Numbers 14:9

Summary

Numbers 14:9 records an exhortation, attributed to Joshua and Caleb, urging the people not to rebel against Yehovah and not to fear the inhabitants of the land. The reasoning given is that these inhabitants will be like "bread" for Israel, that their "shade" has departed from them, and that Yehovah is with Israel.

Key words

• 'akh ("only", H0389) — an adverb restricting or emphasizing what follows, often rendered "only" or "however," setting up the contrast between rebelling and not fearing.
• tim.roDu ("you rebel", H4775) — qal jussive, second person masculine plural, expressing a prohibition ("may you not rebel") rather than a simple future negation.
• lachMenu ("bread of us" / "our bread", H3899H + H9025) — a construct noun with a first-person plural suffix, forming a metaphor in which the people of the land are compared to bread to be consumed.
• tzi.Lam ("their shade", H6738 + H9028) — construct noun with third-person masculine plural suffix; "shade" functions here as an idiom for protection or shelter.
• ti.ra.'Um ("you fear them", H3372G + H9038) — qal jussive, second person masculine plural, with a third-person plural object suffix attached directly to the verb, repeating the prohibition against fear that closes the verse.

What the text says

The verse is built on parallel jussive prohibitions: 'al-tim.roDu ("may you not rebel") against Yehovah, and 'al-ti.re.'U ("may you not fear") the people of the land — a structure repeated a third time at the end with 'al-ti.ra.'Um ("may you not fear them"), forming an envelope that frames the whole verse with the same warning. The particle ki ("for", H3588A) introduces the grounds for the exhortation: the population of the land is described as lachMenu ("our bread"), a metaphorical construct phrase suggesting they will be consumed like food. The clause sar tzi.Lam me'aleihem ("their shade has departed from over them") uses tzillam ("their shade") as an idiom for protection, stating that this protection is gone. The final clause, va-Yehovah 'iTanu ("and Yehovah is with us"), stands as a counterpoint before the closing repetition of the prohibition against fear, this time with the object suffix -am ("them") attached directly to the verb tira'um.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tzillam ("their shade") as ho kairos ("the season/opportunity"), differing from the Hebrew image of "shade" as protection. The Vulgate renders lachmenu ("our bread") with the verb devorare ("to devour"), making explicit the consuming sense that the Hebrew noun phrase only implies metaphorically. The Vulgate also renders tzillam as omne praesidium ("all protection"), interpreting the idiom directly rather than preserving the "shade" image found in the Hebrew.