Numbers 14:16 (DRB)

Passage

He could not bring the people into the land for which he had sworn, therefore did he kill them in the wilderness.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:14 And the inhabitants of this land, (who have heard that thou, O Lord, art among this people, and art seen face to face, and thy cloud protecteth them, and thou goest before them in a pillar of a cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night,)

Numbers 14:15 May hear that thou hast killed so great a multitude as it were one man and may say:

Numbers 14:16 He could not bring the people into the land for which he had sworn, therefore did he kill them in the wilderness.

Numbers 14:17 Let then the strength of the Lord be magnified, as thou hast sworn, saying:

Numbers 14:18 The Lord is patient and full of mercy, by taking away iniquity and wickedness, and leaving no man clear, who visitest the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "May hear that thou hast killed so..." into verse 17's "Let then the strength of the Lord...", so "bring" and "people" 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 "bring" and "people" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.