Numbers 14:40

Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Israelites speak to themselves and to God at dawn, immediately after Moses relays God's judgment that they will not enter the Promised Land. They rise and attempt to advance toward the hill country despite the divine prohibition.

The words — וַ/יַּשְׁכִּ֣מוּ (va/i.yash.Ki.mu) means "and they rose early," and וַ/יַּֽעֲל֥וּ (va/i.ya.'a.Lu) means "and they went up." These terms capture the group's immediate, physical response to the night's mourning.

The thread — The same defiant posture appears in Deuteronomy 1:41, where the people claim they will fight as commanded, while Ecclesiastes 9:3 and Matthew 7:21 warn that human resolve apart from divine alignment leads to empty fate or failed entry.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that repentance without obedience is merely movement in the wrong direction. It asks the reader to examine whether their actions align with the specific command previously given.

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

וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣מוּva/i.yash.Ki.muand/ they rose early בַבֹּ֔קֶרva./Bo.kerin the/ morning וַיַּֽעֲל֥וּva/i.ya.'a.Luand/ they went up אֶל־'el-to רֹאשׁ־rosh-[the] top of הָהָ֖רha./Harthe/ hill country לֵאמֹ֑רle./Mor<to>/ saying הִנֶּ֗נּוּhi.Ne./nuhere [are]/ we וְעָלִ֛ינוּve./'a.Li.nuand/ we will go up אֶל־'el-to הַמָּק֛וֹםha./ma.Komthe/ place אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which אָמַ֥ר'a.Marhe said יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh כִּ֥יkithat חָטָֽאנוּ׃cha.Ta.nuwe have sinned

King James Version

And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 1:41 “We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Luke 13:25 After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
Matthew 26:11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me.