Numbers 20:12

The Lord’s Judgment

20:12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough ¹  to show me as holy ²  before ³  the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” ⁴ 

Numbers 27:14

27:14 For ⁵  in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you ⁶  rebelled against my command ⁷  to show me as holy ⁸  before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

Isaiah 5:16

5:16 The Lord who commands armies will be exalted ⁹  when he punishes, ¹⁰ 

the sovereign God’s authority will be recognized when he judges. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 29:23

29:23 For when they see their children,

whom I will produce among them, ¹² 

they will honor ¹³  my name.

They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; ¹⁴ 

they will respect ¹⁵  the God of Israel.

[20:12]  ¹ tn Or “to sanctify me.”

[20:12]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[20:12]  ⁴ 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.

[27:14]  ⁵ tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”

[27:14]  ⁶ tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.

[27:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “mouth.”

[27:14]  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.

[5:16]  ⁹ tn Or “elevated”; TEV “the Lord Almighty shows his greatness.”

[5:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “by judgment/justice.” When God justly punishes the evildoers denounced in the preceding verses, he will be recognized as a mighty warrior.

[5:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The holy God will be set apart by fairness.” In this context God’s holiness is his sovereign royal authority, which implies a commitment to justice (see the note on the phrase “the sovereign king of Israel” in 1:4). When God judges evildoers as they deserve, his sovereignty will be acknowledged.

[29:23]  ¹² tn Heb “for when he sees his children, the work of my hands in his midst.”

[29:23]  ¹³ tn Or “treat as holy” (also in the following line); NASB, NRSV “will sanctify.”

[29:23]  ¹⁴ sn Holy One of Jacob is similar to the phrase “Holy One of Israel” common throughout Isaiah; see the sn at Isa 1:4.

[29:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “fear,” in the sense of “stand in awe of.”