Numbers 14:36 (KJV)

Passage

And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

Numbers 14:35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

Numbers 14:36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

Numbers 14:37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

Numbers 14:38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "moses", "sent", "search", "land", "returned", "congregation", "murmur", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "moses" and "sent", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 35's "I the LORD have said I will..." into verse 37's "Even those men that did bring up...", so "moses" and "sent" 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 "moses" and "sent" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.