Numbers 14:14

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

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? ¹²I will strike them with a plague and destroy them-and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are." ¹³But Moses said to the LORD, "The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them. ¹⁴And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.¹⁵If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ¹⁶'Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.' ¹⁷So now I pray, may the power of the Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: ¹⁸'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.' ¹⁹Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they have: Exodus 15:14, Joshua 2:9, Joshua 2:10, Joshua 5:1

art seen: Numbers 12:8, Genesis 32:30, Exodus 33:11, Deuteronomy 5:4, Deuteronomy 34:10, John 1:18, John 14:9, 1 Corinthians 13:12, 1 John 3:2

thy cloud: Numbers 9:15-21, Numbers 10:34, Exodus 13:21, Exodus 13:22, Exodus 40:38, Nehemiah 9:12, Nehemiah 9:19, Psalms 78:14, Psalms 105:39

Reciprocal: Genesis 32:25 - that he Exodus 33:16 - in that Numbers 16:3 - the Lord Deuteronomy 1:33 - in fire Deuteronomy 7:21 - the Lord Judges 6:13 - if the Lord 2 Samuel 7:23 - went Isaiah 63:11 - Where is he that brought Joel 2:17 - wherefore Zechariah 8:23 - we have 1 Corinthians 10:1 - were

Cross-References

Genesis 12:5
And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

Genesis 12:16
He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

Genesis 13:8
So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are brothers.

Genesis 14:1
In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim

Genesis 14:2
went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

Genesis 14:3
The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

Genesis 14:11
The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, and they went on their way.

Genesis 14:12
They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

Genesis 15:3
Abram continued, "Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they will tell [it] to the inhabitants of this land,.... The land of Canaan, between which and Egypt there was an intercourse, though not by the way of the wilderness, being neighbours, and their original ancestors brethren, as Mizraim and Canaan were; or "they will say" t, and that with joy, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; but what they would say does not appear so plain; either it was that the Israelites were killed in the wilderness, a tale they would tell with pleasure; but that the Canaanites would hear of doubtless before them, and not need their information, since the Israelites were upon their borders; or that the Lord had brought them out of Egypt indeed, but could carry them no further, could not introduce them into the land he had promised them; or rather they would say to them what follows, for the preposition "for" is not in the text, and may be omitted; and so the sense is, they will tell them,

they have heard that thou Lord [art] among this people; in the tabernacle that was in the midst of them, in the most holy place of it:

that thou Lord art seen face to face: as he was by Moses, who was at the head of them:

and [that] thy cloud standeth over them; and sheltered and protected them from the heat of the sun in the daytime, when it rested upon them in their encampment:

and [that] thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of a cloud,

and in a pillar of fire by night; in their journeys; they will tell of those favours thou hast shown Israel; and yet, after all, will observe that thou hast destroyed them, which will not redound to thine honour and glory.

t יאמרו "et dicent", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, &c.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The syntax of these verses is singularly broken. As did Paul when deeply moved, so Moses presses his arguments one on the other without pausing to ascertain the grammatical finish of his expressions. He speaks here as if in momentary apprehension of an outbreak of God’s wrath, unless he could perhaps arrest it by crowding in every topic of deprecation and intercession that he could mention on the instant.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 14:14. That thy cloud standeth over them — This cloud, the symbol of the Divine glory, and proof of the Divine presence, appears to have assumed three different forms for three important purposes.

1. It appeared by day in the form of a pillar of a sufficient height to be seen by all the camp, and thus went before them to point out their way in the desert. Exodus 40:38.

2. It appeared by night as a pillar of fire to give them light while travelling by night, which they probably sometimes did; (see Numbers 9:21;) or to illuminate their tents in their encampment; Exodus 13:21-22.

3. It stood at certain times above the whole congregation, overshadowing them from the scorching rays of the sun; and probably at other times condensed the vapours, and precipitated rain or dew for the refreshment of the people. He spread a cloud for their covering; and fire to give light in the night; Psalms 105:39. It was probably from this circumstance that the shadow of the Lord was used to signify the Divine protection, not only by the Jews, but also by other Asiatic nations. Numbers 14:9; Numbers 14:9, and see particularly Clarke's note on "Exodus 13:21".