Numbers 14:4
in Numbers 14So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
KJV
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
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This verse in Numbers 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseLet us make a captain - Here was a formal renunciation of the authority of Moses, and flat rebellion against God. And it seems from Neh 9:17 that they had actually appointed another leader, under whose direction they were about to return to Egypt. How astonishing is this! Their lives were made bitter, because of the rigor with which they were made to serve in the land of Egypt; and yet they are willing, yea eager, to get back into the same circumstances again!
This site's exposition
Why is the LORD bringing us into this land
on Numbers 14:3-4
They propose a captain and a return to Egypt, which reverses everything the last two books did. Nehemiah 9:17 looks back on this moment and says that in their rebellion they appointed a captain to return to their bondage.
This site's exposition
Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt
Matthew Henry notes that Deuteronomy 28:68 names a return to Egypt as the last misery of a broken covenant, and here the people choose it. Clarke calls the plan a formal renunciation of the authority of Moses and flat rebellion against God. Exodus 1:14 had called their lives there bitter.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Like brute-beasts, they mind only what is present, and their memories, with the other powers of reason, are sacrificed to their passions. We find it threatened ( Deut. xxviii. 68 ), as the completing of their misery, that they should be brought into Egypt again, and yet this is what they here wish for.
And they said one to another, let us make a captain,.... An head over them instead of Moses, who they knew would never take the government and care of them, should they resolve to return to Egypt as they proposed, and besides were now so disaffected to him, that they might not care he should.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A leader to reconduct them to Egypt is spoken of (Ne 9:17) as actually nominated. The sinfulness and insane folly of their conduct are almost incredible. Their conduct, however, is paralleled by too many among us, who shrink from the smallest difficulties and rather remain slaves to sin than resolutely try to surmount the obstacles that lie in their way to the Canaan above.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אָחִ֑יו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
| נִתְּנָ֥ה | nitenah | let us appoint | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| רֹ֖אשׁ | rosh | a leader | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה | venashuvah | and let us return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ | mitzrayemah | Egypt towards | H4714 → | 641 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אִ֣ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אָחִ֑יוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
נִתְּנָ֥הlet us appoint
nitenahH5414 →2011 times
רֹ֖אשׁa leader
roshH7218 →599 times
וְנָשׁ֥וּבָהand let us return
venashuvahH7725 →1056 times
מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃Egypt towards
mitzrayemahH4714 →641 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 17:32Remember Lot’s wife!
it leads to
- Genesis 19:26
But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
- Hebrews 10:38–39
But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”
- 2 Peter 2:18–22
With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- 1 Corinthians 10:6–12
These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.
- Genesis 19:26
Through
Deuteronomy 17:16But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way…
it leads to
- Isaiah 31:1–3
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Ezekiel 17:15
But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break…
- Deuteronomy 28:68
The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but…
- Isaiah 31:1–3
Through
Acts 7:39But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:3–4
Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
- Numbers 14:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this chapter
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.