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Numbers 14:14

in Numbers 14

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou Jehovah art in the midst of this people; for thou Jehovah art seen face to face, and thy cloud standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

KJV

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

This verse in Numbers 14

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This 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. The nations will say the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land. He made the same argument at Exodus 32:12.

This site's exposition

have been seen face to face

The Hebrew behind face to face reads eye to eye, a picture of the LORD seen at close range. Rahab confirms at Joshua 2:10 that Canaan had heard of the sea. Barnes calls the syntax of these verses singularly broken.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

That thy cloud standeth over them - This cloud, the symbol of the Divine glory, and proof of the Divine presence, appears to have assumed three different forms for three important purposes. 1. It appeared by day in the form of a pillar of a sufficient height to be seen by all the camp, and thus went before them to point out their way in the desert. Exo 40:38.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

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.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Numbers 14:14:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
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.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Numbers 14:13:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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

30 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְאָמְר֗וּand they will say

    veameruH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יוֹשֵׁב֮[the] inhabitant[s] of

    yoshevH3427 →1079 times

  • הָאָ֣רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • הַזֹּאת֒<the> this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

  • שָֽׁמְעוּ֙they have heard

    shameuH8085 →1159 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • אַתָּ֣הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • יְהוָ֔הO Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • בְּקֶ֖רֶב[are] in [the] midst of

    bekerevH7130 →227 times

  • הָעָ֣םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • עַ֨יִןeye

    ʾayinH5869 →887 times

  • בְּעַ֜יִןin eye

    beayinH5869 →887 times

  • נִרְאָ֣ה׀he was seen

    nirahH7200 →1300 times

  • אַתָּ֣הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • יְהוָ֗הO Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וַעֲנָֽנְךָ֙and cloud your

    vaananekhaH6051 →87 times

  • עֹמֵ֣ד[is] standing

    ʾomedH5975 →521 times

  • עֲלֵהֶ֔םover them

    ʾalehemH5921 →5755 times

  • וּבְעַמֻּ֣דand in a pillar of

    uveamudH5982 →111 times

  • עָנָ֗ןcloud

    ʾananH6051 →87 times

  • אַתָּ֨הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • הֹלֵ֤ךְ[are] going

    holekhH1980 →1546 times

  • לִפְנֵיהֶם֙<to> before them

    lifneihemH6440 →2123 times

  • יוֹמָ֔םby day

    yomamH3119 →50 times

  • וּבְעַמּ֥וּדand in a pillar of

    uveamudH5982 →111 times

  • אֵ֖שׁfire

    ʾeshH784 →378 times

  • לָֽיְלָה׃night

    layelahH3915 →233 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 33:11

    Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 34:10

      Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face—

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Numbers 12:8

      I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

    • Exodus 24:13

      So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.

    • Exodus 33:9

      As Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance, and the LORD would speak with Moses.

    • Genesis 32:30

      So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 5:4

    The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 19:18–19

      Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

  • Through

    Exodus 15:14

    The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 2:25

      This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”

  • Through

    Nehemiah 9:12

    You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 13:21–22

      And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel…

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.