Numbers 14

2 in this wilderness. Their wish was granted: see vers. 28-35.

9 they are bread for us. This probably means, “we shall consume them easily and completely”: cp. xxiv. 8; Psa. xiv. 4.—their defence. Their gods.

11 provoke. Or, “despise” (R.V.).

21 all the earth, etc. “As truly as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with My glory, because,” etc. (R.V.).

22 tempted Me. By doubting My power and faithfulness.—ten times. That is, many—a definite for an indefinite number.

25 dwelt. Rather, “are dwelling”; i.e., are awaiting you in the valley. They were also on the hill: see ver. 45.

29 twenty years old and upward. Those who had reached this age had been witnesses of all God’s wonders in Egypt and the desert; so that their unbelief was altogether inexcusable. Cp. xxxii. 11, 12; Deut. i. 35, 36.

33 forty years. This includes the whole time of “wandering,” from the departure out of Egypt to the entrance into Canaan.—whoredoms. This term is frequently used to express unfaithfulness to the Divine covenant, especially by idolatry. See Ex. xxxiv. 15; Judges ii. 17 and Ezek. xxiii. 35; and cp. Rev. xvii. 1.

34 each day for a year. The correspondence in number between the years of wandering and the days spent in searching the promised land was well fitted to affect the Israelites, whose minds were still in a rude and infantile condition. It set vividly before them the connection between sin and its punishment; while every successive year in this term of penal discipline brought with it a new and solemn call to repentance, by reminding them of the original cause of their rejection.—My breach of promise. Or, “ye shall know My forsaking” (“alienation,” R.V.). This generation, having forsaken God, shall now know what it is to be forsaken by Him.

45. Hormah. Its later name (see also Josh. xv. 30). It appears from Judges i. 17, that its former name was Zephath.