Numbers 11:1

The Israelites Complain

11:1 ¹ When the people complained, ²  it displeased ³  the Lord. When the Lord heard ⁴  it, his anger burned, ⁵  and so ⁶  the fire of the Lord ⁷  burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.

Numbers 16:35

16:35 Then a fire ⁸  went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.

Job 1:16

1:16 While this one was still speaking, ⁹  another messenger arrived ¹⁰  and said, “The fire of God ¹¹  has fallen from heaven ¹²  and has burned up the sheep and the servants – it has consumed them! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

Psalms 106:18

106:18 Fire burned their group;

the flames scorched the wicked. ¹³ 

Luke 9:54

9:54 Now when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume ¹⁴  them?” ¹⁵ 

Hebrews 12:29

12:29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire. ¹⁶ 

Revelation 11:5

11:5 If ¹⁷  anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths ¹⁸  and completely consumes ¹⁹  their enemies. If ²⁰  anyone wants to harm them, they must be killed this way.

¹ sn The chapter includes the initial general complaints (vv. 1-3), the complaints about food (vv. 4-9), Moses’ own complaint to the Lord (vv. 10-15), God’s response to Moses (vv. 16-25), Eldad and Medad (vv. 26-29), and the quail (vv. 30-35). The first part records the burning of the camp, named Taberah. Here is one of the several naming narratives in the wilderness experience. The occasion for divine judgment is the complaining of the people. The passages serve to warn believers of all ages not to murmur as the Israelites did, for such complaining reveals a lack of faith in the power and goodness of God. For additional literature, see W. Brueggemann, “From Hurt to Joy, from Death to Life,” Int 28 (1974): 3-19; B. S. Childs, “The Etiological Tale Re-examined,” VT 24 (1974): 387-97; G. W. Coats, Rebellion in the Wilderness; and A. C. Tunyogi, “The Rebellions of Israel,” JBL 81 (1962): 385-90.

² tn The temporal clause uses the Hitpoel infinitive construct from אָנַן (’anan). It is a rare word, occurring in Lam 3:39. With this blunt introduction the constant emphasis of obedience to the word of the Lord found throughout the first ten chapters suddenly comes to an end. It is probable that the people were tired of moving for several days, the excitement of the new beginning died out quickly in the “great and terrible wilderness.” Resentment, frustration, discomfort – whatever it all involved – led to complaining and not gratitude.

³ tn Heb “it was evil in the ears of the Lord.” The word רַע (ra’) is a much stronger word than “displeased” would suggest. The bold anthropomorphism shows that what the Lord heard was painful to him.

⁴ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.

⁵ tn The common Hebrew expression uses the verb חָרָה (harah, “to be hot, to burn, to be kindled”). The subject is אַפּוֹ (’appo), “his anger” or more literally, his nose, which in this anthropomorphic expression flares in rage. The emphasis is superlative – “his anger raged.”

⁶ tn The vav (ו) consecutive does not simply show sequence in the verbs, but here expresses the result of the anger of the Lord for their complaining. With such a response to the complaining, one must conclude that it was unreasonable. There had been no long deprivation or endured suffering; the complaining was early and showed a rebellious spirit.

⁷ sn The “fire of the Lord” is supernatural, for it is said to come from the Lord and not from a natural source. God gave them something to complain about – something to fear. The other significant place where this “fire of the Lord” destroyed was in the case of Nadab and Abihu who brought strange fire to the altar (Lev 10:2).

⁸ tn For a discussion of the fire of the Lord, see J. C. H. Laughlin, “The Strange Fire of Nadab and Abihu,” JBL 95 (1976): 559-65.

⁹ tn The particle עוֹד (’od, “still”) is used with the participle to express the past circumstances when something else happened (IBHS 625-26 §37.6d).

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew expression is literally “yet/this/speaking/and this/ arrived.” The sentence uses the two demonstratives as a contrasting pair. It means “this one was still speaking when that one arrived” (IBHS 308-9 §17.3c). The word “messenger” has been supplied in the translation in vv. 16, 17, and 18 for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

¹¹ sn The “fire of God” would refer to lightning (1 Kgs 18:38; 2 Kgs 1:12; cf. NAB, NCV, TEV). The LXX simply has “fire.” The first blow came from enemies; the second from heaven, which might have confused Job more as to the cause of his troubles. The use of the divine epithet could also be an indication of the superlative degree; see D. W. Thomas, “A Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953): 209-24.

¹² tn Or “from the sky.” The Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven[s]” or “sky” depending on the context.

¹³ sn Verses 16-18 describe the events of Num 16:1-40.

¹⁴ tn Or “destroy.”

¹⁵ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it), read here “as also Elijah did,” making the allusion to 2 Kgs 1:10, 12, 14 more explicit. The shorter reading has better and earlier support (Ì^45,75 א B L Ξ 579 700* 1241 pc lat sa). It is difficult to explain how the shorter reading could have arisen from the longer, especially since it is well represented early on. However, the longer reading looks to have been a marginal note originally, incorporated into the text of Luke by early scribes.

¹⁶ sn A quotation from Deut 4:24; 9:3.

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁸ tn This is a collective singular in Greek.

¹⁹ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”

²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.