Numbers 11:13-23

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  11:14 I am not able to bear this entire people alone, ³  because it ⁴  is too heavy for me! 11:15 But if you are going to deal ⁵  with me like this, then kill me immediately. ⁶  If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” ⁷ 

The Response of God

11:16 ⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ⁹  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it ¹⁰  all by yourself.

11:18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves ¹¹  for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing ¹²  of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, ¹³  for life ¹⁴  was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat. 11:19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 11:20 but a whole month, ¹⁵  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ¹⁶  because you have despised ¹⁷  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ¹⁸  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ¹⁹  are 600,000 on foot; ²⁰  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ²¹  that they may eat ²²  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? ²³  Now you will see whether my word to you will come true ²⁴  or not!”

Numbers 11:2

11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he ²⁵  prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. ²⁶ 

Numbers 7:2

7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, ²⁷  made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising ²⁸  the numbering.

Numbers 7:19

7:19 He offered for his offering one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;

Numbers 7:2

7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, ²⁹  made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising ³⁰  the numbering.

Numbers 20:15-20

20:15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, ³¹  and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. ³²  20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ³³  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ³⁴  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ³⁵  20:17 Please let us pass through ³⁶  your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; ³⁷  we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” ³⁸ 

20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, ³⁹  or I will come out against ⁴⁰  you with the sword.” 20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ⁴¹  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them ⁴²  with a large and powerful force. ⁴³ 

Isaiah 7:9

7:9 Ephraim’s leader is Samaria,

and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah.

If your faith does not remain firm,

then you will not remain secure.” ⁴⁴ 

Jeremiah 32:16-27

Jeremiah’s Prayer of Praise and Bewilderment

32:16 “After I had given the copies of the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, 32:17 ‘Oh, Lord God, ⁴⁵  you did indeed ⁴⁶  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ⁴⁷  Nothing is too hard for you! 32:18 You show unfailing love to thousands. ⁴⁸  But you also punish children for the sins of their parents. ⁴⁹  You are the great and powerful God who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ⁵⁰  32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ⁵¹  You see everything people do. ⁵²  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ⁵³  32:20 You did miracles and amazing deeds in the land of Egypt which have had lasting effect. By this means you gained both in Israel and among humankind a renown that lasts to this day. ⁵⁴  32:21 You used your mighty power and your great strength to perform miracles and amazing deeds and to bring great terror on the Egyptians. By this means you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt. ⁵⁵  32:22 You kept the promise that you swore on oath to their ancestors. ⁵⁶  You gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁵⁷  32:23 But when they came in and took possession of it, they did not obey you or live as you had instructed them. They did not do anything that you commanded them to do. ⁵⁸  So you brought all this disaster on them. 32:24 Even now siege ramps have been built up around the city ⁵⁹  in order to capture it. War, ⁶⁰  starvation, and disease are sure to make the city fall into the hands of the Babylonians ⁶¹  who are attacking it. ⁶²  Lord, ⁶³  you threatened that this would happen. Now you can see that it is already taking place. ⁶⁴  32:25 The city is sure to fall into the hands of the Babylonians. ⁶⁵  Yet, in spite of this, ⁶⁶  you, Lord God, ⁶⁷  have said to me, “Buy that field with silver and have the transaction legally witnessed.”’” ⁶⁸ 

The Lord Answers Jeremiah’s Prayer

32:26 The Lord answered Jeremiah. ⁶⁹  32:27 “I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is, indeed, nothing too difficult for me. ⁷⁰ 

Luke 1:18

1:18 Zechariah ⁷¹  said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? ⁷²  For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” ⁷³ 

Luke 1:45

1:45 And blessed ⁷⁴  is she who believed that ⁷⁵  what was spoken to her by ⁷⁶  the Lord would be fulfilled.” ⁷⁷ 

[11:13]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has “from where to me flesh?” which means “from where will I have meat?”

[11:13]  ² tn The cohortative coming after the imperative stresses purpose (it is an indirect volitive).

[11:14]  ³ tn The word order shows the emphasis: “I am not able, I by myself, to bear all this people.” The infinitive לָשֵׂאת (lase’t) serves as the direct object of the verb. The expression is figurative, for bearing or carrying the people means being responsible for all their needs and cares.

[11:14]  ⁴ tn The subject of the verb “heavy” is unstated; in the context it probably refers to the people, or the burden of caring for the people. This responsibility was turning out to be a heavier responsibility than Moses anticipated. Alone he was totally inadequate.

[11:15]  ⁵ tn The participle expresses the future idea of what God is doing, or what he is going to be doing. Moses would rather be killed than be given a totally impossible duty over a people that were not his.

[11:15]  ⁶ tn The imperative of הָרַג (harag) is followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. The point is more that the infinitive adds to the emphasis of the imperative mood, which would be immediate compliance.

[11:15]  ⁷ tn Or “my own ruin” (NIV). The word “trouble” here probably refers to the stress and difficulty of caring for a complaining group of people. The suffix on the noun would be objective, perhaps stressing the indirect object of the noun – trouble for me. The expression “on my trouble” (בְּרָעָתִי, bÿra’ati) is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the original reading in v. 15 was [to look] “on your evil” (בְּרָעָתֶךָ, bÿra’atekha), meaning “the calamity that you bring about” for Israel. However, since such an expression could be mistakenly thought to attribute evil to the Lord, the ancient scribes changed it to the reading found in the MT.

[11:16]  ⁸ sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ⁹ tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[11:17]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect tense here is to be classified as a final imperfect, showing the result of this action by God. Moses would be relieved of some of the responsibility when these others were given the grace to understand and to resolve cases.

[11:18]  ¹¹ tn The Hitpael is used to stress that they are to prepare for a holy appearance. The day was going to be special and so required their being set apart for it. But it is a holy day in the sense of the judgment that was to follow.

[11:18]  ¹² tn Heb “in the ears.”

[11:18]  ¹³ tn Possibly this could be given an optative translation, to reflect the earlier one: “O that someone would give….” But the verb is not the same; here it is the Hiphil of the verb “to eat” – “who will make us eat” (i.e., provide meat for us to eat).

[11:18]  ¹⁴ tn The word “life” is not in the text. The expression is simply “it was for us,” or “we had good,” meaning “we had it good,” or “life was good.”

[11:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.

[11:20]  ¹⁶ tn The expression לְזָרָה (lÿzarah) has been translated “ill” or “loathsome.” It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek text interprets it as “sickness.” It could be nausea or vomiting (so G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 112) from overeating.

[11:20]  ¹⁷ sn The explanation is the interpretation of their behavior – it is in reality what they have done, even though they would not say they despised the Lord. They had complained and shown a lack of faith and a contempt for the program, which was in essence despising the Lord.

[11:20]  ¹⁸ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun here (“why is this we went out …”) is enclitic, providing emphasis to the sentence: “Why in the world did we ever leave Egypt?”

[11:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

[11:21]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

[11:21]  ²¹ 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.

[11:21]  ²² 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.

[11:23]  ²³ 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.

[11:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”

[11:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Moses.”

[11:2]  ²⁶ 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).

[7:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[7:2]  ²⁸ 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.

[7:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[7:2]  ³⁰ 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.

[20:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “many days.”

[20:15]  ³² tn The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) means “to act or do evil.” Evil here is in the sense of causing pain or trouble. So the causative stem in our passage means “to treat wickedly.”

[20:16]  ³³ tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

[20:16]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

[20:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your border.”

[20:17]  ³⁶ tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.

[20:17]  ³⁷ sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).

[20:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “borders.”

[20:18]  ³⁹ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.

[20:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to meet.”

[20:19]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”

[20:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “to meet him.”

[20:20]  ⁴³ tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.

[7:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “if you do not believe, you will not endure.” The verb forms are second plural; the Lord here addresses the entire Davidic family and court. (Verse 4 was addressed to the king.) There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text, designed to draw attention to the alternatives set before the king (cf. 1:20). “Believe” (תַאֳמִינוּ, ta’aminu) is a Hiphil form of the verb אָמָן (’aman); “endure” (תֵאָמֵנוּ, te’amenu) is a Niphal form of this same verb.

[32:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of the rendering here see the study note on 1:6.

[32:17]  ⁴⁶ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle normally translated “behold.” See the translator’s note on 1:6 for the usage of this particle.

[32:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “by your great power and your outstretched arm.” See 21:5; 27:5 and the marginal note on 27:5 for this idiom.

[32:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “to thousands of generations.” The contrast of showing steadfast love to “thousands” to the limitation of punishing the third and fourth generation of children for their parents’ sins in Exod 20:5-6; Deut 5:9-10; Exod 34:7 has suggested to many commentators and translators (cf., e.g., NRSV, TEV, NJPS) that reference here is to “thousands of generations.” The statement is, of course, rhetorical emphasizing God’s great desire to bless as opposed to the reluctant necessity to punish. It is part of the attributes of God spelled out in Exod 34:6-7.

[32:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “pays back into the bosom of their children the sin of their parents.”

[32:18]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Nothing is too hard for you who show…and who punishes…the great [and] powerful God whose name is Yahweh of armies, [you who are] great in counsel…whose eyes are open…who did signs…” Jer 32:18-22 is a long series of relative clauses introduced by participles or relative pronouns in vv. 18-20a followed by second person vav consecutive imperfects carrying on the last of these relative clauses in vv. 20b-22. This is typical of hymnic introductions to hymns of praise (cf., e.g., Ps 136) but it is hard to sustain the relative subordination which all goes back to the suffix on “hard for you.” The sentences have been broken up but the connection with the end of v. 17 has been sacrificed for conformity to contemporary English style.

[32:19]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”

[32:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”

[32:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

[32:20]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “You did miracles and amazing deeds in the land of Egypt. And you continue to do them until this day both in Israel and among mankind. By this mean you have gained a renown…” The translation here follows the syntactical understanding reflected also in NJPS. The Hebrew text reads: “you did miracles and marvelous acts in the land of Egypt until this day and in Israel and in mankind and you made for yourself a name as this day.” The majority of English versions and commentaries understand the phrases “until this day and in Israel and in mankind” to be an elliptical sentence with the preceding verb and objects supplied as reflected in the alternate translation. However, the emphasis on the miraculous deeds in Egypt in this section both before and after this elliptical phrase and the dominant usage of the terms “signs and wonders” to refer to the plagues and other miraculous signs in Egypt calls this interpretation into question. The key here is understanding “both in Israel and in mankind” as an example of a casus pendens construction (a dangling subject, object, or other modifier) before a conjunction introducing the main clause (cf. GKC 327 §111.h and 458 §143.d and compare the usage in Jer 6:19; 33:24; 1 Kgs 15:13). This verse is the topic sentence which is developed further in v. 21 and initiates a narrative history of the distant past that continues until v. 22b where reference is made to the long history of disobedience which has led to the present crisis.

[32:21]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders and with a mighty hand and with outstretched arm and with great terror.” For the figurative expressions involved here see the marginal notes on 27:5. The sentence has been broken down to better conform to contemporary English style.

[32:22]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “fathers.”

[32:22]  ⁵⁷ tn For an alternative translation of the expression “a land flowing with milk and honey” see the translator’s note on 11:5.

[32:23]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “They did not do everything that you commanded them to do.” This is probably a case where the negative (לֹא, lo’) negates the whole category indicated by “all” (כָּל, kol; see BDB 482 s.v. כָּל 1.e(c) and compare usage in Deut 12:16; 28:14). Jeremiah has repeatedly emphasized that the history of Israel since their entry into the land has been one of persistent disobedience and rebellion (cf., e.g. 7:22-26; 11:7-8). The statement, of course, is somewhat hyperbolical as all categorical statements of this kind are.

[32:24]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “Siege ramps have come up to the city to capture it.”

[32:24]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “sword.”

[32:24]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:24]  ⁶² tn Heb “And the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it because of the sword, starvation, and disease.” The verb “has been given” is one of those perfects that view the action as good as done (the perfect of certainty or prophetic perfect).

[32:24]  ⁶³ tn The word “Lord” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation as a reminder that it is he who is being addressed.

[32:24]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “And what you said has happened and behold you see it.”

[32:25]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:25]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “And you, Lord Yahweh, have said to me, ‘Buy the field for…’ even though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians.” The sentence has been broken up and the order reversed for English stylistic purposes. For the rendering “is sure to fall into the hands of” see the translator’s note on the preceding verse.

[32:25]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Lord God.” For the rendering of this title see the study note on 1:6.

[32:25]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “call in witnesses to witness.”

[32:26]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying.”

[32:27]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” The question is rhetorical expecting an emphatic negative answer (cf. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949, citing the parallel in Gen 18:14). The Hebrew particle “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh) introduces the grounds for this rhetorical negative (cf. T. O. Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, 170, §135 [3]), i.e., “Since I am the Lord, the God of all mankind, there is indeed nothing too hard for me [or is there anything too hard for me?].”

[1:18]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “And Zechariah.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ⁷² tn Grk “How will I know this?”

[1:18]  ⁷³ tn Grk “is advanced in days” (an idiom for old age).

[1:45]  ⁷⁴ sn Again the note of being blessed makes the key point of the passage about believing God.

[1:45]  ⁷⁵ tn This ὅτι (Joti) clause, technically indirect discourse after πιστεύω (pisteuw), explains the content of the faith, a belief in God’s promise coming to pass.

[1:45]  ⁷⁶ tn That is, “what was said to her (by the angel) at the Lord’s command” (BDAG 756 s.v. παρά A.2).

[1:45]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “that there would be a fulfillment of what was said to her from the Lord.”