Numbers 14:17 (DBY)

Passage

And now, I beseech thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:15 if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying,

Numbers 14:16 Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness.

Numbers 14:17 And now, I beseech 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 goodness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth [generation].

Numbers 14:19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "beseech", "thee", "power", "lord", "great", "thou", "hast", and "spoken". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "beseech" and "thee", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Because Jehovah was not able to bring..." into verse 18's "Jehovah is slow to anger and abundant...", so "beseech" and "thee" 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 "beseech" and "thee" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.