Bible Strands
Numbers 14:37
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate consequence of the Israelites' rebellion at Kadesh-barnea, detailing the fate of the ten spies who returned from scouting. This event occurs during the wilderness wanderings as divine judgment follows the congregation's refusal to enter the Promised Land.
The words — The phrase מוֹצִאֵי דִבַּת הָאָרֶץ רָעָה (mo.tzi.'Ei di.bat ha.'A.retz ra.'Ah) literally means "those bringing out an unfavorable report of the land." The verb וַיָּמֻתוּ (va.i.ya.Mu.tu) states plainly that they died by plague.
The thread — This judgment fulfills God's prior warning in Numbers 14:12 to strike the people with a plague and aligns with Paul's citation of the destroying angel in 1 Corinthians 10:10. The broader plague toll of 14,700 recorded in Numbers 16:49 places this event within a larger pattern of wilderness discipline.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that vocal opposition to a declared divine outcome triggers immediate judgment. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of whether personal complaints function as rebellion against established instruction.
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
Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 10:10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
- Numbers 16:49 But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.
- Numbers 14:12 I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
- Hebrews 3:17 And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
- Numbers 25:9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
- Jeremiah 28:16 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”
- Jeremiah 29:32 this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”
- Jude 1:5 Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.