Numbers 14:12 (YLT)

Passage

I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.'

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:10 And all the company say to stone them with stones, and the honour of Jehovah hath appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the sons of Israel.

Numbers 14:11 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Until when doth this people despise Me? and until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst?

Numbers 14:12 I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.'

Numbers 14:13 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `Then have the Egyptians heard! for Thou hast brought up with Thy power this people out of their midst,

Numbers 14:14 and they have said <FI>it<Fi> unto the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that Thou, Jehovah, <FI>art<Fi> in the midst of this people, that eye to eye Thou art seen--O Jehovah, and Thy cloud is standing over them, --and in a pillar of cloud Thou art going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "smite", "pestilence", "dispossess", "make", "thee", "become", "nation", and "greater". 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 Jehovah saith unto Moses Until when..." into verse 13's "And Moses saith unto Jehovah Then have...", 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.