James 3:17-18

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ¹  full of mercy and good fruit, ²  impartial, and not hypocritical. ³  3:18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness ⁴  is planted ⁵  in peace among ⁶  those who make peace.

Numbers 20:11-12

20:11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.

The Lord’s Judgment

20:12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough ⁷  to show me as holy ⁸  before ⁹  the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” ¹⁰ 

Numbers 20:2

20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron.

Numbers 2:24-25

2:24 All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim, according to their divisions, are 108,100. They will travel third.

The Tribes on the North

2:25 “On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan, under their standards. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

[3:17]  ¹ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ² tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ³ tn Or “sincere.”

[3:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “the fruit of righteousness,” meaning righteous living as a fruit, as the thing produced.

[3:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “is sown.”

[3:18]  ⁶ tn Or “for,” or possibly “by.”

[20:12]  ⁷ tn Or “to sanctify me.”

[20:12]  ⁸ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.

[20:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[20:12]  ¹⁰ tn There is debate as to exactly what the sin of Moses was. Some interpreters think that the real sin might have been that he refused to do this at first, but that fact has been suppressed from the text. Some think the text was deliberately vague to explain why they could not enter the land without demeaning them. Others simply, and more likely, note that in Moses there was unbelief, pride, anger, impatience – disobedience.