For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moreover Yahweh’s hand was against them, to destroy them from the middle of the camp, until they were consumed.
- BSB Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.
- NKJV For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.
- NASB Indeed, the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.
- NLT The Lord struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The LORD's hand was against that generation until they were entirely consumed. God Himself enacted the judgment He had pronounced.
Overview
This verse attributes the dying out of the war generation directly to God's hand, underscoring that their end was divine judgment, not mere natural attrition. God's holiness will not leave persistent unbelief unaddressed. Yet this judgment also fulfilled His word and prepared the way for the promise to advance. The seriousness of God's hand against sin magnifies the mercy of the gospel, where that judgment falls on Christ in the place of His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 106:26Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:
- 1 Cor 10:5But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
- Judg 2:15Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
- Ps 32:4For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
- 1 Sam 5:9And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
- Ps 78:33Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
- 1 Sam 5:6But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
- 1 Sam 7:13So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
- Isa 66:14And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
- 1 Sam 5:11So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
- Ps 90:7–9For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 2:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.