Numbers 14:42 (DBY)

Passage

Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies;

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:40 And they rose up early in the morning, and went up to the hill-top, saying, Here are we, and we will go up to the place of which Jehovah has spoken; for we have sinned.

Numbers 14:41 And Moses said, Why now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah? but it shall not prosper!

Numbers 14:42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies;

Numbers 14:43 for the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; for as ye have turned away from Jehovah, Jehovah will not be with you.

Numbers 14:44 Yet they presumed to go up to the hill-top; but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, did not depart from the midst of the camp.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "smitten", "before", and "enemies". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "smitten", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 41's "And Moses said Why now do ye..." into verse 43's "for the Amalekites and the Canaanites are...", so "jehovah" and "smitten" 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 "smitten" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.