Bamidbar 11
11
1And when the people complained, it displeased Hashem; Hashem heard it; His anger was kindled; and the Eish Hashem burned among them, and consumed them that were at the edge of the machaneh.
2And the people cried unto Moshe; and when Moshe davened unto Hashem, the eish was quenched.
3He called shem hamakom Taverah because the Eish Hashem burned among them.
4And the rabble that was among them fell a-lusting; and the Bnei Yisroel also wept again, and said, If only we had basar to eat!
5We remember the fish, which we did eat in Mitzrayim at no cost; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
6But now our nefesh is dried up; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.
7And the manna was like coriander seed, and the color thereof like the color of white gum resin.
8And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in handmills, or crushed it in the mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes prepared of shemen.
9And when the dew fell upon the machaneh in the lailah, the manna fell with it.
10Then Moshe heard the people wailing throughout their mishpekhot, every man in the entrance of his ohel; and the anger of Hashem was kindled greatly; Moshe also was displeased.
11And Moshe said unto Hashem, Why hast Thou afflicted Thy eved? And why have I not found chen (favor) in Thy sight, that Thou layest the massa (burden) of all this people upon me?
12Have I conceived all this people? Have I fathered them, that Thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as the one nursing beareth the nursing infant, unto the land which Thou didst swear unto their avot?
13Where should I get basar to give unto all this people? For they wail unto me, saying, Give us basar, that we may eat.
14I am not able to carry all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, please, at once, if I have found chen in Thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16And Hashem said unto Moshe, Gather unto Me seventy men of the Zekenim of Yisroel, whom thou knowest to be the Ziknei HaAm, and officers over them; and bring them unto the Ohel Mo'ed, that they may stand there with thee.
17And I will come down and speak with thee there; and I will take of the Ruach#11:17 Hakodesh that is upon thee, and will put#11:17 Him upon them; and they shall bear the massa HaAm (burden of the People) with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
18And say thou unto the people, Set yourselves apart as kodesh against tomorrow, and ye shall eat basar; for ye have wept in the ears of Hashem, saying, Who shall give us basar to eat? For it was well with us in Mitzrayim; therefore Hashem will give you basar, and ye shall eat.
19Lo (not) ye shall eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because that meastem (ye have rejected) Hashem Who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, Why came we forth out of Mitzrayim?
21And Moshe said, The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 men on foot; and Thou hast said, I will give them basar, that they may eat a whole month.
22Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? Or shall all the dag (fish) of the yam be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
23And Hashem said unto Moshe, Is the Yad Hashem cut short?#11:23 i.e., limited in power Thou shalt see now whether My Devar shall come to pass unto thee or not.
24And Moshe went out, and told HaAm the divrei Hashem, and gathered the seventy men of the Ziknei HaAm, and set them round about the Ohel [Moed].
25And Hashem came down in an Anan, and spoke unto him, and took of the Ruach#11:25 Hakodesh that was upon him, and gave#11:25 Him unto the seventy Zekenim; and it came to pass, that, when the Ruach#11:25 Hakodesh rested upon them, they prophesied, but did not continue.#11:25 See 1Sm 10:6; 19:24; Ac 19:6
26But there remained two of the anashim in the machaneh, the shem of the one was Eldad, and the shem of the other Medad: and the Ruach#11:26 Hakodesh rested upon them; and they were of them that were listed, but went not out unto the Ohel [Moed]; and they prophesied in the machaneh.
27And there ran a young man, and told Moshe, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the machaneh.
28And Yehoshua Ben Nun, the mesharet Moshe, one of his chosen young men, answered and said, Moshe adoni, forbid them.
29And Moshe said unto him, Are you jealous for my sake? If only kol Am Hashem were neviim, and that Hashem would put His Ruach upon them#11:29 See Yoel 2:28 (3:1)!
30And Moshe went back to the machaneh, he and the Ziknei Yisroel.
31And there went forth a wind from Hashem, it drove in quail from the yam, brought them down over the machaneh at a height of two cubits from the ground for the distance of a dayʼs journey all around the machaneh.
32And the people stood up all that yom, and kol halailah, and all the next day, and they gathered in the quail; he that gathered least gathered ten chomers; and they spread them all out for themselves round about the machaneh.
33And while the basar was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of Hashem was kindled against the people, and Hashem struck down the people with a makkah rabbah me'od (a very great plague).
34And the shem of that place was called Kivrot-Hata'avah (graves of greed) because there they buried the people that lusted.
35And the people set out from Kivrot-Hata'avah unto Chatzerot; and abode at Chatzerot.
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Bamidbar 11: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Numbers 11
11
The People Complain Again
1The people started complaining about their troubles. The Lord heard their complaints. He heard these things and became angry. Fire from the Lord burned among the people. The fire burned some of the areas at the edge of the camp. 2So the people cried to Moses for help. He prayed to the Lord and the fire stopped burning. 3So that place was called Taberah.#11:3 Taberah This name means “burning.” The people gave the place that name because the Lord caused a fire to burn in their camp.
The 70 Older Leaders
4The foreigners who had joined the Israelites began wanting other things to eat. Soon all the Israelites began complaining again. The people said, “We want to eat meat! 5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. That fish cost us nothing. We also had good vegetables like cucumbers, melons, chives, onions, and garlic. 6But now we have lost our strength. We never eat anything—only this manna!” 7(The manna was like small coriander seeds, and it looked like sap from a tree. 8The people gathered the manna. Then they used rocks to crush it and cooked it in a pot. Or they ground it into flour and made thin cakes with it. The cakes tasted like sweet cakes cooked with olive oil. 9The manna fell on the ground each night when the ground became wet with dew.)
10Moses heard the people complaining. People from every family were sitting by their tents and complaining. The Lord became very angry, and this made Moses very upset. 11He asked the Lord, “Why did you bring this trouble on me? I am your servant. What did I do wrong? What did I do to upset you? Why did you give me responsibility over all these people? 12You know that I am not the father of all these people. You know that I did not give birth to them. But I must take care of them, like a nurse carrying a baby in her arms. Why do you force me to do this? Why do you force me to carry them to the land that you promised to our fathers? 13I don’t have enough meat for all these people! And they continue complaining to me. They say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14I cannot take care of all these people alone. The burden is too heavy for me. 15If you plan to continue giving me their troubles, kill me now. If you accept me as your servant, let me die now. Then I will be finished with all my troubles!”
16The Lord said to Moses, “Bring to me 70 of the elders of Israel. These men are the leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent. Let them stand there with you. 17Then I will come down and speak with you there. The Spirit#11:17 Spirit Or “spirit.” Also in verses 25, 29. is on you now. But I will also give some of that Spirit to them. Then they will help you take care of the people. In this way you will not have to be responsible for these people alone.
18“Tell the people this: Make yourselves ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out and said, ‘We need meat to eat! It was better for us in Egypt!’ So now the Lord will give you meat. And you will eat it. 19You will eat it for more than one, or two, or five, or ten, or even twenty days! 20You will eat that meat for a whole month until you are sick of it. This will happen to you because you complained against the Lord. He lives among you and knows what you need, but you cried and complained to him! You said, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
21Moses said, “There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22If we were to kill all the sheep and cattle, that would still not be enough to feed this many people for a month. And if we caught all the fish in the sea, it would not be enough for them!”
23But the Lord said to Moses, “Don’t limit my power! You will see that I can do what I say I can do.”
24So Moses went out to speak with the people. He told them what the Lord said. Then he gathered 70 of the elders together and told them to stand around the Tent. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He put on the 70 elders some of the same Spirit that was on Moses. After the Spirit came down on them, they began to prophesy.#11:25 prophesy Usually this means “to speak for God.” But here, it might mean that God’s Spirit took control of these men in some special way. Also in verse 26. But that was the only time they ever did this.
26Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go out to the Tent. Their names were on the list of elders, but they stayed in camp. But the Spirit also came on them, and they began prophesying in camp. 27A young man ran and told Moses. The man said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in camp.”
28Joshua son of Nun said to Moses, “Moses, sir, you must stop them!” (Joshua had been Moses’ helper since Joshua was a boy.)
29But Moses answered, “Are you afraid the people will think that I am not the leader now? I wish that all the Lord’s people were able to prophesy. I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!” 30Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.
The Quail Come
31Then the Lord made a powerful wind to blow in from the sea, and it blew quail into the area all around the camp. There were so many birds that the ground was covered. They were about three feet deep on the ground. There were quail in every direction as far as a man can walk in one day. 32They went out and gathered quail all that day and all that night. And they gathered quail all the next day too! The smallest amount anyone gathered was 60 bushels. Then the people spread the quail meat all around the camp to dry in the sun.
33People began to eat the meat, but the Lord became very angry. While the meat was still in their mouths, before the people could finish eating it, the Lord caused the people to become very sick and die. 34So the people named that place Kibroth Hattaavah,#11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah This name means “Graves of Strong Desire.” because there they buried those who had the strong desire for meat.
35From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.
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