Deuteronomy 2:14-15

2:14 Now the length of time it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to die, just as the Lord had vowed to them. 2:15 Indeed, it was the very hand of the Lord that eliminated them from within ¹  the camp until they were all gone.

Numbers 14:22-30

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ²  me now these ten times, ³  and have not obeyed me, ⁴  14:23 they will by no means ⁵  see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it. 14:24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully – I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants ⁶  will possess it. 14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) ⁷  Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”

14:26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 14:27 “How long must I bear ⁸  with this evil congregation ⁹  that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me. 14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, ¹⁰  says ¹¹  the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. ¹²  14:29 Your dead bodies ¹³  will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. 14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where ¹⁴  I swore ¹⁵  to settle ¹⁶  you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 32:8-13

32:8 Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 32:9 When ¹⁷  they went up to the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they frustrated the intent of the Israelites so that they did not enter ¹⁸  the land that the Lord had given ¹⁹  them. 32:10 So the anger of the Lord was kindled that day, and he swore, 32:11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, ²⁰  not ²¹  one of the men twenty years old and upward ²²  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ²³  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 32:12 except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’ 32:13 So the Lord’s anger was kindled against the Israelites, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all that generation that had done wickedly before ²⁴  the Lord was finished. ²⁵ 

Psalms 95:11

95:11 So I made a vow in my anger,

‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’” ²⁶ 

Ezekiel 20:15

20:15 I also swore ²⁷  to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them to the land I had given them – a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

Hebrews 3:8-11

3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

3:9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, ²⁸  and they saw my works for forty years.

3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering ²⁹  and they have not known my ways.’

3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ³⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “from the middle of.” Although many recent English versions leave this expression untranslated, the point seems to be that these soldiers did not die in battle but “within the camp.”

² tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

³ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

⁴ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

⁵ tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see…,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.

⁶ tn Heb “seed.”

⁷ sn The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south – unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.

⁸ tn The figure is aposiopesis, or sudden silence. The main verb is deleted from the line, “how long…this evil community.” The intensity of the emotion is the reason for the ellipsis.

⁹ sn It is worth mentioning in passing that this is one of the Rabbinic proof texts for having at least ten men to form a congregation and have prayer. If God called ten men (the bad spies) a “congregation,” then a congregation must have ten men. But here the word “community/congregation” refers in this context to the people of Israel as a whole, not just to the ten spies.

¹⁰ sn Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the Lord lives,” or “by the life of the Lord,” are ways to render it.

¹¹ tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the Lord” is equal to saying “the Lord says.”

¹² tn Heb “in my ears.”

¹³ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).

¹⁴ tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”

¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.

¹⁶ tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”

¹⁷ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the parallel yet chronologically later verb in the next clause.

¹⁸ tn The infinitive construct here with lamed (ל) is functioning as a result clause.

¹⁹ tn The Lord had not given it yet, but was going to give it. Hence, the perfect should be classified as a perfect of resolve.

²⁰ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

²¹ tn The sentence begins with “if they see….” This is the normal way for Hebrew to express a negative oath – “they will by no means see….” The sentence is elliptical; it is saying something like “[May God do so to me] if they see,” meaning they won’t see. Of course here God is taking the oath, which is an anthropomorphic act. He does not need to take an oath, and certainly could not swear by anyone greater, but it communicates to people his resolve.

²² tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

²³ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

²⁴ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

²⁵ tn The verb is difficult to translate, since it has the idea of “complete, finish” (תָּמָם, tamam). It could be translated “consumed” in this passage (so KJV, ASV); NASB “was destroyed.”

²⁶ tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).

²⁷ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

²⁸ tn Grk “tested me by trial.”

²⁹ tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”

³⁰ tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.