🔢WEB · Numbers 14:18
What does Numbers 14:18 mean?
"‘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.’"
— Numbers 14:18 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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:
but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory;
Explanation
Numbers 14:18 records Moses quoting back to God his own self-revealed character, spoken at a moment of national crisis. In plain language, the verse says that God is patient rather than quick-tempered, that his love and mercy are vast, that he genuinely forgives sin and rebellion, but that he does not simply overlook guilt as though it never happened — consequences of sin can ripple forward, affecting families for generations.
The context is crucial. The Israelites, having just heard the report of the twelve spies about the land of Canaan, refused to trust God and even talked of stoning Moses and Aaron and choosing a new leader to take them back to Egypt (Numbers 14:1-10). God, provoked by this repeated rebellion, threatened to destroy the entire nation and start over through Moses. Moses intercedes on the people's behalf, appealing to God's reputation among the nations and to God's own character. In doing so, Moses quotes almost verbatim the words God had spoken about himself earlier in Exodus 34:6-7, after the golden calf incident. This is significant: Moses is not inventing a new argument but reminding God of what God has already declared about himself, essentially holding God to his own revealed nature.
Theologically, the verse holds together two truths that Scripture never separates: God's mercy and God's justice. He is "slow to anger" — patient, giving people time and opportunity to repent — and "abundant in loving kindness," meaning his covenant faithfulness and mercy far outweigh his wrath. He forgives "iniquity and dis
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.