Numbers 14:27 (WEB)

Passage

“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:25 Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn, and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

Numbers 14:26 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Numbers 14:27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

Numbers 14:28 Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you.

Numbers 14:29 Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "long", "shall", "bear", "evil", "congregation", "murmur", "against", and "heard". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "long" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron..." into verse 28's "Tell them As I live says Yahweh...", so "long" and "shall" 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 "long" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.