Numbers 11:34

11:34 So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, ¹  because there they buried the people that craved different food. ² 

Numbers 13:16

13:16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to investigate the land. And Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua. ³ 

Numbers 21:3

21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, ⁴  and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called ⁵  Hormah.

¹ sn The name “the graves of the ones who craved” is again explained by a wordplay, a popular etymology. In Hebrew קִבְרוֹת הַתַּאֲוָה (qivrot hatta’avah) is the technical name. It is the place that the people craved the meat, longing for the meat of Egypt, and basically rebelled against God. The naming marks another station in the wilderness where the people failed to accept God’s good gifts with grace and to pray for their other needs to be met.

² tn The words “different food” are implied, and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ sn The difference in the names is slight, a change from “he saves” to “the Lord saves.” The Greek text of the OT used Iesoun for Hebrew Yeshua.

⁵ tc Smr, Greek, and Syriac add “into his hand.”

⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject, and so here too is made passive. The name “Hormah” is etymologically connected to the verb “utterly destroy,” forming the popular etymology (or paronomasia, a phonetic wordplay capturing the significance of the event).