Numbers 14:12 (KJV)

Passage

I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And 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 unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

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

Numbers 14:13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)

Numbers 14:14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "smite", "pestilence", "disinherit", "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 unto Moses How..." into verse 13's "And Moses said unto the LORD Then...", 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.