Numbers 14:27

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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תְּלֻנּ֞וֹת

tᵉlûwnâh

H8519

“murmurings of”

Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct

Appears 9× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 16:7

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H3885 in the sense of obstinacy

TWOT: 1097a

murmuring

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

18: words
14: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is תְּלֻנּ֞וֹת murmuring H8519 — appearing just 9 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

תְּלֻנּ֞וֹת murmuring H8519 occurs in 7 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
4 nouns
1 adjective
3 pronouns
3 prepositions
4 particles

Verb forms

מַלִּינִ֖ים Hiphil · Participle Active
מַלִּינִ֛ים Hiphil · Participle Active
שָׁמָֽעְתִּי Qal · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

מַלִּינִ֖ים to lodge H3885 ×2
עָלָ֑י upon H5921 ×2
אֲשֶׁ֛ר which H834 ×2
הֵ֥מָּה they H1992 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 28 words from the Hebrew and 29 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 18 Hebrew tokens and 22 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 14:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 16:12 "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, 'At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.'"
1 Corinthians 10:10 Neither grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer.
Exodus 16:28 Yahweh said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
Numbers 14:11 Yahweh said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
Mark 9:19 He answered him, "Unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me."

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 14:27 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

עַד מָתַ֗י לָעֵדָ֤ה הָֽרָעָה֙ הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר הֵ֥מָּה מַלִּינִ֖ים עָלָ֑י אֶת תְּלֻנּ֞וֹת בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֵ֧מָּה מַלִּינִ֛ים עָלַ֖י שָׁמָֽעְתִּי

How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 14:27 Septuagint · lemma form

ἕως τίς ὁ συναγωγή ὁ πονηρός οὗτος ὅς αὐτός γογγύζω ἐναντίον ἐγώ ὁ γόγγυσις ὁ υἱός ἰσραήλ ὅς γογγύζω περί σύ ἀκούω

How long shall I endure this wicked congregation? I have heard their murmurings against me, even the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they have murmured concerning you.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Pulpit Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

עַד אֵימָתַי לִכְנִשְׁתָּא בִישָׁתָא הָדָא דִי אִנוּן מִתְרַעֲמִין עָלָי יָת תֻּרְעֲמַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל דִי אִנוּן מִתְרַעֲמִין עֲלַי שְׁמִיעַ קֳדָמָי

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

עַד אֵימַת לִכְנִישְׁתָּא בִישָׁתָא דְמִתְחַבְּרִין עָלַי יַת תּוּרְעֲמוּת בְּנֵי יִשְרָאֵל דְהִינוּן מִתְרַעֲמִין עָלַי שְׁמִיעַ קֳדָמָי

How long (shall I bear with) this evil congregation who gather together against Me? The murmurs of the sons of Israel which they murmur against Me are heard before Me.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 14:27 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(27) How long shall I bear with this evil congregation . . .?—Or, How long shall I pardon (or forgive), &c. The verb is not expressed in the Hebrew. It is probable that one of the verbs in Num_14:19, pardon or forgive, should be supplied.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

27. How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur &c.] The words shall I bear represent no part of the Heb. text. Something has perhaps dropped out, but the R.V. gives the general sense.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Say unto them, as truly as I live, saith the Lord,.... The form of an oath, as in Num 14:21,

as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you; what they had wished for, and expressed in the hearing of the Lord, he threatens them should be their case.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Bear with, or pardon, as Num 14:19,20, or spare; which words are necessarily and easily understood. It is a short and imperfect speech, which is frequent in case of anger, as Exo 32:32; Psa 6:3; 90:13.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

THE FORMAL SENTENCE OF EXCLUSION, Num_14:26-35.

27. Murmurings are especially offensive to God, because they impeach his wisdom and goodness. Trust in Christ is the cure for all heart troubles, enabling the sinner to rejoice in the forgiveness of the moral evils of his life, and the saint cheerfully to acquiesce in all providential trials as a part of that discipline wisely chosen for the development of the Christian graces. See Joh_14:1, note. Israel’s murmurings are the fruit of his unbelief.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? Literally, "How long this evil congregation, that they murmur against me." Septuagint, ewv tinov ththn ; The verb is supplied from the sense.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

לעדה הרעה וגו׳ [HOW LONG SHALL I BEAR] WITH THIS EVIL CONGREGATION — This refers to the spies (not to the whole congregation); from here we learn that an עדה, “a congregation” is technically a gathering of at least ten persons (Megillah 23b).

אשר המה מלינים [THIS EVIL CONGREGATION] WHICH MAKE the Israelites MURMUR עלי AGAINST ME.

את תלנות בני ישראל אשר המה THE MURMURINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHICH THEY, the spies, מלינים MAKE them MURMUR עלי, AGAINST ME, שמעתי I HAVE HEARD.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Sforno

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno

Until when. Although I have forgiven, as you spoke, and I will give them an extension and not kill them immediately, and not all of them at once, nonetheless, I have not forgiven the congregation of the spies. Those who provoke Me — those who cause others to sin. They take the blame for the sin of the multitude, and I will not grant them any extension. Nevertheless: The complaints of Bnei Yisroel, which they complain against Me, I have heard — and I will set Myself to punish them. Therefore: Say to them…

Sforno on the Tanakh — English translation: “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 18 words (14 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is tᵉlûwnâh (“murmuring”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “murmuring” (tᵉlûwnâh) shape what this verse is saying?
Exodus 16:7 shares the word «murmuring» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to lodge” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «מַלִּינִ֖ים» is Hiphil Participle Active. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 18 Hebrew ↔ 22 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
“to lodge” occurs 2× in this single verse.
14 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 18 words in this verse.