Numbers 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11
Discontent of the People. 1 Now the people complained bitterly in the hearing of the Lord;(A) and when he heard it his wrath flared up, so that the Lord’s fire burned among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 2 But when the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died out. 3 Hence that place was called Taberah,[a] because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4 The riffraff among them were so greedy for meat that even the Israelites lamented again,(B) “If only we had meat for food! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now we are famished; we have nothing to look forward to but this manna.”(C)
7 (D)Manna was like coriander seed[b] and had the appearance of bdellium. 8 When they had gone about and gathered it up, the people would grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, then cook it in a pot and make it into loaves, with a rich creamy taste. 9 At night, when the dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell.(E)
10 When Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents, so that the Lord became very angry, he was grieved. 11 “Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the Lord. “Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people? 12 Was it I who conceived all this people? or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my breast, like a nurse carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? 13 Where can I get meat to give to all this people? For they are crying to me, ‘Give us meat for our food.’ 14 I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. 15 If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face my distress.”
The Seventy Elders. 16 Then the Lord said to Moses: Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the tent of meeting. When they are in place beside you, 17 I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will confer it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself.
18 To the people, however, you shall say: “Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, when you shall have meat to eat. For in the hearing of the Lord you have cried, ‘If only we had meat for food! Oh, how well off we were in Egypt!’ Therefore the Lord will give you meat to eat, 19 and you will eat it, not for one day, or two days, or five, or ten, or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your very nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. For you have rejected the Lord who is in your midst, and in his presence you have cried, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
21 But Moses said, “The people around me include six hundred thousand soldiers; yet you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month.’ 22 Can enough sheep and cattle be slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” 23 The Lord answered Moses: Is this beyond the Lord’s reach? You shall see now whether or not what I have said to you takes place.
The Spirit on the Elders. 24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. Gathering seventy elders of the people, he had them stand around the tent. 25 The Lord then came down in the cloud and spoke to him. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied[c] but did not continue.
26 Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, had remained in the camp, yet the spirit came to rest on them also. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 So, when a young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp,” 28 Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said, “My lord, Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses answered him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of the Lord were prophets! If only the Lord would bestow his spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses retired to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.
The Quail. 31 There arose a wind(F) from the Lord that drove in quail from the sea and left them all around the camp site, to a distance of a day’s journey and at a depth of two cubits upon the ground.[d] 32 (G)So all that day, all night, and all the next day the people set about to gather in the quail. Even the one who got the least gathered ten homers[e] of them. Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it could be chewed, the Lord’s wrath flared up against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very great plague. 34 So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah,[f] because it was there that the greedy people were buried.
35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, where they stayed.
Footnotes
- 11:3 Taberah: means “the burning.”
- 11:7 Coriander seed: see note on Ex 16:31. Bdellium: a transparent, amber-colored gum resin, which is also mentioned in Gn 2:12.
- 11:25 They prophesied: in the sense, not of foretelling the future, but of speaking in enraptured enthusiasm. Such manifestations are mentioned in the early days of Hebrew prophecy (1 Sm 10:10–12; 19:20–21; Jl 3:1) and in the first years of the Church (Acts 2:6–11, 17; 19:6; 1 Cor 12–14).
- 11:31 The heaps of quail lying upon the ground all around the Israelites’ camp suggest the ambiguity of God’s response to the people’s lament for meat in v. 4 and foreshadow the plague which God will now bring upon Israel (v. 33). Their request had been nothing less than a rejection of what God has done for them (v. 20).
- 11:32 Homers: see note on Is 5:10. They spread them out: to cure by drying.
- 11:34 Kibroth-hattaavah: means “graves of greed.”
Numbers 11
New King James Version
The People Complain
11 Now (A)when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; (B)for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the (C)fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people (D)cried out to Moses, and when Moses (E)prayed to the Lord, the fire was [a]quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place [b]Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.
4 Now the (F)mixed multitude who were among them [c]yielded to (G)intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: (H)“Who will give us meat to eat? 5 (I)We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now (J)our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
7 Now (K)the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and (L)its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. 9 And (M)when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and (N)the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. 11 (O)So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the [d]burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, (P)‘Carry them in your bosom, as a (Q)guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You (R)swore[e] to their fathers? 13 (S)Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 (T)I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and (U)do not let me see my wretchedness!”
The Seventy Elders
16 So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me (V)seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and (W)officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. (X)I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 Then you shall say to the people, [f]‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept (Y)in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 (Z)but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have (AA)despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, (AB)“Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”
21 And Moses said, (AC)“The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 (AD)Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”
23 And the Lord said to Moses, (AE)“Has[g] the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether (AF)what I say will happen to you or not.”
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he (AG)gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, (AH)when the Spirit rested upon them, that (AI)they prophesied, [h]although they never did so again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who (AJ)had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, (AK)forbid them!”
29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you [i]zealous for my sake? (AL)Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
The Lord Sends Quail
31 Now a (AM)wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. 32 And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten (AN)homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 But while the (AO)meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So he called the name of that place [j]Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.
35 (AP)From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.
Footnotes
- Numbers 11:2 extinguished
- Numbers 11:3 Lit. Burning
- Numbers 11:4 Lit. lusted intensely
- Numbers 11:11 responsibility
- Numbers 11:12 solemnly promised
- Numbers 11:18 Set yourselves apart
- Numbers 11:23 Is the Lord’s power limited?
- Numbers 11:25 Tg., Vg. and they did not cease
- Numbers 11:29 jealous
- Numbers 11:34 Lit. Graves of Craving
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
