Numbers 14:37
in Numbers 14those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Jehovah.
KJV
Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThose men that did bring up the evil report died - Thus ten of the twelve that searched out the land were struck dead, by the justice of God, on the spot! Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, alone escaped, because they had followed God fully. Let preachers of God’s word take heed how they straiten the way of salvation, or render, by unjust description, that way perplexed and difficult which God has made plain and easy.
This site's exposition
I will surely do these things
on Numbers 14:35-38
The ten men who brought the report die first, by plague, before any of the forty years begins. The text charges them with bringing up a slander upon the land, so the offence is what they said about a place.
This site's exposition
were struck down by a plague before the LORD
Before the LORD places the deaths in his presence, where the glory had appeared at the tent in verse 10. Clarke says ten of the twelve were struck dead on the spot by the justice of God. The men who said the land devours its people died first.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land,....
God hereby showed his particular displeasure against those who sinned and made Israel to sin. (1.) They sinned themselves, in bringing up a slander upon the land of promise.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord--Ten of the spies struck dead on the spot--either by the pestilence or some other judgment.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּמֻ֙תוּ֙ | vaiyamutu | and they died | H4191 → | 839 times |
| הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים | haanashim | the men | H582 → | 566 times |
| מוֹצִאֵ֥י | motziei | [who] brought out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| דִבַּת־ | dibat- | <of> [the] unfavorable report of | H1681 → | 9 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| רָעָ֑ה | raah | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בַּמַּגֵּפָ֖ה | bamagefah | by <the> plague | H4046 → | 25 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיָּמֻ֙תוּ֙and they died
vaiyamutuH4191 →839 times
הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔יםthe men
haanashimH582 →566 times
מוֹצִאֵ֥י[who] brought out
motzieiH3318 →1067 times
דִבַּת־<of> [the] unfavorable report of
dibat-H1681 →9 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
רָעָ֑הevil
raahH7451 →662 times
בַּמַּגֵּפָ֖הby <the> plague
bamagefahH4046 →25 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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!”
- 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…
- 2 Samuel 24:16
But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that…
- Numbers 14:2
Through
Numbers 14:12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
it leads to
- Exodus 32:10
Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Numbers 25:9
but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 32:10
Through
Hebrews 3:17And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
it leads to
- Numbers 14:29
Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me.
- Numbers 14:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this chapter
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.