47 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy,.... Intimating, that though the sin of this people was great, the mercy of God to pardon was greater; and therefore he entreats that God would deal with them, not according to the greatness of their sins, and the strictness of justice, but according to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord said, I have pardoned, according to thy word. So as not to kill them utterly as one man: which is an instance of his being plenteous in mercy, and ready to forgive; and of the virtue and efficacy of the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, and of the great regard the Lord has to the prayers of a good man for others. The...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But [as truly as] I live,.... Which is the form of an oath, as the Targum; the Lord swears by his life, or by himself, because he could swear by no greater: all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord; this is not the thing sworn unto or confirmed, but that by which the oath is made and confirmed; and the sense is, that as sure as the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,.... Not possess and enjoy the land of Canaan, which the Lord by an oath had promised their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give it to their seed; and now he swears that these men, who had so often tempted him, and been disobedient to him, should not inherit it; so the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But my servant Caleb,.... Who was one of the spies, and brought a good and true report of the land; and so in that, as well as in other things, approved himself to be a faithful servant of the Lord, and who had stilled the people at the beginning of their murmur, and with Joshua had attempted to quiet them afterwards; and though Joshua is not here...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley,.... By the Canaanites are meant the Amorites, as Aben Ezra, which were a principal people of the land of Canaan, and which may be confirmed by Deuteronomy 1:19; this may seem contrary to what is said Numbers 13:29; where they are said to dwell in the mountain; but it may be reconciled...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,.... Before he had been only speaking to Moses, who had interceded with him to pardon the people, which he had granted; but at the same time assured him they should not enter into and possess the land of Canaan, and the same he repeats to him and Aaron together: saying: as follows.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?.... Bear with their murmurings, spare them, and not cut them off? how long must sparing mercy be extended to them? the Lord speaks as one weary of forbearing, so frequent and aggravated were their murmurings. The Jews understand this not of the whole congregation of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Say unto them, [as truly as] I live, saith the Lord,.... The form of an oath, as in Numbers 14:21; as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you; what they had wished for, and expressed in the hearing of the Lord, he threatens them should be their case.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness,.... They had wished they had died in it, Numbers 14:2, and the Lord here declares they should, which is signified by the falling of their carcasses in it, or their bodies, which when dead fall to the ground, having no strength to support themselves: and all that were numbered of you: but a few months...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Doubtless ye shall not come into the land,.... The land of Canaan; or "if ye shall come" (a); that is, I swear ye shall not, so the Targum of Jonathan: [concerning] which I sware to make you dwell therein; not them personally, but the people and nation of which they were, and to which they belonged, the seed and posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey,.... To the Canaanites, Numbers 14:3; them will I bring in; into the land of Canaan, and so fulfil the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for the unbelief of this congregation did not make the faith, or faithfulness of God, of none effect: and they shall know the land which ye have...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But [as for] you, your carcasses,.... Which way of speaking seems to be used to distinguish them from their children; they shall fall in this wilderness: which is repeated for the confirmation and certainty it, and an emphasis is laid on the words, this which are pronounced with an accent, to put them in mind of their wish, Numbers 14:2.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years,.... Or "feed" (b), as shepherds, who go from place to place, and seek fresh pasture for their sheep; it being the custom of a shepherd, as Aben Ezra observes, not to stand or rest in a place; and so like sheep grazing in a wilderness, where they have short commons, and wander about in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
After the number of days in which ye searched the land, [even] forty days,.... For so long they were searching it, Numbers 13:25; each day for a year; reckoning each day for a year, forty days for forty years, as in Ezekiel 4:6; shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years: which number is given, being a round one, otherwise it was but thirty...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I the Lord have said,.... Determined, resolved on doing what I have declared, and again repeat it; the decree is absolute and peremptory, and will never be revoked: I will surely do it to all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me; against his ministers, Moses the chief magistrate, and Aaron the high priest; and this is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the men which Moses sent to search the land,.... Ten of them, who returned; as they all did, who were sent to search it: and made all the congregation to murmur against him; against, Moses that sent them; they murmured themselves, and made others murmur: by bringing up a slander upon the land; that it ate up its inhabitants, and that the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land,.... They, and they only at this time: died by the plague before the Lord; either by the pestilence immediately sent upon them by the Lord, or by a flash of lightning from him, or in some other way; however, by the immediate hand of God, and in his presence, being in the tabernacle of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh,.... Here Joshua is set first, as Caleb is in Numbers 14:30; which shows that they were equal in dignity, and therefore are indifferently put, sometimes the one first, and sometimes the other: [which were] of the men that went to search the land; were two of the spies, and were for the...