Numbers 14:21

14:21 But truly, as I live, ¹  all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Numbers 14:23

14:23 they will by no means ²  see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.

Numbers 26:64-65

26:64 But there was not a man among these who had been ³  among those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai. 26:65 For the Lord had said of them, “They will surely die in the wilderness.” And there was not left a single man of them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 32:11

32:11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, ⁴  not ⁵  one of the men twenty years old and upward ⁶  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ⁷  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

Deuteronomy 1:35

1:35 “Not a single person ⁸  of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors!

Psalms 90:8-9

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ⁹ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ¹⁰ 

90:9 Yes, ¹¹  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ¹² 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ¹³ 

Hebrews 3:17

3:17 And against whom was God ¹⁴  provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁵ 

¹ sn This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.

² 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.

³ tn “who had been” is added to clarify the text.

⁴ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

⁷ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “Not a man among these men.”

⁹ tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.

¹¹ tn Or “for.”

¹² tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

¹³ tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

¹⁵ sn An allusion to God’s judgment pronounced in Num 14:29, 32.