I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
Parallel translations
- WEB I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
- KJV I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
- NKJV I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
- NASB I will strike them with plague and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”
- NLT I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”
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
God threatened to strike the people with plague and make a greater nation from Moses. This tested both the justice of God and the heart of Moses.
Overview
The LORD proposed to disinherit Israel and start anew through Moses, echoing an earlier offer at Sinai. The threat was righteous, for the people deserved judgment, yet it also drew out Moses' intercession. Moses' refusal to seek his own greatness over the people's good reflects a selfless, Christlike mediation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Exod 32:10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- 2 Sam 24:1Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
- Num 25:9but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
- Num 16:46–49Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”
- 2 Sam 24:12–15“Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”
- Exod 5:3“The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 14:12 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.