HolyStudy
Bible IndexRead BibleNotesChurchesMissionPrivacyTermsContact
© 2026 HolyStudy
HomeRead BibleBible NotesChurchesSign in
HolyStudy
HomeRead BibleBible NotesChurches
Sign in

Numbers 11

1

And when the people complained, it displeased 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 uttermost parts of the camp.

1
2

And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.

3

And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them.

4

And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5

We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

1
6

But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

7

And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

8

And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

9

And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

10

Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

1
11

And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

1
12

Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

13

Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

1
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, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

16

And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

17

And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

18

And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

1
19

Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

20

But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

21

And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

22

Shall 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?

23

And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

24

And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

25

And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and 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 prophesied, and did not cease.

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 went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

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, forbid them.

29

And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!

30

And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

31

And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey 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 high upon the face of the earth.

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 ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

33

And while 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 plague.

34

And he called the name of that place Kibroth–hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

35

And the people journeyed from Kibroth–hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.

← Previous ChapterNext Chapter →

Numbers 11

The people's craving for meat at Taberah ('burning') initiates the wilderness's pattern of rebellion, transforming hunger into faithlessness and prompting the LORD to ignite fire 'at the edges of the camp,' a judgment that is quenched only through Moses' intercession, establishing the cycle of complaint-judgment-intercession that dominates the next fourteen chapters. The people's nostalgic litany of Egypt's culinary abundance ('the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic') exemplifies idolatrous memory, construing slavery as comfort and rejecting the manna's sufficiency, a theological error that recurs throughout the wilderness narrative. Moses' collapse—'Why have you treated your servant so badly?'—reveals the psychological burden of mediation; the leader who intercedes for the people simultaneously absorbs their grief and his own weariness, a pattern that will culminate in his exclusion from the land. The appointment of seventy elders (senirim) and the gift of the Spirit upon them democratizes prophecy and leadership, establishing a council that shares Moses' burden and enables governance of the vast congregation. The provision of quail arrives in the form of supernatural abundance—the birds pile 'to a height of two cubits above the ground'—and is accompanied immediately by divine judgment ('a plague struck the people'), transforming the answer to prayer into an instrument of punishment for the people's covetousness. The toponym Kibroth-hattaavah ('graves of craving') memorializes the place where the people's desire became their doom, turning the wilderness landscape itself into a record of disobedience. Numbers 11's sequence—complaint, intercession, Spirit-empowerment, provision, plague—establishes the template that dominates Numbers 11–25, where Israel's faithlessness provokes judgment even as the LORD provides for the people's material needs.

Numbers 11:19

'You shall eat not just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days' — the enumeration stresses the extended meat-provision. What the people expect to be a brief relief becomes extended.

Numbers 11:20

'but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you—because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"' — God will provide meat for a full month until it becomes sickening ('comes out of your nostrils'), suggesting glut and satiation to the point of disgust. The language 'becomes loathsome to you' (vlo tochlu otho) parallels Pharaoh's description of the plagues: God will give the people what they desire until it becomes repulsive. The root of their sin is exposed: they rejected the LORD and looked back to Egypt.

Numbers 11:21

But Moses said, 'There are six hundred thousand foot soldiers among this people, and you say, "I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!"' — Moses objects that the logistics are impossible: 600,000 adult males cannot be fed meat for a month from available sources. His question parallels the unbelief of Elisha's officer in 2 Kings 7:2: can God truly provide impossible abundance?

Numbers 11:22

'Are there enough flocks and herds to slaughter for them? Are there enough fish in the sea to catch for them?' — Moses catalogs the practical impossibilities: not enough domestic herds exist in the camp, and the wilderness lacks ocean sources. The rhetorical questions emphasize the impossibility from a human perspective.

Numbers 11:23

And the LORD said to Moses, 'Is the LORD's power limited? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not' — God's response is a rebuke: Moses questions God's power ('Is the LORD's power limited?' hashimra YHWH ki'zar), implying doubt of divine capability. God's counter: 'Now you shall see whether my word will come true.' The test will vindicate either God's power or Moses' skepticism.

Numbers 11:24

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent of meeting — Moses reports God's promise to the people and immediately gathers the seventy elders, positioning them around the tent. The action moves from promise to implementation.

Numbers 11:25

Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again — God descends in the cloud, the visible sign of God's presence, and redistributes Moses' spirit onto the seventy. When the spirit rests on them ('ve-yitnu aleihem), they prophesy ('yithnabbu'u), speaking God's words. But the prophecy is one-time only: 'they did not do so again.' This single prophetic act symbolizes the elders' receipt of the spirit, not their transformation into permanent prophets.

Numbers 11:26

Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent of meeting, and they prophesied in the camp — two elders (Eldad and Medad) did not join the gathering at the tent yet received the spirit and prophesied in the camp. Their receipt of the spirit apart from the tent-gathering suggests that God's spirit-distribution is comprehensive: wherever the seventy were, the spirit rested on them.

Numbers 11:27

And a young man ran and told Moses, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp' — a youth reports this anomaly to Moses, apparently expecting him to respond with concern or intervention.

Numbers 11:28

And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, 'My lord Moses, stop them!' — Joshua (who will succeed Moses) seeks to suppress the prophesying of Eldad and Medad. Joshua's concern is that prophecy outside the tent-structure is irregular and perhaps threatening to hierarchical order. His intervention reveals concern for Moses' exclusive authority.

Numbers 11:29

But Moses said to him, 'Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit on them!' — Moses rebukes Joshua's protectiveness. His response ('Are you jealous for my sake?' hakkinah atah li) suggests Joshua's motivation is misguided. Moses' dream ('Would that all the LORD's people were prophets') is prophetic itself: he envisions a time when the LORD's spirit rests on all God's people, not just leaders and elders. This vision foreshadows Pentecost (Acts 2), where the gift of the spirit extends to all believers.

Numbers 11:30

And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp — the gathering ends, and the leaders return to the camp. The seventy's receipt of the spirit is complete.

Numbers 11:31

Then a wind from the LORD sprang up, and it drove quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits deep on the ground — God's provision of meat arrives through a supernatural wind that brings quail from the sea. The quail cover the entire encampment area ('all around the camp'), piled 'two cubits deep' (about three feet high). The abundance is overwhelming: quail cover the ground for a day's travel in all directions. This is not a modest provision but a supernatural glut.

Numbers 11:32

And the people worked all that day, all night, and all the next day, gathering the quail; the least anyone gathered was ten homers; and they spread them out all around the camp — the people's labor to gather the quail extends continuously: all day, all night, and all the next day. Each person gathers at minimum ten homers (a homer is about 90 pounds of grain equivalent; perhaps 10-12 bushels of quail). The quail are 'spread out' to dry/cure, covering the entire camp area. The provision is physically overwhelming.

Numbers 11:33

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague — immediately as the people consume the meat, divine judgment strikes. 'While the meat was still between their teeth' (et habbasar od bein shineihem) emphasizes the immediacy: they are caught in the act of satisfying their craving. The 'very great plague' (nega gadol me'od) kills many Israelites. The fulfillment of God's warning in v.20 ('becomes loathsome') is transformed into actual plague.

Numbers 11:34

So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there the people who had the craving were buried — the site is named 'Graves of Craving' (Kibroth-hattaavah, literally 'tombs of desiring'). The naming memorializes that the people who craved meat died satisfying that craving. The wilderness place-names chronicle Israel's sins and God's judgments: Taberah (burning), Kibroth-hattaavah (graves of craving). The landscape becomes Israel's confession of transgression.

Numbers 11:35

From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth and remained there — the journey continues to Hazeroth, the next encampment. The narrative moves past the judgment-site, suggesting Israel's journey resumes despite the plague. The wilderness pilgrimage is characterized by recurring sin, judgment, and renewed journeying.

Numbers 11:14

'I am not able to carry all this people alone, for it is too heavy for me' — Moses' breaking-point explicit: 'I am not able' (lo yacholti). The burden is 'too heavy' (kaved mimeni), exceeding human capacity. This admission of incapacity opens space for divine intervention.

Numbers 11:15

'If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death at once — if I have found favor in your sight — and do not let me see my wretchedness' — in despair, Moses requests death. The paradox ('if I have found favor') suggests that if God regards Moses favorably, he would grant him release from this unbearable burden. Wretchedness (ra'ah) is the condition Moses cannot endure.

Numbers 11:16

So the LORD said to Moses, 'Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you' — God's response to Moses' collapse is not rebuke but redistribution of leadership burden. Seventy elders (perhaps the council-structure from Exod 24) are to be gathered. These are men Moses already 'knows' to be qualified. The gathering point is the tent of meeting, God's house.

Numbers 11:17

'I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you, so that you do not bear it all alone' — God promises to descend to the tent and redistribute Moses' spiritual authority. The 'spirit' (ruach) on Moses—his prophetic gifting and leadership capacity—will be shared ('take some...put it on them'). The seventy elders become co-bearers of the leadership burden. Remarkably, this does not diminish Moses' spirit but multiplies it through others.

Numbers 11:18

'And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wailed in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat' — God will provide meat in response to the people's complaint, not because the request is just but because God hears the complaint directly. The irony is sharp: God will give them exactly what they asked for. The 'consecration' (hitkadshu) suggests preparation for receiving blessing, though God's tone suggests the blessing will become judgment.

Numbers 11:1

Now the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes; and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned against them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp — the wilderness journey's first crisis erupts: Israel complains about hardship. The complaint reaches 'the hearing of the LORD' (mezimrath YHWH), meaning God hears the murmuring directly. God's response is immediate anger: 'the fire of the LORD burned against them,' consuming the camp's outlying sections. The severity of the punishment (divine fire consuming part of the camp) establishes that covenant participation does not insulate Israel from divine judgment; ingratitude provokes God's wrath.

Numbers 11:2

Then the people cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated — the people's crisis-prayer to Moses triggers Moses' intercession with God. The fire ceases in response to prayer, establishing the intercessory pattern: Moses mediates God's mercy. The rapid cycle (complaint, fire, prayer, cessation) suggests that God's judgments are not final but responsive to repentance.

Numbers 11:3

So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned against them — the site is renamed Taberah ('burning') to commemorate the divine punishment. The naming establishes that the wilderness journey is marked by crisis-sites and memorial places, each recalling a moment of God's judgment or mercy. The landscape itself becomes Israel's memory of its relationship with God.

Numbers 11:4

The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, saying, 'If only we had meat to eat!' — the 'rabble' (asafsuf, lit. 'gathering-stuff,' perhaps non-Israelites who joined the exodus) initiates a new complaint: hunger for meat. The phrase 'wept again' (vayyasu 'od) implies this is not a first outburst but a recurring pattern. The memory of Egyptian abundance haunts Israel: 'If only we had meat to eat!'

Numbers 11:5

'We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic — the Egyptians' abundance contrasts with the manna-diet. The list of Egyptian foods (fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic) emphasizes flavor diversity and satiety. Nostalgia for Egypt's culinary abundance reveals the people's forgetfulness of Egypt's bondage: they remember the food but suppress the memory of slavery. The ten-item list of remembered foods (if we include 'nothing,' the cost) suggests abundance and ease.

Numbers 11:6

but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at' — the complaint invokes physical decline: 'our strength is dried up' (kaph naphshi yabelah), suggesting the manna-diet is nutritionally insufficient. The exclusive monotony ('nothing...but this manna') becomes oppressive. What was once 'the bread of the mighty' (Exod 16:4) is now resented as monotonous substance.

Numbers 11:7

Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of bdellium — the narrator provides botanical description: manna resembles coriander (a small, round seed, aromatic) and bdellium (gum-resin, pale yellowish). The description establishes manna's actual substance as modest and small-seeded.

Numbers 11:8

The people went around and gathered it, grinding it in mills or beating it in mortars, then cooking it in pots and making cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked in oil — the Israelites' labor to prepare manna (gathering, grinding, beating, cooking) suggests that the food requires substantial work. The baked-cake result, 'like cakes baked in oil,' suggests pleasant taste. Yet all this labor for the same food, day after day, apparently exhausts the people's patience.

Numbers 11:9

When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell with it — the manna's miraculous provision (appearing with dew each morning) is the mechanism of God's daily care. The regularity of the manna (every night the dew, every morning the manna) demonstrates God's consistency. Yet what should inspire confidence provokes ingratitude.

Numbers 11:10

Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents; and the anger of the LORD became very hot, and Moses was displeased — the lament spreads throughout the camp: each family weeps at its tent entrance. God's anger ('becomes very hot,' yichar af YHWH) intensifies, and Moses himself becomes displeased ('vayeira be-einei Moshe), suggesting Moses shares God's frustration with the people's chronic ingratitude.

Numbers 11:11

So Moses said to the LORD, 'Why have you treated your servant so badly? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?' — Moses' complaint mirrors the people's complaint: he too expresses distress, but his complaint is directed toward God, not toward the leadership. Moses feels personally abandoned by God: 'Why have I not found favor in your sight?' The burden of leadership is crushing him.

Numbers 11:12

'Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, "Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors?"' — Moses uses intimate metaphors (conception, birth, nursing) to express his rejection of paternal responsibility. He did not father these people; God did (through the exodus). Yet God places on Moses the burden of carrying them like an infant. The 'bosom' (chor, lit. 'breast') suggests physical intimacy and constant care. Moses' desperate question implies he is overwhelmed.

Numbers 11:13

'Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, "Give us meat to eat!"' — Moses returns to the concrete complaint: the people demand meat, and Moses cannot supply it. He is caught between the people's demands and God's silence on provision. The people's appeal to Moses ('give us meat') places him in an impossible position.