Numbers 14:12 (GNV)

Passage

I will smite them with the pestilence and destroy them, and will make thee a greater nation and mightier then they.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:10 And all the multitude saide, Stone them with stones: but the glory of the Lord appeared in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, before all the children of Israel.

Numbers 14:11 And the Lord said vnto Moses, How long will this people prouoke me, and howe long will it be, yer they beleeue me, for al the signes which I haue shewed among them?

Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence and destroy them, and will make thee a greater nation and mightier then they.

Numbers 14:13 But Moses saide vnto the Lord, When the Egyptians shall heare it, (for thou broughtest this people by thy power from among them)

Numbers 14:14 Then they shall say to the inhabitants of this land, (for they haue heard that thou, Lord, art among this people, and that thou, Lord, art seene face to face, and that thy cloude standeth ouer them, and that thou goest before them by day time in a pillar of a cloude, and in a pillar of fire by night)

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "smite", "pestilence", "destroy", "make", "thee", "greater", "nation", and "mightier". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "smite" and "pestilence", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And the Lord said vnto Moses How..." into verse 13's "But Moses saide vnto the Lord When...", so "smite" and "pestilence" 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 "smite" and "pestilence" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.