Numbers 14:12
in Numbers 14I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.
KJV
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And disinherit them - By the proposed extinction of Israel the blessings of the covenant would revert to their original donor.
This 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.
This site's exposition
I will strike them with a plague and destroy them
The Hebrew adds a verb Barnes renders disinherit them, the blessings of the covenant returning to their original giver. The promise to Abraham would still stand through Moses, himself a son of Abraham. Moses answers by pleading for the people.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now the Lord said to Moses, "I will strike them with death and wipe them out. Then I will make the house of your father a nation, greater and mightier than they." This threat is not a sign of wrath but a prophecy. Another nation …
The Medieval Church1 voice
The attitude [of one brother] was like that of Moses and indeed of God himself in that he did not in any way wish to be saved alone. Because he was spiritually bound to them by holy love in the Holy Spirit he did not …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Here he was a type of Christ, who interceded for his persecutors, and prayed for those that despitefully used him, leaving us an example to his own rule, Matt. v. 44 . The prayer of his petition is, in one word, Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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:
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
AND THE EGYPTIANS SHALL HEAR ‘KI HE’ELITHA’ IN THY MIGHT. “And the Egyptians shall hear that you have killed them. Ki he’elitha.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַכֶּ֥נּוּ | ʾakkenu | I will strike it | H5221 → | 499 times |
| בַדֶּ֖בֶר | vadever | with <the> pestilence | H1698 → | |
| וְאוֹרִשֶׁ֑נּוּ | veorishenu | and I will dispossess it | H3423 → | 231 times |
| וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂה֙ | veeeseh | and I may make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹֽתְךָ֔ | ʾotekha | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְגוֹי־ | legoy- | <into> a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| גָּד֥וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וְעָצ֖וּם | veatzum | and mighty | H6099 → | 31 times |
| מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ | mimenu | more than it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
אַכֶּ֥נּוּI will strike it
ʾakkenuH5221 →499 times
בַדֶּ֖בֶרwith <the> pestilence
vadeverH1698 →
וְאוֹרִשֶׁ֑נּוּand I will dispossess it
veorishenuH3423 →231 times
וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂה֙and I may make
veeesehH6213 →2628 times
אֹֽתְךָ֔<obj.> you
ʾotekhaH853 →10935 times
לְגוֹי־<into> a nation
legoy-H1471 →561 times
גָּד֥וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
וְעָצ֖וּםand mighty
veatzumH6099 →31 times
מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃more than it
mimenuH4480 →1188 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
2 Samuel 24:1Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 21:1
Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 27:23–24
David did not count the men aged twenty or under, because the LORD had said that He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of the sky.
- James 1:13–14
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
- 1 Chronicles 21:1
Through
Exodus 32:10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:14
Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
- Deuteronomy 9:19
For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.
- Exodus 22:24
My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.
- Deuteronomy 9:14
Through
Numbers 25:9but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:8
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
- Deuteronomy 4:3–4
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.
- 1 Corinthians 10:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this chapter
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 108.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Symeon the New Theologian, DISCOURSE 8.2.