Numbers 14:18

‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses God during the wilderness wanderings immediately after the Israelites rebel against the spies' report. He petitions for pardon while invoking the character God previously declared.

The words — The text pairs אֶרֶךְ ('E.rekh) as "long of" with אַפַּ֙יִם֙ ('a.Pa.yim) as "anger" to describe Yahweh's restraint. It also uses חֶ֔סֶד (Che.sed) for "covenant loyalty" and עָוֹ֖ן ('a.Von) for "iniquity" to define the scope of forgiveness and judgment.

The thread — The declaration of divine patience and covenant loyalty matches Exodus 34:6 and Psalms 145:8. The warning that guilt will not go unpunished and will affect subsequent generations parallels Exodus 20:5.

Why it lands — The verse states that God delays wrath and forgives while simultaneously affirming that the guilty will not escape punishment. It requires the reader to hold divine forbearance and divine justice together without resolving the tension.

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

The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Cross-references

Exodus 34:6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
Psalms 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Jonah 4:2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
Nahum 1:2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.
Psalms 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
Deuteronomy 5:9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Jeremiah 23:2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
Romans 3:24 and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.