Numbers 11
Big idea: Three days out from Sinai and the complaining starts. Fire burns the edge of the camp at Taberah; then the craving for meat, and a list of everything Egypt had — fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic — set against the daily miracle they now find boring: there is nothing at all except this manna to look at. Moses breaks. His prayer is one of the rawest in Scripture: have I conceived all this people? If you treat me this way, please kill me right now. God's answer comes in two parts — seventy elders share the Spirit and the burden, and meat comes in quantity that is itself a judgment: a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils. Between them sits a small, generous moment: two men prophesy in the camp, Joshua wants them stopped, and Moses says I wish that all Yahweh's people were prophets.
Chapter 11 has Moses overwhelmed by the people. Chapter 12 has him attacked by his own brother and sister.
11:1–9 — Nothing at all except this manna
The people complain in the ears of Yahweh; his anger burns and fire consumes the outskirts of the camp until Moses prays and it abates — the place is called Taberah. Then the mixed multitude among them craves, and Israel weeps again: who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic — but now we have lost our appetite; there is nothing at all except this manna to look at. The narrator then quietly describes the manna: like coriander seed, looking like bdellium, gathered and ground and boiled and baked, tasting like fresh oil, falling with the dew every night.
1 The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated. 3 The name of that place was called Taberah, because Yahweh’s fire burned among them. 4 The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” 7 The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. 8 The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
11:10–17 — I am not able to bear this alone
Moses hears the people weeping throughout their families, every man at his tent door; Yahweh's anger burns greatly and Moses is displeased. His prayer is a protest: why have you treated your servant so badly? Have I conceived all this people, that you should tell me to carry them in my bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant? Where could I get meat for all these people? I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me — if you treat me this way, please kill me right now. God does not rebuke him. Gather seventy elders to the Tent of Meeting; I will come down and take of the Spirit which is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden with you.
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers’? 13 Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15 If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.” 16 Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.
11:18–23 — Until it comes out at your nostrils
Tell the people to sanctify themselves for tomorrow — you will eat meat, because you have wept in the ears of Yahweh saying it was well with us in Egypt. Not one day, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and is loathsome to you, because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you and wept before him saying, why did we come out of Egypt? Moses objects: there are six hundred thousand men on foot — shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, or all the fish of the sea gathered? And God answers with a question: has Yahweh's hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.
18 “Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat. 19 You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” 21 Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” 23 Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
11:24–30 — I wish that all Yahweh's people were prophets
Moses gathers seventy elders around the Tent; Yahweh comes down in the cloud, takes of the Spirit that was on him and puts it on them, and they prophesy — but only that once. Two men, Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp; they were on the list but had not gone out to the Tent, and the Spirit rests on them too, and they prophesy in the camp. A young man runs to tell Moses, and Joshua says, my lord Moses, forbid them! Moses answers: are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh's people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them.
24 Moses went out, and told the people Yahweh’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent. 25 Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. 26 But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” 28 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!” 29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!” 30 Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
11:31–35 — Kibroth Hattaavah
A wind from Yahweh brings quails from the sea and drops them by the camp — a day's journey on each side, about two cubits deep. The people spend all that day, all night and all the next day gathering them; the one who gathered least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out around the camp. But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh's anger burned and he struck the people with a very great plague. The place is called Kibroth Hattaavah — the graves of craving — because there they buried the people who lusted. From there they travelled to Hazeroth.
31 A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by 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 above the surface of the earth. 32 The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp. 33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague. 34 The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).