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Num_14:1
And the people wept that night. As the spies repeated their dismal tidings, each to the leading men of his own tribe, and as the report was spread swiftly through the tents (cf. Deu_1:27) with ever-increasing exaggerations, the lamentation became universal.
Num_14:2
Murmured against Moses and against Aaron; whom they probably suspected and accused of seeking their own personal ends. Here we may see the true reason why Joshua had not been put forward to advocate an immediate advance. The Septuagint has διεγόγγυζον (cf. 1Co_10:10). Would God we had died. ìåÌÎîÈúÀðåÌ . Septuagint, ὄφελον ἀπεθάνομεν . The A.V. is unnecessarily strong.
Num_14:3
Wherefore hath the Lord brought us. Rather, "wherefore doth the Lord bring us." îÅáÄéà . Septuagint, εἰσάγει . They were not actually in the land yet, but only on the threshold.
Num_14:4
Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. Although this was only proposed in the wildness of their distress, yet it was a height of rebellion to which they had never risen before. They had lamented that they had not died in Egypt, and they had wished themselves back in Egypt, but they had never proposed to take any overt steps towards returning thither. Nothing less than an entire and deliberate revolt was involved in the wish to elect a captain for themselves, for the angel of the covenant was the Captain of the Lord's host (Jos_5:14, Jos_5:15). The proposal to depose him, and to choose another in his place, marked the extremity of the despair, the unbelief, and the ingratitude of the people.
Num_14:5
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces. After making ineffectual efforts to reason with the people, or rather with their leaders (Deu_1:29-31). It was not, however, in this case an attitude of intercession, but the instinctive action of those who await in silent horror a catastrophe which they see to be inevitable; it testified to all who saw it that they were overwhelmed with shame and sorrow in view of the awful sin of the people, and of the terrible punishment which must follow.
Num_14:6
And Joshua. In a last hopeless effort to bring the people to a better mind, or at least to deliver their own souls, there was no reason why Joshua should hold back any more. Rent their clothes. Another token of grief and hinter practiced from patriarchal times (cf. Gen_37:29, Gen_37:34; Job_1:20).
Num_14:8
If the Lord delight in us. An expression used by Moses himself (Deu_10:15). It did indeed place the whole matter in the only right light; all the doubt that could possibly exist was the doubt implied in that "if."
Num_14:9
They are bread for us. "They are our food," i.e; we shall easily devour them (cf. Num_24:8; Psa_14:4). Perhaps it has the further significance that their enemies would be an absolute advantage to them, because they would (however unwillingly) supply them with the necessaries of life. So apparently the Septuagint: μὴ φοβηθῆτε τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς ὅτι κατάβρωμα ὑμῖν ἐστιν . Their defense is departed from them. Literally, "their shadow," that which shielded them for a while from the fierce blast of Divine wrath. This "shadow" was not positively the Divine protection (as in Psa_91:1, and elsewhere), but negatively that Providence which left them a space wherein to walk in their own ways (cf. τὸ κατέχον of 2Th_2:6).
Num_14:10
Bade stone them with stones. Angry people cannot endure the counsels of calm reason, and perhaps the hostility which they felt against Moses they were very ready to vent upon his "minister." The glory of the Lord appeared; before all the children of Israel. At the moment when they were about to proceed to violence, the Divine glory filled the tabernacle, and flashed forth with a brilliancy which compelled their awe. struck attention.
Num_14:11
And the Lord said unto Moses, who had, as we may suppose, risen and drawn nigh when the glory of the Lord appeared.
Num_14:12
And will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. By electing Moses, in the place of Jacob, to be the founder and ancestor of the chosen race, God would still have made good his promises to Abraham, and would only have vindicated for himself the same freedom of choice which he had used in the case of Ishmael and of Esau. We cannot, however, regard this offer as embodying a deliberate intention, for we know that God did not really mean to cast off Israel; nor can we regard it as expressing the anger of the moment, for it is not of God to be hasty. We must understand it distinctly as intended to try the loyalty and charity of Moses, and to give him an opportunity of rising to the loftiest height of magnanimity, unselfishness, and courage. Moses would unquestionably have been less noble than he was if he had listened to the offer; it is therefore certain that the offer was only made in order that it might be refused (cf. Exo_32:10).
Num_14:13
And Moses said unto the Lord. The words which follow are so confused, and the construction so dislocated, that they afford the strongest evidence that we have here the ipsissima verba of the mediator, disordered as they were in the moment of utterance by passionate earnestness and an agonizing fear. Had Moses been ever so eloquent, a facility of speech at such a moment would have been alike unnatural and unlovely. What we can see in the words is this: that Moses had no thought for himself, and that it never occurred to him to entertain the tempting offer made to him by God; that he knew God too well, and cared for God too much, to let him so compromise his honour among the nations, and so thwart his own purposes, without making one effort (however audacious) to turn his wrath aside. We can see that it is (as in Exo_32:11, Exo_32:12, only much more boldly and abruptly) the thought of what the heathen would say which he wishes to thrust upon the Almighty; but we cannot be sure of the right translation of the words. The most literal rendering would seem to be, "Both the Egyptians have heard ( åÀùÈÑîÀòåÌ ) that thou broughtest out this people from among them with thy might, and they have told it ( åÀàÈîÀøåÌ ) to the inhabitants of this land; they have heard ( ùÈÑîÀòåÌ , repeated) that thou, Lord, art amongst this people," &c. The Septuagint, however, translates the first verb by a future ( καὶ ἀκούσεται Αἴγυπτος ), and, as this gives a much clearer sense, it is followed by the Targum Palestine and most of the versions.
Num_14:16
Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land. Moral or religious difficulties could not be comprehended by those heathen nations as standing in the way of God's purposes. Physical hindrances were the only ones they could understand; and they would certainly infer that if he slew the Israelites in the wilderness, it could only be in order to cover his own defeat and failure before the rival deities of Palestine.
Num_14:17
And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great. Here the argument of Moses rises to a higher level; he ventures to put God in mind of what he had himself declared to Moses in the fullest revelation which he had ever made of his own unchangeable character, viz; that of all Divine prerogatives, the most Divine was that of forgiving sins and showing mercy. According as thou hast spoken. See on Exo_34:6, Exo_34:7. The words are not quoted exactly as there given, but are substantially the same.
Num_14:19
From Egypt until now. From the first passion of despair in Egypt itself (Exo_14:11, Exo_14:12), through the murmurings in the wilderness of Sin, and the apostasy of Mount Sinai, to the last rebellion at Kibroth-Hattaavah.
Num_14:20
I have pardoned. Whatever necessary exceptions and qualifications might remain to be afterwards declared, the great fact that he forgave the nation, and that the nation should not die, is announced without delay and without reservation (cf. 2Sa_12:13). According to thy word. Such power had God been pleased to give unto man, that at the intercession of the mediator a whole nation is delivered from imminent death and destruction.
Num_14:21
As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Rather, "as truly as I live, and the glory of the Lord shall fill all the earth." Both clauses are dependent on éÀàåÌìÈí , and the second is but the necessary correlative of the first.
Num_14:22
Because all those men. The particle ëÄÌé is not to be rendered "because;" it simply introduces the substance of the oath: "As I live … all those men … shall not see." So the Septuagint. And have tempted me now these ten times. It is not in the least necessary to press this expression, borrowed from the vague usage of men, literally. It is the language of indignation, meaning that the full measure of provocation had been received (cf. Gen_31:7; Job_19:3). The recorded instances of national "temptations" cannot be made to reach the number ten.
Num_14:23
Surely they shall not see. àÄíÎéÌøÀàåÌ , "if they shall see," according to the usual Hebrew idiom. Cf. Psa_107:11, Heb_4:3, ὡς ὤμοσα … εἰ εἰσελεύσονται .
Num_14:24
My servant Caleb. Caleb alone is mentioned here, as if he were the only exception to the sentence just passed upon the generation which came out of Egypt. Taken in connection with Num_13:30, and in contrast with Num_14:6, Num_14:30, Num_14:38, it has been supposed to point to the interweaving here of two narratives, from the one of which the name of Joshua was intentionally omitted (see the Introduction). The fact, however, is that Joshua is not the only, nor the most remarkable, exception to the general sentence which is not specified here. Moses and Aaron themselves were undoubtedly not included in that sentence at this time, although they afterwards came under the severity of it (see on Deu_1:37). Eleazar, the priest, was one of those who entered with Joshua (Jos_14:1), and it is vain to argue that he might have been under twenty at the time of the numbering (cf. Num_4:16). There is, indeed, every reason to believe that the whole tribe of Levi were excepted from the punishment, because they were not compromised in the guilt. They had no representative among the spies, nor were they called upon to go up and fight; moreover, they had been steadily loyal to Moses since the matter of the golden calf. But if the exception of the Levites was taken for granted, and passed without mention, much more might the exception of Joshua. He did not stand by any means in the same position as Caleb and the other spies; he was the "minister" and lieutenant of Moses, whose fortunes were obviously bound up, not with those of his tribe, but with those of his master. If Moses had accepted the Divine offer to make him the head of a new chosen race, no doubt Joshua would have been given to him. His subsequent separation as leader, not of Ephraim, but of Israel, was already anticipated in the singularity, at least, of his position. Caleb, on the other hand, was merely a chieftain of the tribe of Judah, with nothing to distinguish him from the mass of the people but his own good conduct. There is, therefore, nothing perplexing in the fact that Caleb alone is mentioned in this place, and nothing to warrant the assumption of a double narrative. Another spirit. The spirit which possessed and prompted Caleb was no doubt the Holy Spirit, just as the spirit which moved the rebellion was an evil spirit (Eph_2:2); but how far any such personality is here attributed to the "spirit" is hard to determine. Hath followed me fully. Literally, "fulfilled to walk behind me." Caleb treasured up this testimony with natural pride (cf. Jos_14:8). And his seed shall possess it, i.e; a portion of it and in it. No mention is made here of any special heritage, nor is it clear from Jos_14:6-13 that Caleb received any definite promise of Hebron. He spoke indeed of a promise made him, probably at this time, by Moses; but that promise was a very general one. He asked for "this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day;" but he may only have referred to the Divine command first to explore and then to occupy "the mountain," as the nearest portion of the promised land.
Num_14:25
Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. This parenthesis bears on the face of it several difficulties, both as to the meaning of the statement and as to its position in the text.
1. It has been stated just before (Num_13:29) that the "Canaanites" dwelt by the sea, and in the Ghor, and it has been proposed by some to understand under this name the Phoenicians, because "Sidon" was the first-born of Canaan, and because they are known to have occupied the coast. But if "Canaanite" means "Phoenician" in Num_13:29, it is difficult to maintain that it is here equivalent to "Amorite." Again, if "Canaanite" be taken in this vaguer sense, yet it is clear that the Amorites dwelt in "the mountain", and not in the lowlands. This has been got over by supposing that òÅîÆ÷ may mean an upland vale, or plateau, such as that to which the Israelites presently ascended. It is, however, a straining of the word to assign such a meaning to it. It is rightly translated by the Septuagint ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι . And even if one looking down from above might call an upland plain by this name, yet certainly one looking up from below would not. If the word stands rightly in this place, áÈÌòÅîÆ÷ must mean "in the Wady Murreh," the broad sandy strait which bounded the "mountain of the Amorite" on the south. If so, we must conclude that not only the roving Amalekites, but also the Canaanites, or Amorites, had established themselves in some parts of the Wady.
2. It is scarcely credible that an observation of this sort, which would seem unusual and abrupt in any speech, should have formed a part of God's message to Moses. It has no apparent connection with the context. It does not (as often alleged) afford a reason for the command which follows; it was not at all because enemies were already in possession before them that the Israelites had to turn their backs upon the promised land, but because God had withdrawn for the time his promised aid. If the "valley" be the Rakhmah plateau, they had always known that hostile tribes held it, and that they would have to conquer them. That the words are an interpolation, as the A.V. represents them, seems as certain as internal evidence can make it; lint by whom made, and with what intent, is a question which will probably never be answered. It may be worth while to hazard a conjecture that the interpolated words are really connected with what goes before, viz; the promise of inheritance to Caleb. Now that promise was fulfilled in the gift of Hebron to Caleb and his seed (Jos_14:14). But we have express mention in Gen_37:14 of the "vale of Hebron," and the same word, òÅîÆ÷ , is used in the Hebrew. Is it not possible that this parenthesis was originally the gloss of one who had a special interest in the heritage of Caleb, and wished to note that at the time it was given to him "the vale" was occupied by two hostile peoples? Into the wilderness, i.e; the Sinaitic peninsula, as distinguished from Palestine on the one hand, and from Egypt on the other. By the way of the Red Sea, i.e; towards the Red Sea; here apparently the Elanitic Gulf (cf. Num_11:31).
Num_14:26
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron. This communication is clearly by way of continuation and amplification of the sentence briefly pronounced above. It is markedly distinguished from the latter, as being
(1) spoken to Aaron as well as to Moses;
(2) addressed through them to the people at large.
The one was the Divine answer to the effectual pleading of the mediator; the other the Divine reply to the rebellious cries of the people. The two are blended together in the narrative of Deu_1:1-46.
Num_14:27
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, ἕως τίνος τὴν συναγωγὴν τὴν πονηρὰν ταύτην ; The verb is supplied from the sense.
Num_14:29
All that were numbered of you … from twenty years old (cf. Num_1:18, Num_1:19, Num_1:47). All that had been enrolled as the soldiers of the Lord, to fight his battles and their own, but had refused, and had incurred the guilt of mutiny.
Num_14:30
Sware. Literally, "lifted up my hand" (see on Gen_14:22). And Joshua the son of Nun. The exception in favour of his "minister," Joshua, had been taken for granted in the brief answer of God to Moses; in the fuller announcement of his purposes to the congregation it was natural that he too should be mentioned by name.
Num_14:33
Your children shall wander. Literally, "shall pasture." øÉòÄéí . Septuagint, ἔσονται νεμόμενοι . It was not altogether a threat, for it implied that the Lord would be their Shepherd and would provide for their wants in their wanderings. Forty years. This period was made up by counting in the year and a half since the exodus. It was one of those many cases in which the word of God was fulfilled in the meaning and substance of it, but not in the letter. The delay which had already occurred was itself practically due to the same spirit of mutiny which had grown to a head at Kadesh; it was therefore strictly equitable to count it as part of the punishment inflicted (see on Deu_2:14). And bear your whoredoms. "Whoredom" had been already used (Exo_34:16) as a synonym for idolatry in its aspect of spiritual unfaithfulness, and there is no reason to depart from that well-marked meaning here. That the Jews were guilty of idolatry in the wilderness is distinctly asserted (cf. Act_7:42, Act_7:43); and these idolatrous practices, carried on no doubt in secret, must have been a sore trial to the generation which grew up amidst them (cf. Jos_24:14, Jos_24:23).
Num_14:34
After the number of the days … each day for a year. It is said, and truly, that the connection between the two periods was arbitrary, and that the apparent correspondence lay only upon the surface. Exactly for this reason it was the better fitted to fix itself in the mind of a nation incapable of following a deeper and more spiritual analogy of guilt and punishment. It served the purpose which God had in view, viz; to make them feel that the quantity as well as the quality of their punishment was entirely due to themselves; and it needed no other justification. If God assigns reasons at all, he assigns such as can be understood by those to whom he speaks. Ye shall know my breach of promise. úÀÌðåÌàÈúÄé . The noun only occurs elsewhere in Job_33:10, but the verb is found in Num_32:7 in the sense of "discouraging," or "turning away". Here it must mean "my withdrawal," or "my turning aside, from you." They should know by sad experience that "with the froward" God will "show" himself "froward" (Psa_18:26).
Num_14:37
Died by the plague before the Lord. Septuagint, ἐν τῇ πληγῇ . "Plague" has here its older signification of "stroke," or visitation of God. We are not told what death they died, but it was sudden and exceptional enough to mark it as the direct consequence of their sinful conduct.
Num_14:40
Early in the morning. Wishing to anticipate the retrograde movement commanded by God (Num_14:25). Into the top of the mountain. What summit is here spoken of as the object of their enterprise is quite uncertain. Probably it was some ridge not far distant which seemed to them from below to be the height of land, but was itself commanded by loftier heights beyond. For we have sinned. The prospect of being taken at their own word, and being excluded from the land which lay so near, brought home to them a sense of their folly; but their repentance merely consisted in a frantic effort to avoid the punishment which their sin had incurred.
Num_14:41
And Moses said, i.e; had said, before they left the camp (cf. Num_14:44, and Deu_1:42).
Num_14:44
They presumed to go up. This gives the sense very well: they were deaf to all persuasion or command to stay. Septuagint, διαβιασάμενοι ἀνέβησαν . Thus they added to an evil distrust in the power of God an almost more evil trust in their own power. It does not seem correct to say that "unbelief" was the real cause of both errors—unbelief, firstly in God's promises, and secondly in his threats. It was rather one of those many cases in which men seek to atone for a fault on one side by rushing into as great a fault on the other side. They spoke brave words about the "place which the Lord hath promised," as though it were indeed obedience and trust which spurred them on, instead of presumption and selfishness. The ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. The plainest possible token that the Lord was not with them. With Moses remained no doubt all the Levites, and the silver trumpets, and Joshua, and perhaps the bulk of the people.
Num_14:45
The Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites. See on Deu_1:44. They came down from the summit of the mountain country, and drove the Israelites off the saddle, or lower level, to which they had ascended. Discomfited them. Septuagint, κατέκοψαν αὐτούς , "cut them up." Unto Hormah. This mention of Hormah is extremely perplexing, especially when we find from Deu_1:44 that it was "in Serf" ( áÀÌùÅÒòÄéø ), which is the ordinary name for the territory of the Edomites. The name Hormah meets us again in Num_21:3 (see the notes there), as having been bestowed by the Israelites upon the place where they destroyed the people of King Arad. If this be the same Hormah, it must be so named here by anticipation. It is, however, quite possible that it is another place altogether. Again, if the Seir of Deu_1:44 be the country usually so called, we must suppose that the Edomites had at this time occupied a part of the Azazimeh, contiguous to the Wady Murreh, and westwards of the Arabah. We should then represent the Israelites to ourselves as being driven off the mountain, and across the Wady Murreh, and cut down in the mountains beyond, as far as a place called Hormah, perhaps from this very slaughter. Others have found Hormah (or Zephath, Jdg_1:17) and Seir among the multitudinous names of past or present habitation in the south of Palestine; the perplexing resemblances of which, coupled with the vagueness of the sacred narrative, lead to the rise of as many different theories as there are commentators. It must, however, be erroneous to represent this hasty incursion of the Israelites, without their leaders, and without their daily food from heaven, as a campaign in which they advanced for a considerable distance, and were only partially expelled at last. It is clear from this passage, and still more from the parallel passage in Deu_1:1-46, that the expedition was swiftly and ignominiously repelled and avenged. Compare the expression, "chased you as bees do."
The view adopted in the notes to this book is that of the travelers Rowland and Williams, and of the great majority of the German commentators: it is fully stated and minutely argued in Kurtz's ‘History of the Old Covenant' (volume 3 in Clark's ‘Foreign Theol. Lib.'). According to these authorities Kadesh is to be recognized in the plain and fountain of Kudes, just within the north-west corner of the mountains of the Azazimeh (see note on Num_10:12). This desert plain, some ten miles by six in extent, is screened from ordinary observation by the outer mountain walls of the Azazimat, which shut it off on the west from the desert road from Sinai to Hebron, on the north from the Wady Murreh. At the north-east of the plain is a bold and bare rock, a promontory of the northern mountain rampart, from the. foot of which issues a copious spring, which begins by falling in cascades into the bed of a torrent, and ends by losing itself in the sands. Amongst the Wadys which open into the plain is one which bears the name of Redemat (see note on Num_12:16). It is uncertain whether there is any easy communication between this plain and the Wady Murreh, but there are several passes on the western side which lead by a slight circuit to the southern table-lands of Palestine.
The view adopted by the majority of English commentators is that of the traveler Robinson. According to these authorities Kadesh must be sought in the Arabah, the broad depression which runs northward from the head of the Elanitic Gulf until it meets the Ghor below the Dead Sea. By most of those who hold this view the site of Kadesh is placed at Ain-el-Weibeh, ten miles to the north of Mount Hor, and opposite the opening (from the east)of the Wady el Ghuweir, which affords the only easy passage through Edom to the north-west. Others, however, prefer Ain Hash, a few miles further north. The local peculiarities of either place are such as to satisfy the requirements of the narrative, although they would not by themselves have recalled the scenes with which Kadesh is associated.
Of other theories none perhaps need to be considered here, because none can reasonably enter into competition with the two already mentioned; they avoid none of the difficulties with which these are beset, while they incur others of their own. If, indeed, Rabbinical tradition (followed in this case by Jerome) were worth anything, it would decide the question in favour of Petra, the Aramaic name of which (Rekem) uniformly takes the place of Kadesh in the Syriac and Chaldee, and in the Talmud. Kadesh-Barnea in the Targums is Rekem-Geiah. Petra itself (of which the ancient name apparently was Selah (2Ki_14:7), the very word used in Num_20:10, Num_20:11) stands in a gorge famous for its giant cliffs, still called the Wady Musa, concerning which the local tradition is that it was cleft by the rod of Moses. But apart from these resemblances of name, which are so fallacious, and these legends, which are so worthless, there is absolutely nothing to connect Kadesh with Petra; on the contrary, the position of Petra, far away from Palestine, on the skirts of Mount Hor, and in the heart of Edom, distinguish it sharply from the Kadesh of the Bible story. The two can only be identified on the supposition that the sacred narrative, as it stands, is mistaken and misleading.
In examining briefly the arguments by which the western and eastern sites respectively are maintained and assailed, it will be better to dismiss the evidence (such as it is) afforded by modern nomenclature, which is always open to grave suspicion, and is at best of very variable value. The Wady Retemat, e.g; is so named from the broom plant, which is very plentiful in the peninsula, and may have lent a similar name to many another place.
In favour of the western site, that of the so-called plain of Kudes, we have the following arguments in addition to the marked natural features which suggested the identification.
1. Previous mentions of Kadesh would certainly dispose us (in the absence of any indication that there was more than one place of that name) to look for it to the south of Palestine, and rather to the south-west than to the southeast. In Gen_14:7 it is mentioned in connection with the "country of the Amalekites," which was apparently between Canaan and Egypt. In the same region we may place with more confidence the well of Hagar (Gen_16:14), which is placed between "Kadesh and Bered." It is difficult to think that this Kadesh could possibly have been in the Arabah. Gerar, again, which was certainly near to Beersheba, is placed (Gen_20:1) "between Kadesh and Shut." These notices are indeed indefinite, but they certainly point to the western rather than to the eastern site.
2. Subsequent mentions of Kadesh point in the same direction. In Gen_34:4, Gen_34:5 and Jos_15:3, Jos_15:4 the southern frontier of Judah, which was also that of Canaan, is traced from the scorpion cliffs at the head of the Ghor to the Mediterranean (see note on the first passage). On this frontier Kadesh occurs in such a way that we should look for it not at one extremity, but somewhere about the middle of the line. The same is still more clearly the case in Eze_47:19, where only three points are given on the southern frontier, of which Kadesh is the middle one. It is, again: very difficult to imagine that this Kadesh could have been in the Arabah.
3. It is a weaker argument, but still of some moment, that Kadesh is pointedly said to have been in the "wilderness of Paran" (Num_12:16; Num_13:3), and also to have been in or near the wilderness of Zin (Eze_13:21; Eze_20:1). But the eastern site of Kadesh far up the Arabah does not seem to answer to this double description near]y as well as the western. The plain of Kudes is strictly within the limits of that southern desert now called et-Tih, and yet it is quite close to the Wady Murreh, which with its sandy expansions towards the east may well have been the wilderness of Zin (see note on Num_13:21).
In favour of the eastern site, the only argument of real weight is founded upon the repeated statement that Kadesh was close upon the territory of Edom. In Num_20:16, e.g; it is spoken of to the king of Edom as "a city in the uttermost of thy borders." But the only position in which the children of Israel would be at once on the borders of Canaan and on the borders of Edom as commonly understood, would be in the neighbourhood of Ain el-Weibeh, with the pass of es-Safah on their left, and the Wady Ghuweir on their right, as they looked northwards. With this agrees the statement that they came to Kadesh "by the way of Mount Seir" (Deu_1:2), and the fact that there is no station mentioned between Kadesh and Mount Her (Num_33:37), although the western site is seventy miles from that mountain.
The necessity indeed of placing Kadesh on the border of Edom must be conclusive in favour of the eastern site, if the common assumption is correct that the name and territory of Edom were bounded westwards by the Arabah. It is, however, contended, with some show of reason, that the kings of Edom had extended their authority at this time over the country of the Azazimeh as far as the plain of Kudes. There is, at any rate, nothing improbable in this, because this great mountain fastness is almost as sharply severed from Canaan as from Mount Seir, properly so called; and in fact it never appears to have been in possession of the Canaanites. When, however, the southern boundary line is traced in detail (Num_34:3, Num_34:4; Jos_15:1, Jos_15:2, Jos_15:21), it is said to have extended òÇìÎéÀãÅé , "on the sides," or àÆìÎâÀÌáåÌì , "to the borders," of Edom, and this expression can hardly be satisfied by the single point of contact at the south-east corner of Judah, especially when we consider the long list of cities which were on or near this border (Jos_15:21-32). Again, when the extreme southern and northern points of Joshua's conquest are mentioned (Jos_11:17; Jos_12:7), the former is "the bald mountain which goeth up Seir"—a natural feature which we look for in vain (for it cannot possibly be the low line of the scorpion cliffs), unless it be the northern rampart of the Azazimat. We have seen that the Hormah to which the Israelites were repelled on their first invasion is placed (Deu_1:44) "in Seir," which can hardly be Mount Seir in its ordinary restricted sense. If the name Seir has to be sought anywhere outside of Edom proper, it would seem more natural to find it in the northern part of the wilderness of Paran, where it is said to be still common, than anywhere else. And if this extension of Edom can be established, there appears to be no further objection of any moment to the western site. Mount Hor would still be on the coast or edge of the land of Edom, because it would be the meeting-point of the two boundaries, the one striking westwards across the Arabah, the other southwards down the Arabah. The absence of any name between Kadesh and Her is not conclusive, because the people certainly made journeys of several days without any regular halt (see note on Jos_10:33).
Upon the whole the question may fairly be stated thus:—
1. The general tenor of the narrative would lead us to suppose that the host of Israel had marched from Sinai through the midst of the desert of Paran, by the route which led most directly to the extreme south of Palestine; and if they did this, they must have passed near to Rowland's Kadesh.
2. The natural features of this site, its position with regard to the desert of et-Tih and the Wady Murreh, its distance from Sinai (Deu_1:2), and its proximity to the Negeb and the plateau of Rakhmah, seem to harmonize better with all that we read about Kadesh than the corresponding characteristics of the rival site.
3. The general effect of the various mentions of Kadesh, both before and after, is undeniably, though not decidedly, in favour of the western site.
4. The minor arguments which are urged on one side or the other may be allowed to balance one another, for it is certain that neither is free from difficulty.
5. The difficulty with respect to Edom is a very serious one, and with many will be decisive against Rowland's Kadesh.
6. What must turn the scale one way or the other is the independent evidence that the border of Edom extended at this time across the Arabah, and included the northeast portion of the desert of Paran, viz; the mountain mass which fronted the southern edge of Canaan. There is some evidence that this was the case, and it cannot be met by the simple assertion that the territory of Edom consisted only of Mount Seir, and that Mount Seir lay wholly to the east of the Arabah.
It is to be expected that travel and research in these regions now so inaccessible, and, after all said and written, so little known, will before long bring fresh and more decisive evidence to light. In the mean time that view is consistently maintained in these notes which, if it had apparently the greatest difficulty to surmount, yet receives the greatest amount of positive support from the general and incidental testimony of the Scripture record. One lesson emerges clearly from the obscurity involving this question, which appears to us so important to the understanding of God's holy word: the geography of the Bible must be of very small importance indeed as compared with its moral and religious teachings. These are not affected by any ignorance of localities and routes. The rebellion of Kadesh has exactly the same moral for us (Heb_3:19; Heb_4:11) whether Kadesh was in the Azazimat or the Arabah; and the very uncertainty in which its site is involved may be designed to remind us that it is very easy to exaggerate the value of these outward details to the neglect of those inward teachings which alone are in the highest sense important.
1. Brought very nigh to the promised rest, almost within sight, and actually within taste.
2. Refusing to enter that rest through disbelief.
3. Sentenced to exile from the rest they would not enter.
4. Attempting (vainly) to eater that rest in their own unbidden and unblessed ways. And subordinately to this great and striking lesson, we have other lessons and examples both of good and evil.
I. CONSIDER, THEREFORE, IN RESPECT OF THIS ὑποδείγμα ἀπειθείας —
1. That the place where Israel now lay was "in the wilderness of Paran" that great and terrible wilderness; but it was also "in the wilderness of Zin " which was the southern frontier of Canaan; and therefore the desert journey lay behind him, and his rest was close before him: only one steep climb and he would begin to enter into the land of promise. Even so are we placed today. God has brought us with a mighty hand within reach of home; has led us by a way we knew not of; has given us a law and a worship; has fed us with heavenly food; has separated us (outwardly at least) from a perishing world. Rest lies before us: rest in this world from sin and self (Heb_4:10); in the next from sorrow and sadness too (Rev_14:13). It is not far away, not out of reach; it only needs a little patient effort to make that rest our own.
2. That it pleased God not only to tell the people about the land of promise, but to let them see its goodness, as it were, for themselves through the report of their own brethren, representative men whom he suffered to view the land. Even so it is the good pleasure of God that, concerning the happiness of a holy life, we should have not only his promise, but the testimony of men also, even of our brethren. Yea, concerning the glories of the world to come, how great they are, we have the report of men to whom it hath been given to "go up thither," to see what "eye hath not seen," to hear "what ear hath not heard," even "unspeakable things" which could only be set forth to us in types and figures (2Co_12:2, 2Co_12:3, compared with Rom_8:18; Rev_4:1; Rev_21:10, &c.).
3. That the people at Kadesh not only heard the report of Canaan,, but tasted of the fruits of it which the spies brought back; and they might know by these fruits how much pleasanter a land it was than Egypt itself, even apart from its slavery. Even so it is given to us in Christ not only to hear by report, but to taste also of the good things of the world to come (Heb_6:4, Heb_6:5). It is a fact of experience that we may partake to some extent, here and now, of delights which no more spring from the conditions of unregenerate human nature than those fruits could have grown in the desert of Paran—delights which are as superior to the luxuries of sin as the grapes of Eshcol to the pungent dainties of Egypt. Nothing can rob us of the consciousness that we have tasted them, and it is this which makes heaven so real to us, as Canaan to them.
4. That none of the spies concealed from them the fact that the land which invited them had its grave difficulties, as well as its great attractions: milk and honey and fruit, and all good things, but many strong foes to be conquered first. Even so it is not concealed by any that great obstacles and sore conflicts stand between the longing soul and the promised rest. If any represented the entry into the inheritance of the saints as an easy thing and unopposed, he would but contradict the Master himself and his inspired servants (1Co_9:26, 1Co_9:27; Heb_4:1; Jas_1:3, Jas_1:12; 2Pe_1:10, 2Pe_1:11; 2Jn_1:8; Jud 1:20, 21).
5. That the obstacles which confronted Israel in the gigantic size and fortified cities of their foes were truly formidable, and to the military science of that day insuperable. Even so the powers of evil which bar our upward way are indeed mighty, and that for two especial reasons:
(1) as wielded and swayed by beings of superhuman origin and power (Eph_6:12);
(2) as having entrenched themselves in the ancient and (as it were) invincible habits, customs, and tendencies of the human race (cf. 2Co_10:4, 2Co_10:5). And note that while the former ground of hopelessness becomes less and less potent as faith shrinks within her deepest channels, so the second becomes more and more alarming. Those evil principles which nineteen centuries of Christianity have failed to expel from Christian society are indeed formidable hindrances.
6. That the faithless among the spies led the people astray in two ways:
(1) by exaggerating the real difficulties which existed, and
(2) by ignoring the Divine aid they would have in overcoming them. When they did enter they found no Nephilim, nor do their foes seem to have been as a rule superior in size to themselves. And God had brought them through far greater perils, and made them victors over far more formidable foes (cf. Exo_14:15 b, 31).
Even so the counsels of the natural man are doubly false:
(1) as exaggerating the real difficulty of leading a life of holiness and attaining unto rest, raising up creatures of the imagination, and magnifying existing obstacles, to excuse cowardice and sloth;
(2) as putting out of sight the fact that when God calls us to a certain thing he pledges himself to give us the strength we need (Exo_3:12; Deu_33:25; 1Co_10:13). The natural man would ever persuade us that heaven and peace are not attainable in the way which God points out as the way; that it is not possible in this or that position to lead a holy life, or to give up this or that sin, or to attain a real mastery over self—which is mere unbelief (2Co_12:9, 2Co_12:10; Php_4:13; cf. 2Ki_6:16, 2Ki_6:17).
7. That the faithful among the spies (in whom was "another spirit ") gave counsel, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it." And herein were three points:
(1) to "go up," because the ascent, whether from the Arabah or the Wady Murreh, was necessarily steep;
(2) to go up "at once," because delay would strengthen the hands of their enemies, and could only weaken theirs, as offending the Lord;
(3) to go up at once, because the victory was assured to them if they did, with the help of God. Even so is the voice of the Spirit, and of all who are led by the Spirit, however full an acquaintance they may have with the dangers and difficulties of the spiritual life—(l) to go up, because it is an ascent, and must involve toil and fatigue (Act_14:22);
(2) to set out "at once," because any delay may be fatal (Heb_3:13; Jas_4:13, Jas_4:14), and must add to the difficulty;
(3) to proceed with holy confidence, because, although we have to "overcome," and that by dint of doing and suffering, yet it is God who fighteth and God who getteth the victory in us (Rom_8:37; Php_2:13; Col_1:27).
8. That the crisis of Israel's fate was come when they had to choose between these persuasions. God had brought them to the very verge of Canaan, but they could not enter unless their will united itself to his will, unless they chose to go on in his name and strength. Their future was at that hour in their own hands, and they wrecked it because they did not trust God, because their faith was too weak to pass into obedience in the face of serious discouragement. Even so are our eternal fortunes placed (in a certain true sense) in our own hands. Holiness and heaven are set before us, brought within our reach in Christ; the "rest which remaineth" is ours, to be entered on now, today; and God calls upon us to enter, and encourages us by the voice and experience of those who have made trial of it. And it may be we will not go on; it is too hard—too much to encounter; too difficult—too many obstacles in the way. It may be we find the prospect so much less easy and encouraging than we had fancied. We will not make the effort, or undertake the risk,. looking to Divine grace for success; and therefore we too cannot enter in because of unbelief. We must bear the evil consequences; we have ruined ourselves; we have shut ourselves out from happiness and heaven. And note that as this crisis (although in some sense often anticipated) only happened once to Israel in the wilderness, so does the true crisis in his spiritual fortunes happen only once (as far as we can see) in the lives of many men. There is a set time when they are called, in some unmistakable way, to make a bold and decisive advance in the spiritual life, which will leave them really masters of themselves, and so at rest. If, then, they shrink from taking it because it is hard, or because (as they say) they are not worthy or prepared for it they forfeit the rest prepared for them, and doom themselves to a fruitless wandering in dry places.
9. That the first fruit of that refusal to advance was mourning, the second murmuring, the third flat rebellion. Even so when we, being called, shrink from going on unto perfection, the first consequence is that unhappiness which is both a symptom of disaffection to God and a part of it; the second is a complaining spirit, as though we had been ill-treated, and a readiness to put the blame on others, perhaps our best friends; the third is a desperate intention to throw off the yoke of religion altogether, and to return to the old license of sin from which we had escaped.
10. That the proposal to return to Egypt was as infeasible as it was wicked. Had it been possible to get there, it is certain that even the poor luxuries of their former slavery would never have been given back to them. Even so the faint-hearted and faithless Christian can yet never be as the heathen, or even as the ungodly, again: for one thing, he knows enough of true happiness and freedom to find the yoke of open sin intolerable; for another, the pleasures of sin are departed for him: he may sin, and recklessly, but it will not have the zest it once had, when it was in a manner natural to him. The ungodly do enjoy the pleasures of sin, such as they are; the half-converted who draw back are of all men most miserable: they will not have Canaan, and they cannot have Egypt, and there is nothing for them but the wilderness (cf. Heb_10:38, Heb_10:39, in the true version).
11. That the punishment which God inflicted upon the rebels was perpetual exile from the land which they would not enter. Thus he simply took them at their own word (Num_14:28); for though they had imagined the alternative of return to Egypt, that was impossible. Even so the sentence which Christ passes upon them that will not come to him is simply, "Depart from me" (Mat_25:41). If men will not labour to enter into rest (Heb_4:11), there is no alternative before them but perpetual unrest, lasting as long as they last; and this is itself "the fire prepared for the devil and his angels," for this is the natural state of evil spirits apart from artificial and temporary disguises (Mat_12:43; cf. Isa_57:20, Isa_57:21).
And note that the ἀνύδροι τόποι and the ἀνάπαυσις of Mat_12:43 exactly correspond to the wilderness of Paran on the one hand, and to Canaan on the other (cf. Mat_11:29).
And note again, with regard to the punishment inflicted—
1. That all who were numbered (and none other) were counted worthy of punishment, as having been enrolled for the military service of the Lord, but having mutinied. So will our sentence (if we incur it) be one passed not on aliens, or enemies, but on servants who have betrayed their trust, on soldiers who have disobeyed their orders and turned their backs upon their Captain (1Co_7:22; Col_3:24; 2Ti_2:3, 2Ti_2:4).
2. That only the adult generation, who were strong and able, were excluded; their little ones, whom they counted so helpless, and of whom they said they would be a prey, inherited the land. Even so in the kingdom of his grace the wise and prudent are left out, and the proud are scattered in the imagination of their hearts, whilst unto babes mysteries are revealed (cf. Mat_18:3; Mat_19:14; 1Co_1:26-28; 2Co_12:10).
3. That the years of exile were reckoned in exact accordance with the days of searching. So must there be a perfect correspondence between sin and its punishment—a correspondence which is not merely on the surface (as in their case), but lies deep down in the nature of man, so that sin works out its own revenges both in kind and in measure (cf. Luk_12:47).
II. CONSIDER AGAIN, IN RESPECT OF THE VAIN ATTEMPT TO CONQUER CANAAN FOR THEMSELVES—
1. That the people added to their former sin an opposite sin—despairing first, and presuming after. Even so do many think to atone for the unbelief and sloth and disobedience of the past by a presumptuous reliance upon their own strength of character and of will for the future. So when one is compelled to acknowledge his irreligion and sin, he sets up to mend his life himself, saying, "I will," and "I have made up my mind," and "I am determined," being governed as much by self-will in running the way of God's commandments as before in refusing to run.
2. That they sought to justify their attempt by a hasty acknowledgment of their sin, and by a presumptuous appropriation of God's promises, as though the land was theirs whenever and however they chose to take it. Even so do many put aside all genuine repentance and self-humiliation for their grievous sins, when those sins are brought home to them, speaking and acting as if a bare acknowledgment of sin (which cannot be avoided) replaced them at once in the favour of God, and gave them a sure title to all the blessings of the covenant.
3. That they went against their foes without Moses, and without the ark, as if they could do without Divine help today what yesterday they had despaired of doing with that help. Even so when men have discovered the folly of their sins by sharp experience, they will set to work to lead a good life and to overcome temptations without the means of grace, without the presence and aid of Jesus, without any ground of confidence that he is with them in their strife.
4. That the result was speedy and disastrous defeat at the hands of their enemies. Even so have all men fared who have tried to achieve holiness and heaven without the Divine aid carefully sought and constantly had (Heb_4:16; Heb_12:28).
III. CONSIDER AGAIN, WITH RESPECT TO THE SPIES AND THE LAND OF PROMISE—
1. That the proposal to search the land did not at first proceed from God, but probably from a secret disaffection on the part of the people, nevertheless, he made it his own. Even so there are many things in the Church of God which have their first origin in human defection from the obedience of faith, which yet, as not being wrong in themselves, God has adopted and made a part of that order of things which is our practical probation. A great part of Christian civilization, e.g; had its real origin in pride, ambition, or covetousness; nevertheless, it is certain that God has adopted it, and we could not go back from it without flying in the face of providence.
2. That the change whereby Hoshea (help) became Jehoshua (God's help) was either made or declared at this time. Even so when it is any question of finding the way to heaven, or making any report concerning it, no "help" is of any avail which is not clearly and avowedly "God's help" (Act_26:22).
3. That the instructions given by Moses seem to have erred by directing attention, too much to possible difficulties. Even so it is a frequent error, and a natural one, in rulers of the Church that they direct attention too much to matters of worldly policy and to outward difficulties, and thereby encourage a spirit of cowardice and discouragement which they do not themselves share.
4. That Hebron was older than Zoan. Most likely they thought that Zoan, the residence of Pharaoh, was the oldest place in the world, but, as a fact, Hebron was seven years (a perfect number) older still. Even so we think and speak naturally of the present order of things as though it always had been, as though all the prestige of antiquity at any rate were on its side. In truth the country to which we go is infinitely older, having been prepared for us "before the foundation of the world."
5. That the valley of Esheol had a new meaning given to its name because of the famous cluster which they bare thence. Even so many an old name in the Bible becomes instinct with new meaning through its association with the joys of the world to come (cf. Paradise, Zion, &c.); and so many a scene in our individual lives, being connected with some spiritual happiness.
6. That the spies confirmed all that God had said of the land. Even so those who have had visions of heaven, and those too among ourselves who have tasted of its sweetness and its gifts in a heaven]y life on earth, must needs testify that all which God hath said of its blessedness is most true, and not exaggerated.
7. That Caleb differed from the rest of the spies, and was the only reliable counselor, in that he had "another spirit," and "fulfilled to walk after" the Lord. Even so the faithful Christian, whom it is safe to follow, is known among the many faithless—
(1) as being led by another spirit from that which sways the disaffected and disobedient (Rom_8:15; Eph_2:2);
(2) as having not merely promised, or begun, or set out, but "fulfilled" to follow Christ in the way he went (1Co_11:1; Eph_5:1; 1Th_1:6).
8. That the other spies died by the hand of God, as having turned their brethren away from Canaan. Even so it is a fearful sin, and one that will be fearfully avenged, to discourage the wavering, and to provide those that are disaffected with arguments and reasons against a religious life.
9. That Joshua and Caleb lived on, sharing the present