Bible Strands
Numbers 14:44
But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The rebellious Israelites attempt to advance into the hill country after Moses explicitly warned them that God would not go with them.
The words — The Hebrew verb יַעְפִּלוּ (ya'fillû) indicates acting with presumption or bold defiance, while רֹאשׁ הָהָר (rôš hāhār) literally means the "top of the hill country."
The thread — The narrative notes that neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp, a detail that contrasts with their normal journeying in Numbers 10:33 and echoes the failed ascent warned in Deuteronomy 1:43.
Why it lands — The text records their unauthorized advance to establish that operating outside divine command and presence results in immediate rout.
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
But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 1:43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.
- 1 Samuel 4:3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”
- Numbers 10:33 So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.
- Numbers 15:30 But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
- Numbers 31:6 And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.