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Numbers 14:5

in Numbers 14

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

KJV

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

This verse in Numbers 14

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
Already Caleb had endeavored to still the people before Moses Num 13:30; already Moses himself (Deu 1:29 ff) had endeavored to recall the people to obedience. After the failure of these efforts Moses and Aaron cast themselves down in solemn prayer before God (compare Num 16:22); and the appearance of the glory of the Lord in the “tabernacle of the congregation” Num 14:10 was the immediate answer.

This site's exposition

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown

on Numbers 14:5-6

Four men act while the nation shouts, and they act in two different ways. Moses and Aaron go face down before the assembly, which is the posture of men interceding. Joshua and Caleb rend their clothes, which is the sign of a death or a blasphemy heard.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces--as humble and earnest suppliants--either to the people, entreating them to desist from so perverse a design; or rather, to God, as the usual and only refuge from the violence of that tumultuous and stiff-necked rabble--a hopeful means of softening and impressing their hearts.

The words behind it

11 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.

  • וַיִּפֹּ֥לand he fell

    vaiyipolH5307 →435 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֛הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • וְאַהֲרֹ֖ןand Aaron

    veaharonH175 →347 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • פְּנֵיהֶ֑םfaces their

    peneihemH6440 →2123 times

  • לִפְנֵ֕י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • קְהַ֥ל[the] assembly of

    kehalH6951 →123 times

  • עֲדַ֖ת[the] congregation of

    ʾadatH5712 →149 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel

    yisraelH3478 →2507 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

    Joshua 5:14

    “Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as Commander of the LORD’s army.” Then Joshua fell facedown in reverence and asked Him, “What does my Lord have to say to His servant?”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 55:4

      Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations, a leader and commander of the peoples.

    • Genesis 17:3

      Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

    • Revelation 19:10–14

      So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus.…

    • Exodus 23:20–22

      Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

  • Through

    Numbers 16:22

    But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”

    it leads to

    • Numbers 27:16

      “May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation

    • Zechariah 12:1

      This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man…

    • Job 12:10

      The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

  • Through

    Numbers 16:4

    When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 20:6

      Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.