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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.
Numbers 14:23 · New American 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:
  • BSB 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.
  • 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.
  • 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‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me,
  • Num 26:64But among these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
  • Ezek 20:15Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
  • Deut 1:35–45“Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers,
  • Heb 3:17–18With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
  • Heb 4:3For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest”; although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
  • Ps 95:11Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”
  • Ps 106:26Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,
  • Neh 9:23You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

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.