Go not up, for the Lord is not among you,.... And therefore could not expect success, for victory is of the Lord; the Targum of Jonathan adds,"the ark, and the tabernacle, and the cloud of glory move not,''which were a plain indication that the Lord would not go with them, and therefore could not hope to prevail over their enemies and enter the land, but on the contrary might expect to be defeated by them, as follows:
that ye be not smitten before your enemies; of which they would be in great danger should they attempt to go up the hill, and the Lord not with them.