Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
- KJV And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
- BSB Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
- NKJV So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
- NASB Then all the congregation raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night.
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 whole congregation broke into loud weeping through the night. Their grief was not repentance but faithless despair over God's promise.
Overview
The community's response to the evil report was a night of crying that gave way to open rebellion. Their tears flowed from unbelief rather than sorrow for sin. This collapse of faith at the threshold of the promised land became a sober warning, cited in Hebrews, against hardening one's heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Deut 1:45You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn’t listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you.
- Num 11:1–4The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
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 14:1 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.