Hebrews 3:17

Hebrews 3:17

But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

a. NLT: And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?

b. NIV: And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?

c. YLT: But with whom was He grieved forty years? was it not with those who did sin, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?

d. Amplified Bible Classic: And with whom was He irritated and provoked and grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose [d]dismembered bodies were strewn and left in the desert?

1. “But with whom was he grieved forty years…”

a. But [Strong: 1161 dé, deh; a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and, etc.:—also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).

b. with whom [Strong: 5101 tís, tis; probably emphatic of G5100; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions):—every man, how (much), + no(-ne, thing), what (manner, thing), where (-by, -fore, -of, -unto, - with, -withal), whether, which, who(-m, -se), why.]

c. [was] he grieved [Strong: 4360 prosochthízō, pros-okh-thid'-zo; from G4314 and a form of ὀχθέω ochthéō (to be vexed with something irksome); to feel indignant at:—be grieved at.]

d. forty [Strong: 5062 tessarákonta, tes-sar-ak'-on-tah; the decade of G5064; forty:—forty.]

e. years [Strong: 2094 étos, et'-os; apparently a primary word; a year:—year.]

1). The forty years begins at Numbers 14:35 in the Biblical text, the forty years does not include the approximate 1½ years from the night of the Exodus in Exodus 12:37-42 to this point in Numbers 14. During the study I learned that the Biblical material of Exodus 12, the night of the Exodus from Egypt to Numbers 13 &14, the sending of the spies and subsequent unbelief and rebellion of Israel comprise a time period of about 1½ years. I also learned that the Biblical material from Numbers 22 to Joshua 3 comprises another time period of about 1½  years, which leaves the 7 chapters of Numbers 15-21 to fit in 38 ½ years. Inside those 7 chapters of Numbers is the rebellion of Korah in Numbers 16, the budding of Aaron’s rod in Numbers 17, signifying again that God chose Aaron and his sons in the Priesthood. In Numbers 20 is the disobedience of Moses and Aaron in getting water out of the rock, for which disobedience neither enter into the Promised Land. In Numbers 21 is the episode of Israel’s complaining and the subsequent result of the death of many from serpent bites and the making of the brass serpent by Moses. Finally Numbers 21:20 records Israel getting to the top of Pisgah immediately before the military campaigns against Sihon and Og. These campaigns occurred approximately 1½ years before Israel went into the Promised Land. Other than those few historic Biblical events there is nothing recorded about those 38½ years. NOTHING! In early January of 2013 me and Missy were listening to a series by John Bevere entitled Honors’ Reward . In that series he made the statement that in Numbers 14 when Israel refused to believe God about going into the Promised Land, they lost their calling. On Sunday morning 1/20/13 as I was putting on the finishing touches of my message I was going to teach at church that morning, John Bevere’s statement combined with the awareness of my previous study concerning the brevity of Scripture concerning that generation finally dawned on me. This group of Israelites was called by God to be the people prophesied by the Hebrew fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses to go into the Promised Land, but because of their unbelief, they were denied by God and sentenced to wander in the desert for forty years, until everyone in that generation died. They lost their calling. What is even more profound to me is that there is very little written of them and what is written contains nothing good. What a sobering thought. I am reminded of a passage in Exodus concerning Israel’s disobedience at Sinai when Moses was receiving the Law. While Moses was on top of Mt. Sinai Israel was caught up in worshipping a golden calf. The next day Moses returned into the presence of God and the following dialogue was recorded.

a). Exodus 32:31-33 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

b). Because of the mercy and forgiveness of God, many of that generation surely went to paradise when they died. The point I want to make is this, regardless of whether they died righteous or not they not only lost their initial Divine calling, but their history, their deeds, their actions are not recorded and in a sense blotted out of remembrance, no memorial, no remembrance.

2. “...was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?”

a. [was it] not [Strong: 3780 ouchí, oo-khee'; intensive of G3756; not indeed:—nay, not.]

b. with them that [Strong: 3588 ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.]

c. had sinned [Strong: 264 hamartánō, ham-ar-tan'-o; perhaps from G1 (as a negative particle) and the base of G3313; properly, to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize), i.e. (figuratively) to err, especially (morally) to sin:—for your faults, offend, sin, trespass.]

d. whose [Strong: 3739 hós, hos; probably a primary word (or perhaps a form of the article G3588); the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, that:—one, (an-, the) other, some, that, what, which, who(-m, -se), etc.]

e. carcases [Strong: 2966 kōlon, ko'-lon; from the base of G2849; a limb of the body (as if lopped):—carcase.]

f. fell [Strong: 4098 píptō, pip'-to; probably akin to G4072 through the idea of alighting; to fall (literally or figuratively):—fail, fall (down), light on.]

g. in [Strong: 1722 en, en; a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:—about, after, against, + almost, × altogether, among, × as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+ all means), for (… sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to, -wardly), × mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, × outwardly, one, × quickly, × shortly, (speedi-)ly, × that, × there(-in, -on), through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while, with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) preposition.]

h. the [Strong: 3588 ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.]

i. wilderness [Strong: 2048 érēmos, er'-ay-mos; of uncertain affinity; lonesome, i.e. (by implication) waste (usually as a noun, G5561 being implied):—desert, desolate, solitary, wilderness.]