Limitless Word
not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.
Numbers 14:23 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it.
  • KJV Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
  • NKJV they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.
  • NASB shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it.
  • NLT They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.

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 declared that none of these who despised Him would see the promised land. Unbelief barred that generation from the inheritance.

Overview

The LORD swore that the rebellious generation would never enter the land promised to their fathers. Their contempt for God forfeited the gift He had freely offered. Hebrews uses this as a warning that unbelief excludes from God's rest, urging believers to hold fast their confidence.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Num 32:11‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—
  • Num 26:64Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.
  • Ezek 20:15Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands—
  • Deut 1:35–45“Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers,
  • Heb 3:17–18And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
  • Heb 4:3Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world.
  • Ps 95:11So I swore on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”
  • Ps 106:26So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness,
  • Neh 9:23You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 14:23YouTube · 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 14:23 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.