Numbers 11
11
The People Complain
1And #Deut. 9:22 the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, #Ps. 78:21 his anger was kindled, and #[ch. 16:35; Lev. 10:2; 2 Kgs. 1:12; Ps. 106:18; Rev. 13:13]the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2Then #[ch. 21:7] the people cried out to Moses, #[James 5:16]; See ch. 16:45-48and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3So the name of that place was called #Deut. 9:22Taberah,#11:3 Taberah means burning because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4Now the #See Ex. 12:38 rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also #ch. 14:1 wept again and said, #Ps. 78:18; 106:14; 1 Cor. 10:6“Oh that we had meat to eat! 5#[ch. 21:5; Ex. 16:3; Acts 7:39]We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
7Now #Ex. 16:14, 31the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8#Ex. 16:16-18 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. #[Ex. 16:31]And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9#Ex. 16:13, 14When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
10Moses heard the people #[Zech. 12:12-14]weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11#[1 Kgs. 19:4; Jonah 4:1-4, 9]Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, #Isa. 40:11; [Deut. 1:31] ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a #[Isa. 49:23; 1 Thess. 2:7] nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land #Gen. 50:24; Ex. 13:5that you swore to give their fathers? 13#[2 Kgs. 7:2; Matt. 15:33; Mark 8:4; John 6:7, 9]Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14#Ex. 18:18; Deut. 1:9, 12I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
Elders Appointed to Aid Moses
16Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me #[Ex. 24:1, 9] seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and #Deut. 1:15; 16:18officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17#ver. 25; ch. 12:5; Gen. 11:5; 18:21; Ex. 19:20 And I will come down and talk with you there. And #[2 Kgs. 2:9, 15; Neh. 9:20] I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and #Ex. 18:22they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18And say to the people, #Ex. 19:10 ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? #See ver. 5For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20but a whole month, #[Ps. 78:29; 106:15] until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, #ch. 21:5“Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” 21But Moses said, #Ex. 12:37; [ch. 1:46; Ex. 38:26]“The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22#[ver. 13]Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23And the Lord said to Moses, #Isa. 50:2; 59:1 “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether #ch. 23:19; Ezek. 12:25; 24:14my word will come true for you or not.”
24So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. #ver. 16And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25Then #ver. 17the 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 as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
26Now 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 #[1 Sam. 20:26; Jer. 36:5]had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28And #ch. 26:65; Ex. 24:13; [ch. 13:8]; See ch. 13:16 Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, #[Mark 9:38; Luke 9:49]stop them.” 29But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? #[1 Cor. 14:5]Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 30And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
Quail and a Plague
31Then a #Ex. 16:13; Ps. 78:26-28; 105:40wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought 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, around the camp, and about two cubits#11:31 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters above the ground. 32And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten #Ex. 16:36; [Ezek. 45:11]homers.#11:32 A homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33#Ps. 78:30, 31 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and #[ch. 16:49]the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. 34Therefore the name of that place was called #Deut. 9:22Kibroth-hattaavah,#11:34 Kibroth-hattaavah means graves of craving because there they buried the people who had the craving. 35#ch. 33:17 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to #ch. 12:16; 33:17, 18Hazeroth, and they remained at #ch. 12:16; 33:17, 18Hazeroth.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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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