Numbers 32:23

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 32:23 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out.
Numbers 32:23 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 32

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
23But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“But if ye will not do so, etc.] As they promised they would, and Moses insisted on it that they should: behold, ye have sinned against the Lord making such a request, and not fulfilling the conditions on which it was granted: and be sure your sin will find you out; fly in their faces, accuse them in their consciences, charge and load them with guilt, and bring deserved punishment upon them: sin may be put, as it often is, for the punishment of sin, which sooner or later will find out and come upon the impenitent and unpardoned sinner.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Be sure your sin will find you out - literally, “know ye your sin that it will find you out.” Moses implies that their sin would eventually bring its own punishment along with it. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Your sin - The punishment of your sin. Sin will certainly find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us therefore to find our sins out, that we may repent of them and forsake them, lest our sins find us out, to our confusion and destruction. Numbers 32:30”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“if ye will: Lev. 26:14-46; Deut. 28:15-68 be sure your sin: If the persons concerned prevaricated, and so imposed on men, or if they afterwards refused to fulfil their engagement, God would most certainly detect and expose their wickedness, and inflict condign punishment upon them. Of all the ways, says Dr. South, to be taken for the prevention of that great plague of mankind, Sin, there is none so rational and efficacious as to confute and baffle those motives by which men are induced to embrace it; and among all such motives, the heart of man seems to be chiefly overpowered and prevailed upon by two, viz. secrecy in committing sin, and impunity with respect to its consequences.…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification