Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

NUMBERS 14:29KJV
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Numbers 14:29 (KJV)

What does Numbers 14:29 mean?

Numbers 14:29 means that all the Israelites who were counted in the census, aged twenty years and older, who complained against God, would die in the wilderness instead of entering the promised land. This was a direct consequence of their lack of trust and their grumbling after hearing the negative report about Canaan.

In this verse, God is speaking to the Israelites through Moses after they refused to enter the land of Canaan out of fear. The verse specifically addresses those who were counted (“numbered”) in the earlier census, setting the age at twenty and above. The focus is on those who “murmured” or complained, showing that their rebellion led to this judgment.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 14:29

  • “Carcases” (פֶּגֶר, peger) means dead bodies, emphasizing the finality and seriousness of the judgment.
  • “Fall” (נָפַל, nafal) is often used for dying or being struck down, highlighting that their deaths would happen in the wilderness as a direct result of their actions.
  • “Wilderness” (מִדְבָּר, midbar) refers to the desert area where the Israelites wandered, underlining that their journey would end there rather than in the promised land.
  • “Numbered” (פָּקַד, paqad) and “number” (מִסְפָּר, mispar) both relate to the census, stressing that this decree applied specifically to those who had been officially counted as part of the adult community.
  • “Murmured” (לון, lun) means to complain or grumble, showing that it was their attitude of rebellion and distrust that brought about this consequence.

Why Numbers 14:29 matters

  • Numbers 14:29 clarifies that the punishment was not random but targeted at those who were counted as adults and who had actively complained against God’s plan.
  • This verse connects directly to the earlier census in Numbers, showing the seriousness of being part of the community and the responsibility that came with it.
  • The verse highlights a turning point in Israel’s journey, explaining why that entire generation did not enter the promised land and setting the stage for the next generation’s role.

Where else these words appear

“carcases” Hebrew H6297 · used in 21 verses

  • Genesis 15:11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
  • 2 Chronicles 20:24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
  • Jeremiah 33:5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

“murmured” Hebrew H3885 · used in 79 verses

  • Genesis 19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
  • Joshua 4:3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
  • Job 17:2 Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

“number” Hebrew H4557 · used in 129 verses

  • Genesis 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
  • Deuteronomy 33:6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
  • Ezra 3:4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;

“upward” Hebrew H4605 · used in 134 verses

  • Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
  • Numbers 4:30 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.
  • 2 Chronicles 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.