Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
Because they despised my judgments. The special reason is stated by Moses (Numbers 13:1-33; Numbers 14:1-45) to be that they, through fear, arising from the false report of the spies, wished to return to Egypt; the general reasons are stated here which lay at the root of their rejection of God's grace, namely, contempt of God and His laws, and love of idols. Indeed, the same general reason is implied in Numbers 14:22.
Their heart went after their idols - the fault lay in it (Psalms 78:37).