Bible Strands
Numbers 14:36
So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land—
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the Israelite congregation in the wilderness immediately after the twelve spies return from scouting Canaan. The verse identifies the specific group being condemned: the men Moses commissioned to survey the territory.
The words — The Hebrew text highlights וְ/הָ֣/אֲנָשִׁ֔ים (ve./Ha./'a.na.Shim, "and the men") and לָ/ת֣וּר (la./Tur, "to spy out"). These terms anchor the narrative to the specific agents Moses dispatched to evaluate the land.
The thread — This group reappears in Numbers 13:4 as the named representatives of the tribes and in Numbers 13:31 when they report the inhabitants are too strong. The narrative continues in Numbers 14:37 where these same men are struck down by a plague.
Why it lands — The verse isolates the messengers responsible for sowing fear, establishing direct accountability for their report. It demands recognition that leadership commissioning does not immunize individuals from the consequences of their words.
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 men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
Cross-references
- Numbers 13:31 But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
- Numbers 13:4 and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;