Bible Strands
Numbers 32:8
This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Reuben and Gad tribes, who are requesting to settle east of the Jordan. He speaks at the precise moment they propose building fortified cities and sheepfolds before the rest of Israel crosses into Canaan.
The words — The Hebrew כֹּה (koh) translates literally as "thus" or "in this manner," framing Moses' historical account. The verb עָשׂוּ ('a.Su) means "they did," anchoring the warning in the concrete actions of the previous generation.
The thread — The verse directly recalls the scouting mission commanded in Numbers 13:2 and the subsequent refusal that triggered the wilderness wandering in Numbers 14:2. It parallels the historical summary in Deuteronomy 1:19, which traces the same journey from Horeb through the Amorite hill country.
Why it lands — The text states that the earlier generation's inspection of the land resulted in discouragement and rebellion. Readers must recognize that current hesitation to advance into the promised territory repeats a documented pattern that forfeits inheritance.
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
Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh–barnea to see the land.
Cross-references
- Numbers 13:2 “Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.”
- Numbers 14:2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Deuteronomy 1:19 And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,
- Joshua 14:6 Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me.