The Fourth Book of Moses, called Numbers
Numbers 11
Chapter XI · Vol. I, pp. 432–433
1 The burning at Taberah is quenched by Moses' prayer. 4 The people lust for flesh, and loathe manna. 10 Moses complaineth of his charge. 16 God divideth his burden among seventy elders. 31 Quails are given in wrath at Kibroth-hattaavah.
1 AND when the people complained,1 it displeased2 the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled: and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the a uttermost parts of the camp.3
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
1 Or, were as it were complainers.
2 Heb. it was evil in the ears of, &c.
a De. 25.18.
3 This fire may have been lightning or the fiery winds, still common in the Arabian desert, but never smiting unsent.—C.
2 And the people b cried unto Moses; and when Moses c prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.4
b Ps. 78.34,38. 1 Sa. 12.19. See Ex. 8.8.
c Ex. 8.12,13; 32.10,11. Ja. 5.16-18. Is. 45.11. Mat. 7.7. Mar. 11.24. Ps. 106.23.
4 Heb. sunk.
3 And he called the name of the place Taberah:5 because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
5 That is, a burning.
4 And the d mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept6 again,7 and said, e Who shall give us flesh to eat?
d As, Ex. 12.38. Le. 24.10,11. 1 Co. 15.33.
6 Heb. returned and wept.
7 In ver. 1, they had complained; in ver. 2, they were delivered; and now, through the influence of the bad example of the mixed multitude, they sin again.—C.
e 1 Co. 10.6. Ps. 78.18-20; 106.14. Ex. 16.3,12. ver. 18.
5 We remember f the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
6 But now our soul is g dried away: there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.8
g 2 Sa. 13.4. Is. 53.2,3.
8 This record furnishes a remarkable instance of the idolatry of the appetite, Phi. 3.19, and of the practical difference between the natural and the spiritual man The spiritual, that is, the renewed, the converted man, Ro. 12.2. Mat. 18.3, has learned, 'having food and raiment,' without any quarrel with providence, therewith to be 'content,' 1 Ti. 6.8. Phi. 4.11. He. 13.5. But the natural man, like murmuring Israel, having installed the appetite in the place of God in his affections, and trained that appetite to demand luxuries as necessaries, feeds without thankfulness upon the blessings of God, and rebels against his providence the moment a blessing is withdrawn.—C.
7 And h the manna was as coriander-seed, and the colour thereof9 as the colour of bdellium.
h Ex. 16.12-35. Ge. 2.12. Ca. 5.16. 1 Co. 1.23,24. Jn. 1.14. 1 Pe. 1.7.
9 Heb. eye of it as the eye of.
8 And the people went i about and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and k baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
10 Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent; and the m anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
m Ps. 78.21; 90.11; 106.29,32,33. De. 32.21,22; 9.8,19; 31.17; 29.20. Ju. 2.14,20; 3.8; 10.7. ch. 20.10,11
11 And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou n afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
n De. 1.12. 2 Co. 11.28. Je. 15.10; 20.7-9.
12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, o Carry them in thy bosom (as a nursing-father beareth the sucking child) unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
13 Whence p should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
p Jn. 6.7,9,32. 2 Ki. 7.2; 4.43. Lu. 1.18,34. Mat. 14.31. Ro. 8.3. He. 7.18,19,25. See ver. 22.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if thou deal thus with me, q kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.2
q 1 Ki. 19.4. Jonah 4.3. Job 6.8-10; 7.15. Mat. 14.31. He. 13.5,6.
2 Moses, however provoked and displeased, ver. 10, does not rebel against providence, when he prays for death as a 'favour;' the pressure of his 'wretchedness' produces no murmuring against God, but a desire 'to depart and be with Christ,' Phi. 1.23,24. Ps. 55.6. 2 Co. 5.2,4, yet a willingness, at God's command, still 'to abide in the flesh, as more needful' for the people.—C.
16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me r seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them s unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they t may stand there with thee:
17 And I will t come down and talk with thee there: and I will u take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall x bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
18 And say thou unto the people, y Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: (for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, z Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt:) therefore the LORD a will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.
y Ex. 18.10,11,14. Ge. 25.2. Am. 4.8,12.
z ver. 4,5,13. Ps. 78.18,20. Ex. 16.3,12.
a ver. 19,20,31,32. Ps. 78.27-32.
19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 But even a whole3 month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have b despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
3 Heb. month of days.
b Ps. 78.17-22; 106.13,14. 1 Sa. 2.30. 2 Sa. 12.9,10. 2 Ch. 36.16. Pr. 1.31. Eze. 20.13,16,24. Ro. 2.4,5. 1 Ki. 14.9. Ne. 9.26.
21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are c six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
22 Shalld the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
d Jn. 6.7,9. 2 Ki. 7.2; 4.43. Lu. 1.18,34. See ver. 13.
23 And the LORD said unto Moses, e Is the LORD's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.4
e Is. 50.2; 59.1. Ge. 18.14. Je. 32.17. Mi. 2.7. Mat. 14.31. Mar. 5.36.
4 Moses had evidently supposed that the people were to have flesh in the ordinary way by the slaughter of cattle. The Lord here indicates the procuring of a supply by miracle; and in doing so he reminds Moses incidentally of his former wonders of mercy and power—'Is Jehovah's hand waxed short?'—P.
24 And Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and f gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them, round about the tabernacle.
25 And the LORD g came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and h took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they i prophesied,5 and did not cease.6
g Ex. 40.38; 34.5. ch. 12.5. Ps. 99.7.
h 2 Ki. 2.15. Ja. 1.17. 2 Co. 3.5. 1 Co. 12.4,13.
i 1 Sa. 10.5,6; 19.23,24. 1 Co. 12.4,5; 14.1,3.
5 To prophesy commonly signifies to foretell ere a thing comes to pass; but it also is employed to signify the explanation of a thing already announced. In this sense it is said, Ex. 7.1, 'Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet:' that is, not a foreteller of futurity, but the expositor of thy sentiments to Pharaoh. Like Aaron, then, these persons began to expound, apply, and enforce the divine word, in exhortation, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.—C.
6 'And did not cease.' The Hebrew rather signifies, 'and did not add,' i.e. they prophesied during that day while the Spirit remained upon them, but not afterwards. This meaning is supported by the Septuagint and most of the Jewish rabbins. It is probably the true meaning.—P.
26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them, (and they were of them that were written, but k went not out unto the tabernacle,) and they prophesied in the camp.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, l forbid them.
l ver. 29. Mar. 9.38,39. Lu. 9.49,50. Jn. 3.26.
29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? m Would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them!
m 1 Co. 14.5. Phi. 1.18. Ac. 26.29.
30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 And there went forth n a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey7 on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits[≈ 91 cm · 3 ft]8 high upon the face of the earth.9
n Ex. 16.13. Ps. 78.26; 105.40.
7 Heb. as it were the way of a day.
8 One yard one quarter.
9 Had the quails fallen and lain three feet in depth, the under strata at least must soon have died, and so have been unlawful food, Le. 22.8. Besides, if they so lay, why should the people stand up two whole days and a night, without intermission, to gather them? We adopt the view of Josephus and others, who translate the words, not upon but above the face of the earth, and refer it, not to the height at which the quails lay dead, but at which they flew in their migration.—C.
32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered o ten homers[≈ 2,200 litres · 60 bushels]; and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.1
o Ex. 16.16,36. Ps. 78.27, about three pecks.
1 They spread them in the sun to dry, a method of preserving food still practised with various kinds of fish in these countries, and in preparing the jerked meat of South America.—C.
33 And while p the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people; and the LORD smote the people with a very great 2 plague.
p Ps. 78.30,31; 106.14,15. De. 28.17. ch. 16.49; 25.9. Pr. 1.31,32; 14.14. Je. 2.17,19; 4.18; 5.25; 6.19.
2 Why did God send a plague to punish the people for the use of his own gift? Because they sought it not for any necessity, being amply supplied with manna; and used it not with moderation or thankfulness, but to satisfy their own appetites, 1 Co. 10.31. 1 Ti. 4.5.—C.
34 And he called the name of that place q Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.
q That is, the graves of lust, De. 9.22. 1 Co. 10.6.
Notes
[Ver. 1. The cause of complaint is not stated. It may have been from the length and the difficulty of the journey. They were now in the most sterile part of the wilderness of Sinai. It would seem too that the complaints were in a great measure confined to the strangers or slaves, called 'the mixed multitude,' who followed them from Egypt, and who marched not in the midst, but on the skirts of the camp. Upon these the 'fire of the Lord' fell. P.]
Ver. 5. [The murmurings began with the strangers, and soon extended to the Israelites. We can scarcely wonder at men long accustomed to the flesh, the fish, the acid vegetables, and luscious fruits of Egypt, wearying with the sameness of the somewhat insipid manna. Cucumbers, melons, and onions were, and still are, very abundant in Egypt. They form the staple articles of food among the lower classes; and are well suited to the natural wants of man in a hot and dry climate. P.]
Ver. 8. [In Ex. 16.31 it is said the manna 'was like coriander-seed, white;' here it is said it was like coriander-seed, and in colour like bdellium. The two descriptions agree:—In form the manna resembled coriander-seed; but in colour it was white, like the transparent pale-coloured gum called bdellium. In Exodus the taste is said to be 'like wafers with honey;' here it is compared to 'fresh oil.' There is no discrepancy:—the former description applied to it as fresh gathered; this, as ground, and beaten, and baked. P.]
Ver. 10. [This unmanly, this childish 'weeping' of Israel was addressed, not to God in prayer, but to Moses, ver. 13, in unreasonable petition, or ungrateful reproach; therefore God's anger is 'greatly kindled.' But there are those who are offended when anger is ascribed to God: and why? because the anger of sinful men is often unreasonable, without cause, violent, unjust, and destructive—must therefore the anger of a holy God be necessarily of the same character? To deny that God is angry with sin and sinners because human anger is generally evil, were just as unreasonable as to deny that 'God is love,' because human affections are often commingled with impurity. C.]
Ver. 35. [Hazeroth was the first place after Sinai where the camp remained for a number of days. It was situated four days' march east of Sinai. It is probably identical, as the name would indicate, with the fountain of Hudherah, which lies about 40 miles northeast of Sinai, in the midst of a wild, bleak, and barren desert. There is a larger fountain, called Ain, some distance to the north, and probably the camp may have extended to it. It is on the direct route from Sinai to Kadesh. P.]
Reflections.—How often men sin outrageously immediately after the most solemn exercises, and make the very commandments of Heaven the occasions of such sinning! We often murmur against the dispensations of Providence, even without any shadow of reason; nay, in direct contradiction to every reason; for ingratitude is the basest vice. Discontented persons loathe their very blessings, and seem solicitous to make themselves miserable; readily preferring the worst things which God withholds to the best which he bestows, and even the filthy pleasures of sin and sense to his unspeakable gift of grace.—It is a fearful mark of the curse of God upon the heart when men repine amidst plenty! Those who follow the people of God for base and carnal ends, quickly become murmurers when they meet with disappointments. A mixture of carnal and self-seeking men are ruinous to the church; and a mixture of carnal affections are the plague of the renewed heart. Through these it is that even the greatest saints are apt to lose their temper, extol their service, quarrel with the disposals of Providence, and distrust the power and kindness of God, when they meet with great provocations from their fellow-creatures—and to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, when they are especially called to reprove them by a contrary conduct. But God often tries his people, chiefly in respect of their most eminent graces, to humble them, and to prove them, when he finds them wanting; for the meekest are ready to wish themselves freed from trials, rather than to glorify God under them; nay, to wish death, when their temper is very unfit for it. But how richly God qualifies men for work when he calls them to it! Let me then never grudge to any the honours for which God hath fitted him; never contemn the government which God hath appointed: never forbid those who act for the honour of God, even though they follow not with us; nor ever neglect to accept the assistance which God affords me in my work, though it should eclipse my renown! But let me always remember that a curse or frown attends even God's granting of that which men ask in a murmuring and peremptory manner, and that he can easily render created comforts a tremendous and destructive plague!
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.