Numbers 14:42 (KJV)

Passage

Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

Numbers 14:41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.

Numbers 14:42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

Numbers 14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.

Numbers 14:44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lord", "smitten", "before", and "enemies". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lord" and "smitten", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 41's "And Moses said Wherefore now do ye..." into verse 43's "For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are...", so "lord" and "smitten" 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 "lord" and "smitten" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.