Numbers 14:22

22 "Surely ¹all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet ²have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,

Numbers 14:22 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:22

Because all those men which have seen my glory
His glorious Majesty, or the emblem of it in the cloud, on the tabernacle, which had often appeared to them, and the glorious things done by him; the glory of his power, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, and truth, displayed in bringing them out of Egypt, through the Red sea, and thus far in the wilderness, even to the borders of the land of Canaan; it should be rendered, not "because", but "that", for this is the thing sworn to, or the matter of the oath:

and my miracles which I did in Egypt;
by the hand of Moses, both before them, when he was sent to them, as a proof of his divine mission, and before Pharaoh and all his court, ( Exodus 7:10 ) , inflicting plagues upon him and his people, ( Exodus 7:20 ) ( Exodus 8:6 Exodus 8:20 Exodus 8:24 ) ( Exodus 9:6 Exodus 9:10 Exodus 9:23 ) ( Exodus 10:13 Exodus 10:22 ) ( 12:29 ) :

and in the wilderness;
in raining manna from heaven about their tents, ( Exodus 16:14 ) ; sending them quails, ( Exodus 16:13 ) ( Numbers 11:31 ) ; and giving them water out of the rock, ( Exodus 17:6 ) :

and have tempted me now these ten times;
which the Jews understand precisely and exactly of such a number, and which they reckon thus ^F23; twice at the sea, ( Exodus 14:11 Exodus 14:12 ) ; twice concerning water, ( Exodus 15:23 Exodus 15:24 ) ( 17:2 ) ; twice about manna, ( Exodus 16:2 Exodus 16:20 Exodus 16:27 ) ( Numbers 11:4 ) ; twice about quails, ( Exodus 16:12 ) ( Numbers 11:4 ) ; once by the calf, ( Exodus 32:1-7 ) ; and once in the wilderness of Paran, ( Numbers 14:1-4 ) , which last and tenth was the present temptation: these are reckoned a little otherwise elsewhere ^F24; but perhaps it may be better, with Aben Ezra, to interpret it of many times, a certain number being put for an uncertain, they having frequently tempted the Lord:

and have not hearkened to my voice;
neither to his word of promise, nor to his word of command, and particularly his late order to go up and possess the land, ( Deuteronomy 1:21 Deuteronomy 1:26 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 T. Bab. Eracin, fol. 15. 1. Bartenora in Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 4. Jarchi in loc.
F24 Maimon. in Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 4.

Numbers 14:22 In-Context

20 So the LORD said, "I have pardoned them according to your word;

21 but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD .

22 "Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,

23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.

24 "But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Corinthians 10:5
• 2. Exodus 5:21; Exodus 14:11; Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2; Exodus 17:2, 3; Exodus 32:1; Numbers 11:1, 4; Numbers 12:1; Numbers 14:2