Therefore he lifted up his hand against them,.... A gesture used in swearing, Gen 14:22. So the Targum understands it here, "and he lifted up his hand with an oath, because of them:'' and so it is interpreted by Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; and agrees with Num 14:28. The same gesture was used by the Heathens in swearing, as by Latinus (s). Or he lifted up his hand, in a way of judgment, to strike the blow; and which, when it lights on man with the indignation of his anger, falls heavy; see Isa 26:11. To overthrow them in the wilderness; as he did all the murmuring generation that came out of Egypt, all but Caleb and Joshua; all from twenty years and upwards, their carcasses fell in the wilderness; there they were wasted, consumed, and died, Num 14:32. (s) "----Tenditque ad sidera dextram--Terram, mare, sidera juro", Virg. Aeneid. 12.