Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 2:14
The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite assembly on the plains of Moab, recounting the precise chronological span from Kadesh-barnea to the Brook of Zered.
The words — הָלַ֣כְנוּ (ha.Lakh.nu) means "we walked," and עָבַ֙רְנוּ֙ ('a.Var.nu) means "we passed over," structuring the narrative around measured transit rather than open-ended wandering.
The thread — The timeline fulfills the oath in Deuteronomy 1:34, aligns with the judgment declaration in Numbers 14:28, and corresponds to the census record in Numbers 26:64 where that generation is absent.
Why it lands — The verse documents a finished historical period and a executed divine oath, requiring the reader to recognize the exactness of recorded time and the certainty of covenant enforcement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the space in which we came from Kadesh–barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord sware unto them.
Cross-references
- Numbers 14:28 So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.
- Numbers 26:64 Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.
- Deuteronomy 1:34 When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,
- Psalms 95:11 So I swore on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”
- Ezekiel 20:15 Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands—
- Numbers 13:26 and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
- Deuteronomy 1:2 It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.
- Deuteronomy 1:19 And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,
- Psalms 106:26 So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness,
- Hebrews 3:8 do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,