New King James Version
Numbers 14:4
4So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return 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 Living Translation (NLT)Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
Context of Numbers 14:4
2And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” 5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
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 17:16But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’
- Deuteronomy 28:68“And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
- Nehemiah 9:16“But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments.
- Luke 17:32Remember Lot’s wife.
- Acts 7:39whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,
- Hebrews 10:38Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Hebrews 11:15And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
- 2 Peter 2:21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries