Numbers 17:12

Num 17:12-13. Behold we die, we perish — Words of consternation, arising from the remembrance of these severe and repeated judgments, from the threatening of death upon any succeeding murmurings, and from the sense of their own guilt and weakness, which made them fear lest they should relapse into the same miscarriages, and thereby bring the vengeance of God upon themselves. Near — Nearer than he should do; an error which we may easily commit. Will God proceed with us according to his strict justice, till all the people be cut off?

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17:12-13 The Lord and his Tabernacle were holy, and because of God’s holiness, his sanctuary could be a dangerous place for those who were not qualified to enter it. Moses’ efforts to make the people understand and respect the God of Israel were bearing fruit.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Chaldea text describeth thus their murmuring: We die by the sword, the earth swalloweth us up, the pestilence doth consume us.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Behold, we die, we perish--an exclamation of fear, both from the remembrance of former judgments, and the apprehension of future relapses into murmuring.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.] גוענו gavaenu signifies not so much to die simply, as to feel an extreme difficulty of breathing, which, producing suffocation, ends at last in death. See the folly and extravagance of this sinful people. At first, every person might come near to God, for all, they thought, were sufficiently holy, and every way qualified to minister in holy things. Now, no one, in their apprehension, can come near to the tabernacle without being consumed, Nu 17:13. In both cases they were wrong; some there were who might approach, others there were who might not. God had put the difference. His decision should have been final with them; but sinners are ever running into extremes.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12, 13) And the children of Israel spake unto Moses . . . —The special manifestations of Divine power which the Israelites had witnessed excited within them salutary emotions of awe and of anxious apprehension, but do not seem to have awakened within them any corresponding sense of gratitude either for their deliverance from the plague, or for the privileges which they enjoyed by reason of the Divine presence amongst them. The true answer to their inquiry whether they were doomed utterly to perish is contained in the following chapter, in which the priesthood of Christ is typically set forth as bearing the iniquity of the sanctuary, and thus making reconciliation for the sins and securing the acceptance of the imperfect service of His people.

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

12. we expire, we perish, we all perish] This and the following verse form a transition to ch. 18, in which the Levites guard the Tent, lest any layman should perish by approaching it, as Korah and his company had attempted to do.

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.

A new section should begin with these verses. They are connected retrospectively with Num. 16; and form the immediate introduction to Num. 18. The people were terror-stricken by the fate of the company of Korah and by the plague. Presumption passed by reaction into despair. Was there any approach for them to the tabernacle of the Lord? Was there any escape from death, except by keeping aloof from His presence? The answers are supplied by the ordinances which testified that the God of judgment was still a God of grace and of love.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

All perish. Many had been already destroyed. Those who remained, and were conscious of their seditious practices, feared a similar treatment. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Words of consternation arising, partly, from the remembrance of these severe and repeated judgments; partly, from the threatening of death upon ally succeeding murmurings; partly, from the sense of their own guilt and weakness, which made them fear lest they should relapse into the same miscarriages, and thereby bring the vengeance of God upon themselves.

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

12. We all perish — This miracle made a deeper impression upon the people than any other wrought in the wilderness except the terrific display of power at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Nor were they so alarmed by the supernatural judgments of Jehovah: such as the slaying of Nadab and Abihu, of the ten faithless spies, the engulfing of a part of Korah’s conspirators, and the burning of the 250 at the tabernacle, and the recent plague-stroke that swept away 14,700 of Israel at once.

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

And the children of Israel spake unto Moses. It is a mistake to unite these verses specially with the following chapter, for they clearly belong to the story of Korah"s rebellion, although not particularly connected with the miracle of the rod. These are the last wailings of the great storm which had raged against Moses and Aaron, which had roared so loudly and angrily at its height, which was now sobbing itself out in the petulant despair of defeated and disheartened men, cowed indeed, but not convinced, fearful to offend, yet not loving to obey.

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

We perish - Words of consternation, arising from the remembrance of these severe and repeated judgments, from the threatening of death upon any succeeding murmurings, and from the sense of their own guilt and weakness, which made them fear lest they should relapse into the same miscarriages, and thereby bring the vengeance of God upon themselves.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

We will die here. We will all perish!

These two phrases mean basically the same thing and are combined for emphasis. (See: Parallelism)

translationWords

perish

tabernacle

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.