For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
- KJV For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
- NKJV For the Lord had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” So there was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
- NASB For the Lord had said of them, “They shall certainly die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
- NLT For the Lord had said of them, “They will all die in the wilderness.” Not one of them survived except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
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
Only Caleb and Joshua survived from the first generation, just as Yahweh had said.
Overview
The two faithful spies, Caleb and Joshua, alone outlived the judgment because they had wholly followed the Lord (Numbers 14:24, 30). Their survival proves God's word true in both judgment and mercy, and it commends the faith that takes God at His promise, the faith by which the righteous live and inherit His rest.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Cor 10:5–6Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
- Num 14:38Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
- Rom 11:22Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
- 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?
- Ps 90:3–7You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”
- Num 14:28–30So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.
- Num 14:35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”
- Exod 12:37The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.
- Deut 2:14–15The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
- Jude 1:5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.
- Num 14:23–24not 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.
- Josh 14:6–10Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me.
- Deut 32:49–50“Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their own possession.
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 26:65 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.