What Does Numbers 14:22 Mean in the King James?
Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
They have seen God’s weight and works, yet keep testing him: seeing is not the same as hearing and responding.
THE MEANING
You can witness God’s weight and works and still keep putting his presence to the test. The verse names the divide between what your eyes have seen and whether you hear and respond to the voice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that witnessing signs automatically makes a person responsive to God. Sight and answered hearing can part ways.
THE ROOT
שָׁמְעוּ
sham'u
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, and respond.
“hearkened” in this verse is sham'u. The verb carries more than sound reaching the ear; it holds listening that answers. The contrast is sharp: eyes witness God’s weight and signs, but the voice receives no response.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The familiar call from this root makes hearing an answering act, not passive reception.
shemu'ah: A report or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows the root’s range from receiving what is heard to responding to it.
וַיְנַסּוּ
waynassu
GROWS FROM
נסה
n-s-h
Test, try, or put to proof.
“tempted” in this verse is waynassu. The root holds testing and challenge together: the people repeatedly put God’s presence on trial after seeing his works. The tenfold count presents this as a repeated pattern, not one passing question.
ALSO GROWS
nissah: Tested or tried.
נִסָּה
This verb form carries the same act of putting something to proof.
Massah: Testing; the name of a place associated with testing.
מַסָּה
The related place name in Exodus gives this recurring test a name.
כְּבֹדִי
kevodî
GROWS FROM
כבד
k-b-d
Be heavy or weighty; carry weight.
Kavod is weight: the glory they see is God’s substantial presence, not mere spectacle. Its place beside the signs makes the refusal to hear especially stark, the weight is visible, but the voice still goes unanswered.
ALSO GROWS
kaved: Heavy or weighty.
כָּבֵד
This branch reveals the physical sense beneath the word translated “glory.”
kavod: Weight, honor, or glory.
כָּבוֹד
The verse’s “glory” retains the root’s sense of weight and substance.
THE PATTERN
Witnessing signs does not compel responsive hearing; repeated testing can coexist with seeing God’s works.
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:THE THREAD
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?The Hebrew verb for “tempted” comes from נסה (nasah), the same root behind Massah in Exodus 17:7. The name means testing, and the question “Is the LORD among us, or not?” exposes what the test presses: a presence already witnessed is treated as still unproven.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us