Numbers 32:15
in Numbers 32For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye will destroy all this people.
KJV
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.
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This verse in Numbers 32
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Whether they had really meditated such a withdrawal from all share in the war of invasion, or the effect of their leader's expostulation was to drive them from their original purpose, they now, in answer to his impressive appeal, declared it to be their sincere intention to co-operate with their brethren; but, if so, they ought to have been more explicit at first.
This site's exposition
made them wander in the wilderness
on Numbers 32:13-15
Verse 13 sums the sentence of chapter 14, forty years "until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone". Moses then turns it on the men before him, "a brood of sinners" risen "in place of your fathers".
This site's exposition
He will once again leave this people in the wilderness
Moses reasons that two tribes' refusal brings judgment on the whole nation, and the same reasoning returns at Joshua 22:18-20. There the western tribes fear that the altar of Reuben, Gad and half Manasseh will bring anger on all Israel. Both times the eastern tribes stand accused of turning away.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " You have risen up in your fathers' stead to despise the pleasant land and reject it as they did, when we hoped you had risen up in their stead to possess it." It was an encouragement to Moses to see what an increase of men there was in these tribes, but a discouragement to see that it was withal an increase of sinful men, treading in the steps of their fathers' impiety.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For if ye turn away from after him,....
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תְשׁוּבֻן֙ | teshuvun | you will turn back ! | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מֵֽאַחֲרָ֔יו | meacharav | from after him | H310 → | 715 times |
| וְיָסַ֣ף | veyasaf | and he will repeat | H3254 → | 212 times |
| ע֔וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| לְהַנִּיח֖וֹ | lehanicho | to leave it | H5117 → | 142 times |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וְשִֽׁחַתֶּ֖ם | veshichatem | and you will destroy | H7843 → | |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | <to> all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֥ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ ס | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
תְשׁוּבֻן֙you will turn back !
teshuvunH7725 →1056 times
מֵֽאַחֲרָ֔יוfrom after him
meacharavH310 →715 times
וְיָסַ֣ףand he will repeat
veyasafH3254 →212 times
ע֔וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
לְהַנִּיח֖וֹto leave it
lehanichoH5117 →142 times
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רin the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
וְשִֽׁחַתֶּ֖םand you will destroy
veshichatemH7843 →
לְכָל־<to> all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֥םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּֽה׃ ס<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
2 Chronicles 15:2So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him,…
it leads to
- James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20
Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments…
- 2 Chronicles 15:4
But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought.…
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- James 4:8
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on 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; MannaFest exposition, Berean Standard Bible, Numbers 32 read with Joshua 22 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.