Deuteronomy 1:34-35

Judgment at Kadesh Barnea

1:34 When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: ¹  1:35 “Not a single person ²  of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors!

Numbers 14:28-35

14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, ³  says ⁴  the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. ⁵  14:29 Your dead bodies ⁶  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 ⁷  I swore ⁸  to settle ⁹  you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 14:31 But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, ¹⁰  and they will enjoy ¹¹  the land that you have despised. 14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, 14:33 and your children will wander ¹²  in the wilderness forty years and suffer for your unfaithfulness, ¹³  until your dead bodies lie finished ¹⁴  in the wilderness. 14:34 According to the number of the days you have investigated this land, forty days – one day for a year – you will suffer for ¹⁵  your iniquities, forty years, and you will know what it means to thwart me. ¹⁶  14:35 I, the Lord, have said, “I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!”’”

Numbers 26:64-65

26:64 But there was not a man among these who had been ¹⁷  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, ¹⁸  not ¹⁹  one of the men twenty years old and upward ²⁰  who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give ²¹  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

Psalms 90:3

90:3 You make mankind return ²²  to the dust, ²³ 

and say, “Return, O people!”

Psalms 90:9

90:9 Yes, ²⁴  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ²⁵ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ²⁶ 

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.’” ²⁷ 

Ezekiel 20:15

20:15 I also swore ²⁸  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 3:8-19

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, ²⁹  and they saw my works for forty years.

3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering ³⁰  and they have not known my ways.’

3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ³¹ 

3:12 See to it, ³²  brothers and sisters, ³³  that none of you has ³⁴  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ³⁵  the living God. ³⁶  3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence ³⁷  firm until the end. 3:15 As it says, ³⁸  “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ³⁹  Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ⁴⁰  3:16 For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership? ⁴¹  3:17 And against whom was God ⁴²  provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? ⁴³  3:18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? 3:19 So ⁴⁴  we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

Jude 1:5

1:5 Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts ⁴⁵  once for all ⁴⁶ ) that Jesus, ⁴⁷  having saved the ⁴⁸  people out of the land of Egypt, later ⁴⁹  destroyed those who did not believe.

[1:34]  ¹ tn Heb “and swore,” i.e., made an oath or vow.

[1:35]  ² tn Heb “Not a man among these men.”

[14:28]  ³ 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.

[14:28]  ⁴ 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.”

[14:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “in my ears.”

[14:29]  ⁶ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).

[14:30]  ⁷ tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”

[14:30]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.

[14:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”

[14:31]  ¹⁰ tn Or “plunder.”

[14:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “know.”

[14:33]  ¹² tn The word is “shepherds.” It means that the people would be wilderness nomads, grazing their flock on available land.

[14:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “you shall bear your whoredoms.” The imagery of prostitution is used throughout the Bible to reflect spiritual unfaithfulness, leaving the covenant relationship and following after false gods. Here it is used generally for their rebellion in the wilderness, but not for following other gods.

[14:33]  ¹⁴ tn The infinitive is from תָּמַם (tamam), which means “to be complete.” The word is often used to express completeness in a good sense – whole, blameless, or the like. Here and in v. 35 it seems to mean “until your deaths have been completed.” See also Gen 47:15; Deut 2:15.

[14:34]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you shall bear.”

[14:34]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase refers to the consequences of open hostility to God, or perhaps abandonment of God. The noun תְּנוּאָה (tÿnu’ah) occurs in Job 33:10 (perhaps). The related verb occurs in Num 30:6 HT (30:5 ET) and 32:7 with the sense of “disallow, discourage.” The sense of the expression adopted in this translation comes from the meticulous study of R. Loewe, “Divine Frustration Exegetically Frustrated,” Words and Meanings, 137-58.

[26:64]  ¹⁷ tn “who had been” is added to clarify the text.

[32:11]  ¹⁸ tn The clause is difficult; it means essentially that “they have not made full [their coming] after” the Lord.

[32:11]  ¹⁹ 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.

[32:11]  ²⁰ tc The LXX adds “those knowing bad and good.”

[32:11]  ²¹ tn The words “to give” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[90:3]  ²² tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.

[90:3]  ²³ tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (daka’) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.

[90:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ²⁶ 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.”

[95:11]  ²⁷ 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).

[20:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

[3:9]  ²⁹ tn Grk “tested me by trial.”

[3:10]  ³⁰ tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”

[3:11]  ³¹ tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.

[3:12]  ³² tn Or “take care.”

[3:12]  ³³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:12]  ³⁴ tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”

[3:12]  ³⁵ tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”

[3:12]  ³⁶ tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”

[3:14]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”

[3:15]  ³⁸ tn Grk “while it is said.”

[3:15]  ³⁹ tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”

[3:15]  ⁴⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 95:7b-8.

[3:16]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “through Moses.”

[3:17]  ⁴² tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:17]  ⁴³ sn An allusion to God’s judgment pronounced in Num 14:29, 32.

[3:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate a summary or conclusion to the argument of the preceding paragraph.

[1:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “knowing all things.” The subject of the participle “knowing” (εἰδότας, eidota") is an implied ὑμᾶς (Jumas), though several ancient witnesses actually add it. The πάντα (panta) takes on an adverbial force in this context (“fully”), intensifying how acquainted the readers are with the following points.

[1:5]  ⁴⁶ tc ‡ Some translations take ἅπαξ (Japax) with the following clause (thus, “[Jesus,] having saved the people once for all”). Such a translation presupposes that ἅπαξ is a part of the ὅτι (Joti) clause. The reading of NA²⁷, πάντα ὅτι [ὁ] κύριος ἅπαξ (panta {oti [Jo] kurio" {apax), suggests this interpretation (though with “Lord” instead of “Jesus”). This particle is found before λαόν (laon) in the ὅτι clause in א C* Ψ 630 1241 1243 1505 1739 1846 1881 pc co. But ἅπαξ is found before the ὅτι clause in most witnesses, including several important ones (Ì⁷² A B C² 33 81 623 2344 Ï vg). What seems best able to explain the various placements of the adverb is that scribes were uncomfortable with ἅπαξ referring to the readers’ knowledge, feeling it was more appropriate to the theological significance of “saved” (σώσας, swsas).

[1:5]  ⁴⁷ tc ‡ The reading ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) is deemed too hard by several scholars, since it involves the notion of Jesus acting in the early history of the nation Israel. However, not only does this reading enjoy the strongest support from a variety of early witnesses (e.g., A B 33 81 1241 1739 1881 2344 pc vg co Or^1739mg), but the plethora of variants demonstrate that scribes were uncomfortable with it, for they seemed to exchange κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) or θεός (qeos, “God”) for ᾿Ιησοῦς (though Ì⁷² has the intriguing reading θεὸς Χριστός [qeos Cristos, “God Christ”] for ᾿Ιησοῦς). In addition to the evidence supplied in NA²⁷ for this reading, note also {88 322 323 424^c 665 915 2298 eth Cyr Hier Bede}. As difficult as the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is, in light of v. 4 and in light of the progress of revelation (Jude being one of the last books in the NT to be composed), it is wholly appropriate.

[1:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Or perhaps “a,” though this is less likely.

[1:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “the second time.”