🔢WEB · Numbers 14:17
What does Numbers 14:17 mean?
"Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying,"
— Numbers 14:17 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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.
Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,
‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’
Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying,
‘Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’
Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
Yahweh said, “I have pardoned according to your word:
Explanation
Numbers 14:17 captures a single line from Moses' prayer of intercession, spoken in the aftermath of Israel's rebellion at Kadesh-barnea. In plain language, Moses is pleading with God: "Now, please, let your power be shown to be great, just as you yourself have declared." It's an appeal, not a statement — Moses is asking God to act in a way consistent with what God has already revealed about himself. The verse is actually the opening of a quotation, and it continues in verse 18 where Moses recites God's own words from Exodus 34:6-7, describing the Lord as slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, yet not clearing the guilty without consequence.
The context is critical to understan
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