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Numbers 14:15

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 14:15 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
Numbers 14:15 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 14

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.
13And Moses said unto Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;
14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou Jehovah art in the midst of this people; for thou Jehovah art seen face to face, and thy cloud standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
16Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
17And now, I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
18Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Now [if] thou shall kill [all] this people, as one man, etc.] Suddenly, and at once, as might be done by a pestilence; and as 185,000 were smitten at once, and as thought by the same disease, by the Angel of the Lord in the camp of the Assyrians, in later times, (<121935>2 Kings 19:35); then the nations which have heard the fame of thee; the Egyptians, Canaanites, and others, as Aben Ezra observes; who had heard the report of the wonderful things done by him for Israel, and of the great favours he had bestowed upon them, and so of his power, and goodness, and other perfections displayed therein, which made him appear to be preferable to all the gods of the Gentiles: will speak, saying; as…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“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. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Jdg 6:16 Numbers 14:16”
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Related study paths

Read Numbers 14 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification