Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying,
Parallel translations
- WEB Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,
- KJV Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
- BSB If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
- ESV Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say,
- NASB Now if You put this people to death all at once, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
- NLT Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say,
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
Moses warned that destroying Israel as one man would prompt the nations to question God. He continued building his case around God's reputation.
Overview
Moses pressed that wiping out the whole people at once would give the nations occasion to slander the LORD. His concern was that God's name not be dishonored among those who had heard of His fame. The argument reveals a heart aligned with God's own concern for His glory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Judg 6:16Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 14:15 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.