But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

NUMBERS 14:31KJV
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Numbers 14:31 (KJV)

What does Numbers 14:31 mean?

Numbers 14:31 says that the children of the Israelites, whom the people feared would become victims, will actually be the ones God brings into the promised land, and they will experience the land that their parents rejected. This verse highlights a reversal: those thought to be most vulnerable will receive what the previous generation despised.

In this verse, God is speaking to the Israelites after they refused to enter Canaan out of fear. The people had claimed that their children would be taken as "prey" if they tried to enter the land. God responds by promising that these very children will enter and know the land, while the adults who doubted will not. The verse underscores God's faithfulness despite the people's lack of trust.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 14:31

  • "prey" (בַּז, baz): This word means spoil or plunder, something taken by force. The Israelites had said their children would be taken as spoil by enemies, but God turns this fear on its head, promising safety and blessing instead.
  • "despised" (מָאַס, ma'as): This word means to reject or treat with contempt. God points out that the parents had rejected the land He offered, showing that their exclusion is a direct result of their own attitude, not God's unwillingness to give.

Why Numbers 14:31 matters

  • Numbers 14:31 clears up the misunderstanding that God would abandon the vulnerable; instead, God protects and honors those whom the people thought would suffer most.
  • The verse emphasizes personal responsibility: the adults' own rejection of God's promise leads to their loss, not the supposed danger to their children.
  • This verse connects to the larger story of the wilderness generation, showing that God's promises continue even when people fail, and that faith (or lack of it) has real consequences for individuals and communities.

Where else these words appear

“prey” Hebrew H957 · used in 25 verses

  • Numbers 14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
  • Jeremiah 15:13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
  • Ezekiel 29:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

“ones” Hebrew H2945 · used in 42 verses

  • Genesis 34:29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
  • Numbers 31:9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
  • Joshua 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;

“despised” Hebrew H3988 · used in 69 verses

  • Leviticus 26:15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
  • Job 31:13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
  • Isaiah 41:9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.