Numbers 14:40
in Numbers 14Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we are here, and will go up unto the place which Jehovah hath promised: for we have sinned.
KJV
And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned.
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseWe - will go up unto the place, etc. - They found themselves on the very borders of the land, and they heard God say they should not enter it, but should be consumed by a forty years’ wandering in the wilderness; notwithstanding, they are determined to render vain this purpose of God, probably supposing that the temporary sorrow they felt for their late rebellion would be accepted as a sufficient atonement for their crimes. They accordingly went up, and were cut down by their enemies; and why? God went not with them.
This site's exposition
Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel
on Numbers 14:39-42
They mourn, and then early the next morning they do the thing they refused to do the day before. Saying we have sinned and going up anyway is what Moses calls transgressing the commandment of the LORD, because the command had changed overnight to turn back. Sorrow and obedience are two different things and the chapter shows the gap between them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
With the glory of the Lord - With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing this rebellious people. My glory - That is, my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle. Ten times - That is, many times.
And they rose up early in the morning,....
They confess their fault: We have sinned; they profess reformation: Lo, we be here, and will go up. They now desire the land which they had despised, and put a confidence in the promise which they had distrusted.
And this is written for our admonition, that we "fall not after the same example of unbelief." The Murmuring of the Israelites. 1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain--Notwithstanding the tidings that Moses communicated and which diffused a general feeling of melancholy and grief throughout the camp, the impression was of very brief continuance.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣מוּ | vaiyashkimu | and they rose early | H7925 → | |
| בַבֹּ֔קֶר | vaboker | in the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| וַיַּֽעֲל֥וּ | vaiyaalu | and they went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רֹאשׁ־ | rosh- | [the] top of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הָהָ֖ר | hahar | the hill country | H2022 → | 546 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֶּ֗נּוּ | hinenu | here [are] we | H2005 → | 316 times |
| וְעָלִ֛ינוּ | vealinu | and we will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֛וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חָטָֽאנוּ׃ | chatanu | we have sinned | H2398 → | 238 times |
וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣מוּand they rose early
vaiyashkimuH7925 →
בַבֹּ֔קֶרin the morning
vabokerH1242 →214 times
וַיַּֽעֲל֥וּand they went up
vaiyaaluH5927 →890 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
רֹאשׁ־[the] top of
rosh-H7218 →599 times
הָהָ֖רthe hill country
haharH2022 →546 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִנֶּ֗נּוּhere [are] we
hinenuH2005 →316 times
וְעָלִ֛ינוּand we will go up
vealinuH5927 →890 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֛וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אָמַ֥רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
חָטָֽאנוּ׃we have sinned
chatanuH2398 →238 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
Luke 13:25After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where…
it leads to
- Matthew 25:10–12
But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
- Luke 13:27
And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’
- Matthew 7:21–23
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
- Luke 6:46
Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?
- Isaiah 55:6
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Matthew 25:10–12
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:3This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Ecclesiastes 8:11
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Ecclesiastes 1:17
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
- Jeremiah 17:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.