Numbers 11:13

11:13 From where shall I get ¹  meat to give to this entire people, for they cry to me, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat!’ ² 

Numbers 11:21-23

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ³  are 600,000 on foot; ⁴  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ⁵  that they may eat ⁶  for a whole month.’ 11:22 Would they have enough if the flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” 11:23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? ⁷  Now you will see whether my word to you will come true ⁸  or not!”

Numbers 11:2

11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he ⁹  prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. ¹⁰ 

Numbers 7:2

7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, ¹¹  made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising ¹²  the numbering.

Matthew 15:33

15:33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?”

John 6:7

6:7 Philip replied, ¹³  “Two hundred silver coins worth ¹⁴  of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.”

¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has “from where to me flesh?” which means “from where will I have meat?”

² tn The cohortative coming after the imperative stresses purpose (it is an indirect volitive).

³ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

⁴ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

⁵ tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

⁷ sn This anthropomorphic expression concerns the power of God. The “hand of the Lord” is idiomatic for his power, what he is able to do. The question is rhetorical; it is affirming that his hand is not shortened, i.e., that his power is not limited. Moses should have known this, and so this is a rebuke for him at this point. God had provided the manna, among all the other powerful acts they had witnessed. Meat would be no problem. But the lack of faith by the people was infectious.

⁸ tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”

⁹ tn Heb “Moses.”

¹⁰ sn Here is the pattern that will become in the wilderness experience so common – the complaining turns to a cry to Moses, which is then interpreted as a prayer to the Lord, and there is healing. The sequence presents a symbolic lesson, an illustration of the intercession of the Holy Spirit. The NT will say that in times of suffering Christians do not know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for them, changing their cries into the proper prayers (Rom 8).

¹¹ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

¹² tn The form is the Qal active participle from the verb “to stand” (עָמַד, ’amad). The form describes these leaders as “the ones standing over [the ones numbered].” The expression, along with the clear indication of the first census in chapter 1, shows that this was a supervisory capacity.

¹³ tn Grk “Philip answered him.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “two hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth about eight months’ pay.