The Meaning of Numbers 14:31 Explained

Numbers 14:31

KJV: But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

YLT: As to your infants -- of whom ye have said, A spoil they are become -- I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which ye have kicked against;

Darby: But your little ones, of whom ye said they should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land that ye have despised.

ASV: But your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But your little ones,  which ye said  should be a prey,  them will I bring in,  and they shall know  the land  which ye have despised. 

What does Numbers 14:31 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 14:31 mean?

But your little ones whom you said victims would be and will I bring in - and they shall know - the land which have despised you
וְטַ֨פְּכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם לָבַ֣ז יִהְיֶ֑ה וְהֵבֵיאתִ֣י אֹתָ֔ם וְיָֽדְעוּ֙ אֶת־ הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר מְאַסְתֶּ֖ם בָּֽהּ

וְטַ֨פְּכֶ֔ם  But  your  little  ones 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: טַף 
Sense: children, little children, little ones.
אֲשֶׁ֥ר  whom 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
אֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם  you  said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לָבַ֣ז  victims 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּז  
Sense: spoil, booty, robbery, spoiling.
יִהְיֶ֑ה  would  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
וְהֵבֵיאתִ֣י  and  will  I  bring  in 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
אֹתָ֔ם  - 
Parse: Direct object marker, third person masculine plural
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
וְיָֽדְעוּ֙  and  they  shall  know 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הָאָ֔רֶץ  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
מְאַסְתֶּ֖ם  have  despised 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: מָאַס 
Sense: to reject, despise, refuse.