The Meaning of Numbers 14:28 Explained

Numbers 14:28

KJV: Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

YLT: say unto them, I live -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- if, as ye have spoken in Mine ears -- so I do not to you;

Darby: Say unto them, As surely as I live, saith Jehovah, if I do not do unto you as ye have spoken in mine ears!

ASV: Say unto them, As I live, saith Jehovah, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Say  unto them, [As truly as]  I live,  saith  the LORD,  as ye have spoken  in mine ears,  so will I do  to you: 

What does Numbers 14:28 Mean?

Context Summary

Numbers 14:26-45 - The Penalty Of Unbelief And Rashness
The old translation in Numbers 14:34 was unfortunate. "Breach of promise" is rendered in r.v. "my alienation." It is still better to notice the marginal reading, "the revoking of my promise." But even this hardly gives us the true meaning of the words, which teach us that God's promises are conditional on our faith. He cannot do what we fail to trust Him to do.
The key of faith will unlock every drawer and cupboard in the divine treasury, but we must use it. If we will not trust God with our life we shall be left to perish in the wilderness of drought, of restlessness and of peril. Unbelief paralyzes God's arm. See Matthew 13:58, And let us learn from the closing paragraph that the might of our own right hand will never avail to accomplish what is forfeited by unbelief. "It shall not prosper." [source]

Chapter Summary: Numbers 14

1  The people murmur at the news
6  Joshua and Caleb labor to still them
11  God threatens them
13  Moses intercedes with God, and obtains pardon
26  The Murmurers are debarred from entering into the land
36  The men who raised the evil report die by a plague
40  The people that would invade the land against the will of God are smitten

What do the individual words in Numbers 14:28 mean?

Say to them live as I says Yahweh truly not just as you have spoken in My hearing so will I do to you
אֱמֹ֣ר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם חַי־ אָ֙נִי֙ נְאֻם־ יְהוָ֔ה אִם־ לֹ֕א כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּרְתֶּ֖ם בְּאָזְנָ֑י כֵּ֖ן אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה לָכֶֽם

אֱמֹ֣ר  Say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֲלֵהֶ֗ם  to  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
חַי־  live 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
אָ֙נִי֙  as  I 
Parse: Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
נְאֻם־  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אִם־  truly 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: אִם  
Sense: if.
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר  just  as 
Parse: Preposition-k, Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
דִּבַּרְתֶּ֖ם  you  have  spoken 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
בְּאָזְנָ֑י  in  My  hearing 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, fdc, first person common singular
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
כֵּ֖ן  so 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֵּן 
Sense: so, therefore, thus.
אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה  will  I  do 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
לָכֶֽם  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural