Limitless Word
however, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
Numbers 14:21 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory;
  • KJV But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
  • BSB “Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,
  • NKJV but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—
  • NLT But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory,

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 swore by His own life and the certainty that His glory would fill all the earth. His ultimate purpose would not be thwarted by Israel's unbelief.

Overview

The LORD took an oath grounded in His eternal life and His unstoppable purpose to fill the earth with His glory. Israel's rebellion could not derail God's redemptive plan. This promise reaches forward to the day when the knowledge of God's glory covers the earth, fulfilled in Christ's reign.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Hab 2:14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Yahweh’s glory, as the waters cover the sea.
  • Ps 72:19Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.
  • Isa 6:3One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
  • Isa 49:18Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and dress yourself with them, like a bride.
  • Deut 32:40For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,
  • Matt 6:10Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
  • Ezek 33:11Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?
  • Ezek 18:3“As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “you shall not use this proverb any more in Israel.
  • Zeph 2:9Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.
  • Ezek 5:11Therefore as I live,’ says the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you. My eye won’t spare, and I will have no pity.
  • Jer 22:24“As I live,” says Yahweh, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck you from there;
  • Ezek 33:27You shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 14:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 14:21 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.