Numbers 14:27
in Numbers 14“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
KJV
How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIt is not made worse than really it was, but is shown to be exceedingly sinful. It was an evil congregation, each bad, but altogether in congregation, very bad. They tempted God--tempted his power, whether he could help them in their straits--his goodness, whether he would--and his faithfulness, whether his promise would be performed.
This site's exposition
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron
on Numbers 14:26-27
The word murmur falls three times in one verse, and the chapter uses it five times in all. God says he has heard the murmurings, which answers the assumption in verse 2 that complaining among themselves was a private act.
This site's exposition
How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me?
How long opens this speech, as it opened verse 11. Matthew Henry reads wicked congregation as a people bad one by one and worse together. Jewish tradition drew its quorum of ten for prayer from this word, counting the ten spies.
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 (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?.... Bear with their murmurings, spare them, and not cut them off? how long must sparing mercy be extended to them? the Lord speaks as one weary of forbearing, so frequent and aggravated were their murmurings.
Note, It is much easier to bring ourselves to the external services of religion, and observe all the formalities of devotion, than to live a life of dependence upon, and submission to, the divine Providence in the course of our conversation.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מָתַ֗י | matai | when? | H4970 → | |
| לָעֵדָ֤ה | laedah | to the congregation | H5712 → | 149 times |
| הָֽרָעָה֙ | haraah | <the> evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| הַזֹּ֔את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֛ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵ֥מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מַלִּינִ֖ים | malinim | [are] grumbling | H3885 → | 84 times |
| עָלָ֑י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תְּלֻנּ֞וֹת | telunot | [the] grumblings of | H8519 → | 8 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵ֧מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מַלִּינִ֛ים | malinim | [are] grumbling | H3885 → | 84 times |
| עָלַ֖י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שָׁמָֽעְתִּי׃ | shamaeti | I have heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מָתַ֗יwhen?
mataiH4970 →
לָעֵדָ֤הto the congregation
laedahH5712 →149 times
הָֽרָעָה֙<the> evil
haraahH7451 →662 times
הַזֹּ֔את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
אֲשֶׁ֛רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הֵ֥מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
מַלִּינִ֖ים[are] grumbling
malinimH3885 →84 times
עָלָ֑יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
תְּלֻנּ֞וֹת[the] grumblings of
telunotH8519 →8 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הֵ֧מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
מַלִּינִ֛ים[are] grumbling
malinimH3885 →84 times
עָלַ֖יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
שָׁמָֽעְתִּי׃I have heard
shamaetiH8085 →1159 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
1 Corinthians 10:10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:2
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
- Numbers 14:37
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
- Philippians 2:14
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
- 1 Chronicles 21:15
Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the…
- Numbers 14:2
Through
Numbers 14:11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
it leads to
- Psalms 78:22
because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 78:32
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
- Psalms 106:24
They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.
- Psalms 78:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this verse
On this chapter
About Numbers
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.