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The People Rebel14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3Why is the L ord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become booty; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. 6And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. 8If the L ord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9Only, do not rebel against the L ord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the L ord is with us; do not fear them.” 10But the whole congregation threatened to stone them. Then the glory of the L ord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11And the L ord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” Moses Intercedes for the People13 But Moses said to the L ord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for in your might you brought up this people from among them, 14and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O L ord, are in the midst of this people; for you, O L ord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go in front of them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if you kill this people all at one time, then the nations who have heard about you will say, 16‘It is because the L ord was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them that he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17And now, therefore, let the power of the L ord be great in the way that you promised when you spoke, saying, 18 ‘The L ord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even until now.” 20 Then the L ord said, “I do forgive, just as you have asked; 21nevertheless—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the L ord— 22none of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it. 24But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” An Attempted Invasion is Repulsed26 And the L ord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 27How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they complain against me. 28Say to them, “As I live,” says the L ord, “I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness; and of all your number, included in the census, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, 30not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31But your little ones, who you said would become booty, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have despised. 32But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.” 35I the L ord have spoken; surely I will do thus to all this wicked congregation gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die. 36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report about the land— 37the men who brought an unfavorable report about the land died by a plague before the L ord. 38But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh alone remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land. 39 When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly. 40They rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the L ord has promised, for we have sinned.” 41But Moses said, “Why do you continue to transgress the command of the L ord? That will not succeed. 42Do not go up, for the L ord is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. 43For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the L ord, the L ord will not be with you.” 44But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant of the L ord, and Moses, had not left the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them, pursuing them as far as Hormah. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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26. And the Lord spoke unto Moses. 6363 “The Lord spoke therefore to Moses,” etc. — Lat. I have translated the copula by the word itaque (therefore,) to indicate the connection with what precedes: for Moses does not here recount anything new, but, by way of explanation, repeats a point of great importance, viz., that they, who had refused to enter the land, would be deprived of its possession. He begins with the passionate interrogation: 6464 “Pathetica interrogatio.” — Lat. “Or, Dieu use d’un proeme vehement a la facon d’un homme passione;” now, God uses a vehement exordium, after the fashion of an angry man. — Fr. “How long shall this troublesome dregs of a people be borne with, who never cease to murmur against me?” And God says that He “had heard” their turbulent cries; in order that they might more certainly perceive that their pride was intolerable, since God Himself was weary of it, although He is long-suffering and slow to anger. It is in bitter irony that He says He will deal with them in accordance with their own resolution and desire. Nothing, indeed, was further from their intention than to wander in the wilderness, but, since they had held back from entering the land, God says that He will gratify them in a very different sense, viz., that they shall never enjoy the sight of that land, which they had despised. By His oath, He expresses His extreme wrath, as also it is said in Psalm 95:11, “Unto whom I swore in my wrath, that they It was necessary that their stolidity should be thus aroused, lest, when God was so greatly provoked, they should still continue self-satisfied, according to their went. He aggravates their punishment by another circumstance, i.e., that, they were to be deprived of the inheritance which He had sworn to give to Abraham; for the lifting up of the hand 6666 See ver. 30, Margin A.V.Item, vol. 1, p. 131, on Exodus 6:8. (as I have said elsewhere) was a form of oath; just as if God were called down from heaven by the outstretched hand to be witness and judge: and, although this does not indeed literally apply to God, still we know that He commonly transfers to Himself the things that belong to men. Moreover, this was a most severe reproof, that they by their wickedness and self-will should nullify a promise, which God had ratified by an oath, in so far, at least, as its fulfillment affected themselves: for He points out immediately afterwards that, although they had rejected the proffered blessing, he would still be true; and would bestow on their little ones that which they had refused for themselves. It is thus that God tempers His judgments against those hypocrites, who falsely profess to honor His name, so as to preserve a seed for the propagation of His Church: nor is He ever so severe towards the reprobate, as to fail in sustaining His mercy towards His elect. Nay, He here declares that Hie will be gracious towards their children, as a means of inflicting punishment on the fathers. It was an indirect accusation of God, when they lamented over their children, as if they were to be carried away as “a prey;” whereas, God promises that they shall be the possessors of the land, in order to reprove this wicked blasphemy. 33. And your children shall wander in the wilderness. 6767 Lat., “shall be shepherds.” Margin A.V., “or feed.” He here pronounces that their children shall be in some measure partakers of their punishment, inasmuch as they shall wander in the desert until the time prescribed: for by the word shepherds, He means sojourners, 6868 “Il entend qu’ils seront errans comme estrangers, ayant tousiours un pied leve, et nul arrest;” he means that they shall wander as strangers, having one foot always lifted, and without any stay. — Fr. who have no certain or settled residence. To this effect is the similitude in the song of Hezekiah: “My lodging is departed as a shepherd’s tent.”
6969
A.V., “Mine age is departed, etc.” A. Barnes’s translation pretty nearly agrees with that of C., which he defends in the following note: “The word דורי, which is here used, means properly the revolving period, or circle of human life. The parallelism seems to demand,
however, that it should be used in the sense of dwelling, or habitation, so as to correspond with the “shepherd’s tent.” Accordingly, Lowth and Noyes render it habitation. So also do Gesenius and Rosenmuller. The Arabic word has this signification; and the Hebrew verb דור, also means to
dwell, to remain, as in Chaldee.” C.’s Latin is here hospitium; in his Commentary on Isaiah, habitatio.
In short, He declares that they shall be wandering and unsettled, and lead a life, like shepherds conducting their flocks from place to place. He calls the wicked rebellions, whereby they had corrupted themselves, metaphorically “whoredoms;” for, from the time that God had espoused them to Himself, their true chastity would have been to embrace His grace in sincere faith, and at the same time to devote themselves to His service; but by rejecting tits pure worship, they had broken their sacred marriage-vow like gadding harlots. This example teaches us how God visits the iniquities of the fathers on their children, and yet chastises no one undeservedly; since the descendants here referred to, 7070 “Ayant porte la paste au four (comme on dit) pour le peche de leurs peres;” having carried the dough to the oven (as they say) for the sin of their fathers. — Fr. although atoning for the fault of others, were still by no means innocent themselves. But in the judgments of God there is always a deep abyss, into which if you fear to be plunged, adore that which it is not lawful to question. Nevertheless, there is no doubt but that thus also God provided for the welfare of those, towards whom He appeared to show some marks of severity. For He waited not only until they had grown up, but also, as was advantageous to themselves, until they had attained the strength of manhood, and until a new generation had sprung up. He assigns a second reason why He postponed the fulfillment of His promise for forty years, viz., that tie might repay the ill-spent days by as many years. Having, then, spoken of their children, He again returns to the actual criminals themselves, who were to be consumed in all that long period of time, as if by a lingering disease. The noun תנואת, tenuoth, which I have rendered vanity, 7171 A.V., “My breach of promise. Margin, Or, altering of my purpose.” Fr., “Mensonge.” is derived from the verb נוא, nu, which signifies to render ineffectual. Translators, however, extract from it various meanings. Some thus construe it: Ye shall know whether I am false, or whether my word shall be vain. Others, rendering it prohibition, depart more widely from the sense. But, in my judgment, it is an ironical concession, whereby God reproves their detestable pride, which had no other object than to accuse God of falsehood, and to charge Him calumniously with failing to fulfil His words. Unless, 7272 “Sinon qu’on aimast mieux prendre ce mot en temps passif, Vous cognoistrez men aneantissement: pource que le peuple s’estoit efforce d’abolir Dieu;” unless it be preferred to take this word in a passive sense, You shall know my annihilation; because the people had striven to annihilate God. — Fr. perhaps, it should be preferred to take it passively; because the people had endeavored to annihilate, as it were, God himself. But still I rather adopt this sense, that they should perceive by certain and experimental proof, whether God’s promises were frivolous or vain. Moreover, we must bear in mind the admonition of the Prophet, to which I have referred, (Psalm 95:11,) and which the Apostle adapts to our present use, (Hebrews 4:6,) viz., that a better rest is now offered to us, from which we are to fear lest our unbelief should withhold us. For it is not sufficient for us that God’s hand should once have been extended to us, unless we allow ourselves to be directed by it, until our earthly wanderings are concluded, and it conducts us into our heavenly rest. |