God’s Word Translation
Numbers 14:4
4They said to each other, “Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
Numbers 14:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
- New International Version (NIV)And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
- New King James Version (NKJV)So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
Context of Numbers 14:4
2They complained to Moses and Aaron, “If only we had died in Egypt or this desert! 3Why is the Lord bringing us to this land—just to have us die in battle? Our wives and children will be taken as prisoners of war! Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” They said to each other, “Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 5Immediately, Moses and Aaron bowed with their faces touching the ground in front of the whole community of Israel assembled there. 6At the same time, two of those who had explored the land, Joshua (son of Nun) and Caleb (son of Jephunneh), tore their clothes in despair.
Read all of Numbers 14Numbers 14:4 word by word
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֑יו נִתְּנָ֥ה רֹ֖אשׁ וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 14:4
- Deuteronomy 17:16The king must never own a large number of horses or make the people return to Egypt to get more horses. The Lord has told you, “You will never go back there again.”
- Deuteronomy 28:68The Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships on a journey that I said you would never take again. There you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you.
- Nehemiah 9:16But they—our own ancestors—acted arrogantly. They became stubborn and wouldn’t obey your commands.
- Luke 17:32Remember Lot’s wife!
- Acts 7:39but our ancestors were not willing to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt.
- Hebrews 10:38The person who has God’s approval will live by faith. But if he turns back, I will not be pleased with him.”
- Hebrews 11:15If they had been thinking about the country that they had left, they could have found a way to go back.
- 2 Peter 2:21It would have been better for them never to have known the way of life that God approves of than to know it and turn their backs on the holy life God told them to live.
Commentaries on Numbers 14:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Let us make a captain - Here was a formal renunciation of the authority of Moses, and flat rebellion against God. And it seems from Nehemiah 9:17; that they had actually appointed another leader, under whose direction they were about to return to Egypt. How astonishing is this! Their lives were made bitter, because of the rigor with which they were made to serve in the land of Egypt; and yet they are willing, yea eager, to get back into the same…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4The threats they complained about were real, but the Israelites should have trusted the Lord. In the ancient Near East, victors often took wives and children as plunder after battles. go back to Egypt: The Israelites quickly forgot their slavery and the difficulties of the wilderness (Exodus 2:23–24; Numbers 11:1).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-42-4. Would God that we had died in Egypt--Such insolence to their generous leaders, and such base ingratitude to God, show the deep degradation of the Israelites, and the absolute necessity of the decree that debarred that generation from entering the promised land [Nu 14:29-35]. They were punished by their wishes being granted to die in that wilderness [He 3:17; Jude 5]. A leader to reconduct them to Egypt is spoken of (Ne 9:17) as actually nominated…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 14:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries