Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 14:3
And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
3. wherefore is Jehovah about to bring us ] The rebellious spirit is more flagrantly expressed in Deu 1:27.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
From the instruments they rise higher, and strike at God the chief cause and author of their journey; by which we see the prodigious growth and progress of sin when it is not resisted. Should be a prey to the Canaanites, whose land we were made to believe we should possess.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land,…. Unto the borders of it: their murmuring did not cease at Moses and Aaron, the instruments, but proceeded against God himself, who had done such wonderful things for them, not only in bringing them out of Egypt, but since they had been in the wilderness; and yet so ungrateful to complain of him and argue with him about favours bestowed on them, as if they were injuries done to them; and particularly as if God had no other intention in bringing them out of Egypt to the place where they were, but
to fall by the sword: the sword of the Canaanites, as the Targum of Jonathan adds:
that our wives and our children shall be a prey? to the same people; they supposed they should be killed, their wives abused, and their children made slaves of:
were it not better for us to return into Egypt? and so escape the hands of the inhabitants of Canaan, of whom they had terrible apprehensions from the report made of them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. And wherefore has the Lord brought us into this land? The pride, and even the madness of their impiety here more fully betrays itself, when they accuse God of deception and cruelty, as if tie were betraying them to the Canaanitish nations, and leading them forth to slaughter; for they conclude that they ought not to obey His command, because He would destroy them, and not only so, but that He would at the same time give their wives and children to be a prey. We see how mad is unbelief, when it gives way to itself, since these wretched people do not hesitate to prefer charges against God, and to repay His kindnesses by calling Him their betrayer. But what was the cause of this blasphemous audacity, (54) except that they hear they would have to do with powerful enemies? as if they had not experienced the might of God to be such, that nothing which they might encounter was to be feared whilst He was on their side! At the same time, they also accuse God of weakness, as if He were less powerful than the nations of Canaan. At length their monstrous blindness and senselessness comes to its climax, when they consult as to their return, and, rejecting Moses, set themselves about choosing a leader, who may again deliver them up to Pharaoh. Were they so quickly forgetful how wretched their condition there had been? It was for no fault of theirs, but whilst they were peaceful and harmless guests, that the Egyptians had so cruelly afflicted them, since they were hated by Pharaoh on no other account but because he could not endure their multitude; what, then, was he likely to do, when, for their sakes, he had undergone so many calamities; what humanity, again, was to be expected from that nation which had conspired for their destruction already, when it had suffered no injury from them? Surely there was no house among them which would not long to avenge its first-born! Yet they desire to give themselves up to the will of a most bitter enemy, who, without any cause for ill-will, had proceeded to all sorts of extremities against them. Hence we plainly see that unbelievers are not only blinded by the just vengeance of God, but carried away by a spirit of infatuation, so as to inflict upon themselves the greatest evils.
(54) “D’une audace tant diabolique;” of such diabolical audacity. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land . . .?Better, And wherefore doth the Lord bring us into this land?i.e., the land of Canaan, as clearly appears from the words which follow (comp. Num. 15:18, where the same Hiphil participle is used). The destruction which the Israelites apprehended at this time was not a destruction by famine or drought, but by the sword of the Amorites and of the children of the Anakim. (Comp. Deu. 1:27-28.)
That our wives and our children should be a preyi.e., should fall into the hands of the enemy after their entrance into the land of Canaan. (Comp. Exo. 15:14-17.) It is possible, however, that the land through which the Israelites were passing may be included here and in Num. 14:14.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Wherefore hath Lord They began with opposing God’s faithful ministers; they end by arraigning himself. So men now greatly distress themselves over evils they are never called to endure. Wherefore is not in the vocabulary of faith.
Unto this land Spoken, apparently, of Canaan, to which they had not yet been brought. Thus “they despised the pleasant land; they believed not his word.” Psa 106:24.
To fall by the sword The unbelief of these rebels puts an evil intention for a beneficent purpose on the part of God, and thus maligns his character. Up to this time they seem to have cherished the illusion of a blood. less conquest of Canaan.
A prey Captives and slaves of the victors.
Better to return into Egypt In their dread of the perils before them they overlook the greater evils behind: the sterile wilderness, with no manna from heaven nor water from the smitten rock; no pillar of cloud to go before; no protecting Jehovah to shield them from their foes; no mediating Moses to placate the divine wrath; no home of freedom, but only the lash of the taskmaster for the inheritance of their children forever.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
Ver. 3. Were it not better for us to return into Egypt. ] How could that be better? It is our wisest way, to crush the very first insurrections of unruly passions (do not great storms rise out of little gusts?); to smother the smoke thereof, which else will fume up into the head, and gather into so thick a cloud, as we shall soon lose the sight of ourselves, and what is best to be done.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
wherefore. Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.
were it not . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Lord: Psa 78:40, Jer 9:3
our wives: Num 14:31, Num 14:32
Reciprocal: Num 11:18 – it was well Deu 1:27 – The Lord hated us Deu 1:39 – your little Deu 17:16 – Ye shall henceforth Jos 7:7 – wherefore 1Sa 27:1 – there is nothing Ezr 8:21 – for our little ones Neh 9:17 – refused Act 7:39 – and in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be {b} a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
(b) To our enemies the Canaanites.