🔢WEB · Numbers 27:12
What does Numbers 27:12 mean?
"Yahweh said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel."
— Numbers 27:12 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.
If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.
If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. This shall be a statute and ordinance for the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.’”
Yahweh said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel.
When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered;
because in the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, to honor me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
Moses spoke to Yahweh, saying,
Explanation
Numbers 27:12 records God speaking directly to Moses, instructing him to climb a mountain in the Abarim range so that he can look out over the land of Canaan — the land God had promised to give to the Israelites. In plain terms, this is God telling Moses to go get a firsthand, panoramic view of the Promised Land before his life comes to an end, since he himself will not be permitted to enter it.
The context is essential to understanding this moment. Moses had led Israel for forty years through the wilderness, enduring their rebellions, interceding for them, and receiving the Law on their behalf. By this point in the book of Numbers, the generation that had left Egypt was passing away, and a new generation stood on the edge of Canaan. Just a few verses later (27:13–14), God explains why Moses cannot enter the land himself: Moses had disobeyed God at the waters of Meribah, striking the rock in anger rather than trusting God's
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