Because the first one and one-half years weren't included in the decree of Numbers ch.14.
God cursed the Israelites to wander the wilderness for 40 years as a consequence of their lack of faith and disobedience. This period served as a time of purification and repentance for the Israelites before entering the promised land.
According to the Book of Numbers in the Bible, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness. The number of people who wandered with Moses in the wilderness is said to be around 600,000 men, not including women and children. With the inclusion of women and children, the total number of Israelites could have been well over 2 million.
The promised land of the Israelites was Canaan, the land that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. The Israelites returned to the promised land after being led by Moses through the Exodus, where they wandered in the desert for 40 years before finally entering Canaan under the leadership of Joshua.
After crossing the red sea, Moses lead the Israelites to mt. Sinai. This is the place that Moses received the ten commandments. Following god's cloud by day, the Israelites eventually reach the border of Canaan, Israel, and stay there for 38 years. This is due to god's punishment, which is not allowing any of the generation to see the promised land. It take the Israelites 40 years in total to reach Canaan.
According to the Book of Exodus, it took forty years for the Israelites to reach the Promised Land of the Canaanites. According to most historians today, the Israelites were always part of the Promised Land, because they were themselves Canaanites who migrated from the region of the rich coastal cities and settled peacefully in the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland. They and their Canaanite ancestors were already there. However, after the Israelites had long forgotten their true origins, they built up traditions of a glorious past and great military victories.
According to tradition, it was the years of 1312 to 1272 BCE.
Thet wandered for 40 years in the Sinai Desert.
Moses and the Israelites
It took 40 years for the Israelites to travel from Egypt to Canaan. Had there been no delays, most could have made the trip in 11 days (Deuteronomy 1). The main delay is explained in Numbers ch.13 and 14.
It took them seven years.The forty years of which you asked were spent wandering the wilderness before entering the land.The reason they wandered for 4 decades is they believed the faithless 10 spies on the first approach.
Scholars calculate the Israelites to have wandered in the wilderness for 38 or 39 years; tradition holds it was "40 years" although that number may be an ancient metaphor for a generally large number and hence simply meaning, a long time although an actual forty years would still be pretty accurate. According the the Old Testament, Moses led them out of bondage from Egypt, Joshua helped lead them into the promised land.
The Hebrew people wandered for 40 years in the wilderness . And they ate manna.
According to the Old Testament, the Israelites (the ancestors of today's Jews) wandered the wilderness (often mistranslated as desert) for 40 years. There is currently no archaeological evidence to support the claim that this event actually happened historically (see also the attached Related Link.).
In The Bible, the Israelites wandered for forty years before they entered Canaan.In history, on the other hand, there was no Exodus from Egypt and no militiary conquest of Canaan as described in the Bible. The Israelites did not travel from Egypt to Canaan.
Forty years (Numbers ch.14)
The learned Torah the entire time.
The book of exodus tells us about the wandering for 40 years.