🔢WEB · Numbers 14:42
What does Numbers 14:42 mean?
"Don’t go up, for Yahweh isn’t among you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies."
— Numbers 14:42 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.
They rose up early in the morning, and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised: for we have sinned.”
Moses said, “Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh, since it shall not prosper?
Don’t go up, for Yahweh isn’t among you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies.
For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword, because you turned back from following Yahweh, therefore Yahweh will not be with you.”
But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, the ark of Yahweh’s covenant and Moses didn’t depart out of the camp.
Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.
Explanation
Numbers 14:42 records Moses's urgent warning to the Israelites at a critical and tragic moment in their wilderness journey. In plain language, Moses is telling the people, "Do not go up into the land now, because the Lord is not with you in this venture. If you go anyway, your enemies will defeat you." It's a warning against presumption—doing the right thing at the wrong time, in the wrong spirit.
The context is essential to understanding this verse. Moses had sent twelve spies into Canaan, and ten of them returned with a fearful report, convincing the people that they could not conquer the land despite God's promise. The Israelites rebelled, wept, grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and even talked of choosing a new leader to take them back to Egypt (Numbers 14:1-4). In response, God declared that this entire generation—except for Caleb and Joshua—would die in the wilderness over the next forty years rather than enter the Promised Land, because of their unbelief (Numbers 14:26-35). Hearing this severe judgment, the people suddenly changed their minds and declared, "We will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised" (Numbers 14:
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