Numbers 14:16 (WEB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:14 They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and 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 killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,

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

Numbers 14:17 Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying,

Numbers 14:18 ‘Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "yahweh", "able", "bring", "people", "land", "swore", "therefore", and "slain". 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 killed this people as..." into verse 17's "Now please let the power of the...", 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.