Numbers 14:16 (LSB)

Passage

‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, for You, O Yahweh, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

Numbers 14:15 Now if You put this people to death as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,

Numbers 14:16 ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

Numbers 14:17 So now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared,

Numbers 14:18 ‘Yahweh is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Now if You put this people to..." into verse 17's "So now I pray let the power...", so "yahweh" and "able" 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 "yahweh" and "able" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.