# Numbers 14:21‭-‬22 ESV vs Other Translations



## Ed Walsh (Feb 20, 2020)

Greetings beloved of the Lord,

I knew in advance that I would, and I did cry my way through Numbers chapters 13 and 14 this morning. To me, it is one of the saddest parts of the whole Bible. It is equal and in some ways surpasses the sin of David against Uriah and with Bathsheba.

I have a question about the ESV version in chapter 14 verses 21 and 22 which reads:

Numbers 14:21‭-‬22 ESV
But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,​
It sounds to me more like God is swearing on His life that none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs will enter the Promised Land. The emphasis seems to be on those who rebelled rather than the fact that God's glory will fill the Earth. It may be a fine point but other translations, and I have always thought, that God's emphasis was on his glory filling the Earth and not as just part of his oath that the rebels would not enter the Promised Land. I've always loved this verse because in the midst of such defeat where ultimately 600,000 of the rebels from 20 years old and above were destined die in the wilderness that God is nevertheless proclaiming Himself victor of the world.

Hear's a couple of the translations:

Numbers 14:20‭-‬21 NKJV
Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord —​
Notice the long Dash after the last word 'Lord' which separates it from the next phrase.

Now notice in the next example from The New American Standard where there is a period '.' after the word Lord separating it from the next phrase.

Numbers 14:20‭-‬21 NASB
So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.​
Can anyone shed some light on which of the emphases are correct?

BTW - Some may have wondered why I always put verses in red. It's because I believe in red letter Bibles because to me every verse is red.

Thanks


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## iainduguid (Feb 20, 2020)

Hi Ed,
The Hebrew is unusual, which may lead to the variation here. You have the common oath formula "As I live..." followed by a clause introduced with a vav + imperfect. The most literal translation is as the ESV and CSB have it: "As I live and as the earth will be filled with the Lord's glory..." There are parallels where a second term is added to an oath; e.g. 1 Sam. 20:3: "As the Lord lives and as you yourself live..", yet the second term in these is always the life of another person present, and it is introduced by vav + noun. So there is no perfect parallel.

Further supporting the ESV/CSB rendering, the substance of the oath after "As I live (sometimes followed by "oracle of the Lord")..." is often introduced by the word _kiy_ (Isa 49:18; Jer 22:24), which is how Numbers 14:22 begins. 

So the ESV/CSB rendering is the most literal and straightforward rendering of the text in this case.

Reactions: Informative 4


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## Logan (Feb 20, 2020)

For what it's worth, as someone not commenting on the English translation, Calvin leads off this section saying "It is, indeed, plain that God here swears by His life and glory...that God should call to witness His glory, which He will hereafter assert."

Reactions: Like 2


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