Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 14:37
Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
37. died by a plague ] This is the meaning of the Heb. idiom, although the definite article is used. The Heb. maggphh denotes lit. ‘a smiting,’ as also do and plaga. It is used of any sudden catastrophe inflicted by Jehovah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 37. Those men that did bring up the evil report – died] Thus ten of the twelve that searched out the land were struck dead, by the justice of God, on the spot! Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, alone escaped, because they had followed God fully. Let preachers of God’s word take heed how they straiten the way of salvation, or render, by unjust description, that way perplexed and difficult which God has made plain and easy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either by the pestilence threatened Num 14:12, or by some other sudden and extraordinary judgment, sent from the cloud in which God dwelt, and from whence he spake to Moses, and wherein his glory at this time appeared before all the people, Num 14:10, who therefore were all, and these spies among the rest, before the Lord.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land,…. They, and they only at this time:
died by the plague before the Lord; either by the pestilence immediately sent upon them by the Lord, or by a flash of lightning from him, or in some other way; however, by the immediate hand of God, and in his presence, being in the tabernacle of the congregation,
Nu 14:10; though the Jews differently relate the manner of their death; some say worms came out of their navels, and up to their jaws, and ate them and their tongues; and others that they came out of their tongues, and entered their navels, which they take to be a just retaliation for sinning with their tongues: and the time of their death they differ about; some say, as the Targum of Jonathan, that it was upon the seventh, and others that it was on the seventeenth of Elul or August they died d.
d Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 580. sect. 2. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(37) By the plague.The word maggephah, which is here rendered plague, denotes a stroke. In Exo. 9:14 it is used of the ten plagues of Egypt. In Num. 16:48-49, it is used of the plague which broke out after the insurrection of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and in Num. 25:9-18 of that which broke out after the Israelites had joined in the idolatrous and lascivious rites of the Moabites and Midianites. In 1Sa. 4:17, 2Sa. 17:9; 2Sa. 18:7, it is used of destruction by the sword. It appears to denote in this place sudden death, inflicted by the immediate visitation of the Lord.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
37. By the plague Literally, by the stroke. Thus the Vulgate, percussi, SMITTEN in the presence of the Lord, they died. A sudden and fatal epidemic seized upon them in a supernatural manner, as is indicated by the words before the Lord, that is, immediately from Jehovah without the intervention of any second cause. Thus Israel received a practical proof of the awfulness of their sentence from the mouth of God. This solemn judgment, when publicly announced to the people by Moses, caused a vivid realization of the greatness of their guilt, and they mourned greatly.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 14:37. Died by the plague, &c. Rather, were struck dead before the Lord, who immediately gave them this terrible proof of his wrath, and pledge of the performance of what he had denounced and promised.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
those men: Thus ten of the twelve who searched out the land were struck dead, by the justice of God, on the spot. In commemoration of this event, the Jews, to this day, celebrate a fast, on the seventh day of the month Elul.
died: Num 14:12, Num 16:49, Num 25:9, Jer 28:16, Jer 28:17, Jer 29:32, 1Co 10:10, Heb 3:17, Jud 1:5
Reciprocal: Num 13:32 – brought Num 20:3 – when Num 22:33 – surely Psa 91:3 – and from Psa 91:7 – General Luk 19:27 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 14:37-38. By the plague Either by the pestilence, or by some other sudden and extraordinary judgment, sent from the cloud in which God dwelt, and from whence he spake to Moses, and wherein his glory at this time appeared before all the people, (Num 14:10,) who therefore were all, and these spies among the rest, before the Lord. But Joshua and Caleb lived still Death never misses his mark, nor takes any by oversight who were designed for life, though in the midst of those that are to die.