^16:28Then Moses said, “This is how³⁵ you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.³⁶^16:29If these men die a natural death,³⁷ or if they share the fate³⁸ of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. ^16:30But if the Lord does something entirely new,³⁹ and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up⁴⁰ along with all that they have, and they⁴¹ go down alive to the grave,⁴² then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

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Footnotes

35 Heb “in this.”
36 The Hebrew text simply has כִּי־לֹא מִלִּבִּי (ki-lo’ millibbi, “for not from my heart”). The heart is the center of the will, the place decisions are made (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament). Moses is saying that the things he has done have not come “from the will of man” so to speak—and certainly not from some secret desire on his part to seize power.
37 Heb “if like the death of every man they die.”
38 The noun is פְּקֻדָּה (péquddah, “appointment, visitation”). The expression refers to a natural death, parallel to the first expression.
39 The verb בָּרָא (bara’) is normally translated “create” in the Bible. More specifically it means to fashion or make or do something new and fresh. Here the verb is joined with its cognate accusative to underscore that this will be so different everyone will know it is of God.
40 The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow—which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.
41 The word is “life” or “lifetime”; it certainly means their lives—they themselves. But the presence of this word suggest more. It is an accusative specifying the state of the subject—they will go down alive to Sheol.
42 The word “Sheol” in the Bible can be used four different ways: the grave, the realm of the departed [wicked] spirits or Hell, death in general, or a place of extreme danger (one that will lead to the grave if God does not intervene). The usage here is certainly the first, and very likely the second as well. A translation of “pit” would not be inappropriate. Since they will go down there alive, it is likely that they will sense the deprivation and the separation from the land above. See H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Netherworld in the Old Testament ( 21), 21–23; and A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic, especially ch. 3.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord sent me to do all these things and that it was not of my own will: If these men die naturally as all people would, and suffer the fate of all, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something unprecedented, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them along with all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.”

NLTNew Living Translation

And Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own. If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Moses said, “In this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; it is not from my heart. If they die a natural death or if a natural fate is visited upon them, Yahweh has not sent me. But if Yahweh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up and all that belongs to them, and they go down alive to Sheol, and you will know that these men have despised Yahweh.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.

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