What Does Numbers 32:9 Mean in the King James?
For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.
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
The word “discouraged” describes an active holding back of the heart from entering what has already been given.
THE MEANING
You can see what lies ahead and still have your heart turned from entering it; discouragement becomes an inward barrier to movement. The land is already given, yet entering remains a real step.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that what is given must feel easy to enter dissolves here: the land is given, yet the heart can still be held back from going in.
THE ROOT
וַיָּנִיאוּ
vayyaniʾu
GROWS FROM
נוא
n-w-ʾ
To hinder, restrain, or hold back.
“discouraged” in this verse is vayyaniʾu. The verb describes an action done to the heart: the people do not merely feel hesitant; they are turned aside from entering. The root makes discouragement an obstruction to movement.
ALSO GROWS
nuʾ: To hinder or restrain.
נוּא
This basic sense reveals the force of the word: something is holding the heart back from its course.
hēnîʾ: To dissuade or prevent.
הֵנִיא
This verb form shows how one person can turn another away from an intended action, as happens to the heart here.
נָתַן
nātan
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
The land is not only ahead as a possibility: the verb says it is already given to them. The sentence holds the gift and the blocked entry together, showing that what is given and what is entered are not the same moment.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: A gift.
מַתָּנָה
This noun from the same root makes the land’s status as a gift visible.
nātûn: Given, set, or placed.
נָתוּן
This form carries the sense of something placed before someone, matching the land already given to them.
בֹּא
boʾ
GROWS FROM
בוא
b-w-ʾ
To come, enter, or arrive.
“go into” in this verse is boʾ. The root describes arrival as movement into a place. Here that movement is precisely what the discouraged heart is turned away from.
ALSO GROWS
bāʾ: Came, arrived, or entered.
בָּא
This form makes entry an arrival at a place, the movement the verse says is blocked.
hēbîʾ: Brought or caused to come.
הֵבִיא
This causative form shows the root can describe bringing someone in; here the action runs in the opposite direction, holding people back from coming in.
THE PATTERN
A heart turned aside can keep a person from entering what has already been set before them.
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.THE THREAD
Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.This verse joins the same roots: נָתַן (nātan, give or set) and בֹּא (boʾ, enter). Numbers 32:9 holds the gift and entry together, then names the discouragement that blocks movement between them.
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