Numbers 14:27 (ASV)

Passage

How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:25 Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: to-morrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

Numbers 14:26 And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Numbers 14:27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

Numbers 14:28 Say unto them, As I live, saith Jehovah, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

Numbers 14:29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, that have murmured against me,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "long", "shall", "bear", "evil", "congregation", "murmur", "against", and "heard". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "long" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto..." into verse 28's "Say unto them As I live saith...", so "long" and "shall" 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 "long" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.