Numbers 14:36
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לָתוּר אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וַיָּשֻׁבוּ וַיַּלִּינוּ עָלָיו אֶת־כָּל־הָעֵדָה לְהוֹצִיא דִבָּה עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
וְהָ֣אֲנָשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַ֥ח מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָת֣וּר אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיָּשֻׁ֗בוּ וַיַּלִּ֤ינוּ עָלָיו֙ אֶת־כָּל־הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה לְהוֹצִ֥יא דִבָּ֖ה עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
καὶ οἱ ἂνθρωποι οὓς ἀπέστειλεν Μωυσῆς κατασκέψασθαι τὴν γῆν, καὶ παραγενηθέντες διεγόγγυσαν κατ’ αὐτῆς πρὸς τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐξενέγκαι ῥήματα πονηρὰ περὶ τῆς γῆς,
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Igitur omnes viri, quos miserat Moyses ad contemplandam terram, et qui reversi murmurare fecerant contra eum omnem multitudinem, detrahentes terræ quod esset mala,
Los hombres que Moisés había enviado a explorar la tierra, y que al regresar hicieron que toda la comunidad murmurara contra él al dar un mal reporte del país,
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y los varones que Moisés envió á reconocer la tierra, y vueltos habían hecho murmurar contra él á toda la congregación, desacreditando aquel país,
So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land—
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse identifies the men Moses had sent to explore the land, describing their return and the effect of their action: they caused the entire congregation to murmur, specifically by circulating a negative report about the land. The sentence functions as an extended subject clause, setting up further narration that continues in the following verse.
Key words
- shalach ("he sent", H7971G) — qal perfect, describing Moses' completed act of sending the spies; anchors the relative clause identifying "the men."
- latur ("to spy out", H8446) — infinitive with prefixed lamed, expressing the purpose of the sending.
- yalinu ("they caused to grumble", H3885B) — hiphil narrative form; the causative stem is key: the men did not merely grumble, they caused the congregation to grumble.
- lehotsi ("bringing out", H3318O) — hiphil infinitive with lamed, expressing the means by which the grumbling was produced.
- dibah ("a bad report", H1681) — feminine singular noun denoting a defamatory or damaging report, the content that triggered the reaction.
What the text says
The verse opens with veha'anashim ("and the men," H0582 with definite article) followed by a relative clause introduced by asher ("whom," H0834A), which identifies these men through the action of Moses: asher shalach Mosheh latur et-ha'aretz — "whom Moses sent to spy out the land." This entire phrase functions as an extended subject, not yet completed by a main verb; the sentence continues into what follows in the surrounding narrative.
Two narrative vav-forms follow: vayashuvu ("and they returned," H7725G) and vayalinu ("and they caused to grumble," H3885B). The second is in the hiphil stem, marking causation — the men's action produced grumbling in others, specifically kol-ha'edah ("all the congregation," H5712), rather than describing the men's own emotional state. The target of this induced grumbling is marked by alav ("against him," H5921A + suffix), a masculine singular suffix pointing back to Moses.
The purpose/means of causing this grumbling is given through another hiphil infinitive, lehotsi dibah ("to bring out a bad report," H3318O + H1681), specified as being al-ha'aretz ("about the land," H5921A + H0776G).
Differences between versions
The Hebrew alav ("against him") refers back to Moses with a masculine singular suffix. The LXX reads κατ' αὐτῆς ("against her"), using a feminine pronoun that corresponds instead to τὴν γῆν ("the land"), producing a different referent for the object of complaint than the Hebrew. The Vulgate's contra eum ("against him") aligns with the Hebrew in pointing to Moses rather than the land.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.