Numbers 14:16 (ASV)

Passage

Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou Jehovah art in the midst of this people; for thou Jehovah art seen face to face, and thy cloud standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

Numbers 14:15 Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

Numbers 14:16 Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

Numbers 14:17 And now, I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

Numbers 14:18 Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "able", "bring", "people", "land", "sware", "therefore", and "hath". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "able", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Now if thou shalt kill this people..." into verse 17's "And now I pray thee let the...", so "jehovah" and "able" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jehovah" and "able" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.