🔢WEB · Numbers 14:11
What does Numbers 14:11 mean?
"Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?"
— Numbers 14:11 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey.
Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”
But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. Yahweh’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel.
Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them.
They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Explanation
Numbers 14:11 records God's response after the Israelites, having heard the fearful report of ten of the twelve spies sent into Canaan, rebelled against Moses and Aaron, wept through the night, and even proposed choosing a new leader to take them back to Egypt rather than trust God to bring them into the promised land. In plain language, this verse captures God expressing exasperation and grief: he asks how much longer this people will reject him, and how much longer they will refuse to trust him despite all the miraculous signs he has already performed in their sight.
To understand the context, we need to remember where Israel stood at this moment. God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt through the plagues, parted the Red Sea, provided manna and water in the wilderness, and given them his law at Sinai. He had brought them to the very edge of the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet when the spies returned with a report emphasizing the strength of the land's inhabitants (despite two of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb, urging faith and courage), the people's immediate response was despair, rebellion, and a desire to return to bondage rather than trust God's promise. Moses had just interceded, and this verse is God's answer to him, revealing his heart before he goes on to propose judgment and Moses intercedes further on the people's behalf.
Theologically, this verse highlights the seriousness of unbelief in the biblical narrative. It is not treated as a minor lapse but as a form of contempt toward God himself — the text pairs "despise me" with "
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.