The Meaning of Numbers 14:37 Explained

Numbers 14:37

KJV: Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

YLT: even the men bringing out an evil account of the land die by the plague before Jehovah;

Darby: even those men who had brought up an evil report upon the land, died by a plague before Jehovah.

ASV: even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Jehovah.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Even those  men  that did bring up  the evil  report  upon the land,  died  by the plague  before  the LORD. 

What does Numbers 14:37 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 14:37 mean?

and died those very men who brought report the about land the evil by the plague before Yahweh
וַיָּמֻ֙תוּ֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים מוֹצִאֵ֥י דִבַּת־ הָאָ֖רֶץ רָעָ֑ה בַּמַּגֵּפָ֖ה לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה

וַיָּמֻ֙תוּ֙  and  died 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: מוּת  
Sense: to die, kill, have one executed.
הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים  those  very  men 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱנׄושׁ 
Sense: man, mortal man, person, mankind.
מוֹצִאֵ֥י  who  brought 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
דִבַּת־  report 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: דִּבָּה  
Sense: whispering, defamation, evil report.
הָאָ֖רֶץ  the  about  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
רָעָ֑ה  the  evil 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
בַּמַּגֵּפָ֖ה  by  the  plague 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: מַגֵּפָה  
Sense: blow, slaughter, plague, pestilence, strike, smite.
לִפְנֵ֥י  before 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
יְהוָֽה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.