Numbers 14:42

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Don't go up, for Yahweh isn't among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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תִּנָּ֣גְפ֔וּ

nâgaph

H5062

“to strike”

Verb, Niphal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural

Appears 49× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 8:2

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1294

to strike, smite - (Qal) to strike, smite - (Niphal) to be stricken, be smitten - (Hithpael) to stumble

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 →

10: words
10: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

תִּנָּ֣גְפ֔וּ to strike H5062 occurs in 46 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
3 nouns
1 conjunction
3 particles

Verb forms

תַּעֲל֔וּ Qal · Jussive
תִּנָּ֣גְפ֔וּ Niphal · Imperfect
אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם Qal · Participle Active

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 17 words from the Hebrew and 20 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 10 Hebrew tokens and 15 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 14:42 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Deuteronomy 1:42 Yahweh said to me, Tell them, Don't go up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.
Joshua 7:8 Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!
Joshua 7:12 Therefore the children of Israel can't stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed: I will not be with you any more, except you destroy the devoted thing from among you.
Psalms 44:1–11 We have heard with our ears, God; Our fathers have told us, What work you did in their days, In the days of old.

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 14:42 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

אַֽל תַּעֲל֔וּ כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין יְהוָ֖ה בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם וְלֹא֙ תִּנָּ֣גְפ֔וּ לִפְנֵ֖י אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם

Don't go up, for Yahweh isn't among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 14:42 Septuagint · lemma form

μή ἀναβαίνω οὐ γάρ εἰμί κύριος μετά σύ καί πίπτω πρό πρόσωπον ὁ ἐχθρός σύ

Go not up, for the Lord is not with you; so shall you⌃ fall before the face of your enemies.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

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)

לָא תִסְקוּן אֲרֵי לֵית שְׁכִנְתָּא דַיְיָ בֵּינֵיכוֹן וְלָא תִתַּבְּרוּן קֳדָם בַּעֲלֵי דְבָבֵיכוֹן

(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)

לָא תִסְקוּן אֲרוּם לֵית שְׁכִינְתָּא דַיְיָ שַׁרְיָא בֵּינֵיכוֹן וַאֲרוֹנָא וּמַשְׁכְּנָא וַעֲנַנֵי יְקָרָא לֵיתֵיהוֹן מְטַיְילִין וְלָא תִתְבְּרוּן קֳדָם בַּעֲלֵי דְבָבֵיכוֹן

Go not up, for the Lord's Shekinah dwelleth not among you; and the ark, the tabernacle, and the Cloud of Glory proceed not; and be not crushed before your enemies.

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 14:42 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

(42) Go not up, for the Lord is not among you.—Moses had already received the command which is contained in Num_14:25. He knew, therefore, that the Israelites would not have the guidance of the cloud, the visible token of the Divine presence.

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

John Gill's Exposition

For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you,.... Having removed from the valley, Num 14:25; or else had detached a party to defend the pass on the top of the mountain, and where perhaps they designed to feign a retreat if they found it proper, and draw them into a combat in the valley:

and ye shall fall by the sword: by the sword of the Amalekites and Canaanites:

because ye are turned away from the Lord: from the word of the Lord, from hearkening to and obeying his command:

therefore the Lord will not be with you; the consequence of which must be bad for them.

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

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

42. For the Lord is not among you — His protecting presence will not shield you. In this invisible presence, symbolized by the shekinah, Moses trusted with unwavering confidence. See Exo_33:15. But Israel, alas! did not share his confidence. This warning is prompted by a tender and loving heart, as are all the divine threatenings. They are as a hedge of thorns to keep men from stumbling over the precipice of eternal ruin. “It is not the doing this or that, nor the circumstance of outwardly belonging to Israel, which secures victory over the enemy or possession of the land. It is that Jehovah is among us. The victory is ever of faith.” — Edersheim.

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

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 10 words (10 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is nâgaph (“to strike”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word nâgaph carries the sense “to strike.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Exodus 8:2, which shares the word «to strike», read alongside this verse?
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?
«תַּעֲל֔וּ» is a Qal Jussive verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers and John Gill's Exposition read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 10 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 12 words in this verse.
10 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 10 words in this verse.