612 → | 35 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יְפֻנֶּ֔ה | yefuneh | Jephunneh | H3312 → | 16 times |
| וִיהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ | vihoshua' | and Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| בִּן־ | bin- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נֽוּן׃ | nun | Nun | H5126 → | 30 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אַתֶּם֙you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
תָּבֹ֣אוּyou will go
tavouH935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נָשָׂ֙אתִי֙I lifted up
nasatiH5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יָדִ֔יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
לְשַׁכֵּ֥ןto cause to dwell
leshakenH7931 →129 times
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בָּ֑הּin <the> it
bah
כִּ֚יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
כָּלֵ֣בCaleb
kalevH3612 →35 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
יְפֻנֶּ֔הJephunneh
yefunehH3312 →16 times
וִיהוֹשֻׁ֖עַand Joshua
vihoshua'H3091 →218 times
בִּן־[the] son of
bin-H1121 →4930 times
נֽוּן׃Nun
nunH5126 →30 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
Numbers 26:65For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:5–6
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
- Numbers 14:38
Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
- Romans 11:22
Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
- Hebrews 3:17–18
And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
- 1 Corinthians 10:5–6
Through
Numbers 14:38Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:65
For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 26:65
Through
Numbers 32:12not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:36
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
- Numbers 14:24
But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
- Deuteronomy 1:36
Through
Genesis 14:22But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
it leads to
- Daniel 12:7
And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever,…
- Daniel 12:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonConquestJoshuaMoses' minister and successor, one of the two faithful spies; he led Israel across Jordan, around Jericho, and through the conques…
- PersonWilderness / ConquestCalebOf Judah, one of the twelve spies — the man of another spirit who wholly followed Jehovah; one of only two of the census generatio…
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.
