I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
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.”
- BSB I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
- ESV I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater 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 quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
- 2 Sam 24:1And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
- Num 25:9And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
- Num 16:46–49And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
- 2 Sam 24:12–15Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
- Exod 5:3And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, 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.