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 11:18

11:18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves ³  for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing ⁴  of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, ⁵  for life ⁶  was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.

Numbers 27:16

27:16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humankind, ⁷  appoint ⁸  a man over the community,

Numbers 11:4

Complaints about Food

11:4 ⁹ Now the mixed multitude ¹⁰  who were among them craved more desirable foods, ¹¹  and so the Israelites wept again ¹²  and said, “If only we had meat to eat! ¹³ 

Numbers 11:21

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ¹⁴  are 600,000 on foot; ¹⁵  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ¹⁶  that they may eat ¹⁷  for a whole month.’

Numbers 16:22

16:22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ¹⁸  and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people, ¹⁹  will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?” ²⁰ 

Numbers 18:15

18:15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, ²¹  and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem.

[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).

[11:18]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the ears.”

[11:18]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.”

[27:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “flesh”; cf. NAB, NIV “all mankind”; NCV “all people”; NLT “all living things.”

[27:16]  ⁶ tn This is the same verb פָּקַד (paqad) that is used throughout the book for the aspect of “numbering” the people.

[11:4]  ⁷ sn The story of the sending of the quail is a good example of poetic justice, or talionic justice. God had provided for the people, but even in that provision they were not satisfied, for they remembered other foods they had in Egypt. No doubt there was not the variety of foods in the Sinai that might have been available in Egypt, but their life had been bitter bondage there as well. They had cried to the Lord for salvation, but now they forget, as they remember things they used to have. God will give them what they crave, but it will not do for them what they desire. For more information on this story, see B. J. Malina, The Palestinian Manna Tradition. For the attempt to explain manna and the other foods by natural phenomena, see F. W. Bodenheimer, “The Manna of Sinai,” BA 10 (1947): 1-6.

[11:4]  ⁸ tn The mixed multitude (or “rabble,” so NASB, NIV, NRSV; NLT “foreign rabble”) is the translation of an unusual word, הֲָאסַפְסֻף (ha’safsuf). It occurs in the Hebrew Bible only here. It may mean “a gathering of people” from the verb אָסַף (’asaf), yielding the idea of a mixed multitude (in line with Exod 12:38). But the root is different, and so no clear connection can be established. Many commentators therefore think the word is stronger, showing contempt through a word that would be equivalent to “riff-raff.”

[11:4]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew simply uses the cognate accusative, saying “they craved a craving” (הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה, hit’avvu ta’vah), but the context shows that they had this strong craving for food. The verb describes a strong desire, which is not always negative (Ps 132:13-14). But the word is a significant one in the Torah; it was used in the garden story for Eve’s desire for the tree, and it is used in the Decalogue in the warning against coveting (Deut 5:21).

[11:4]  ¹⁰ tc The Greek and the Latin versions read “and they sat down” for “and they returned,” involving just a change in vocalization (which they did not have). This may reflect the same expression in Judg 20:26. But the change does not improve this verse.

[11:4]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew expresses the strong wish or longing idiomatically: “Who will give us flesh to eat?” It is a rhetorical expression not intended to be taken literally, but merely to give expression to the longing they had. See GKC 476 §151.a.1.

[11:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

[11:21]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

[11:21]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[16:22]  ¹¹ sn It is Moses and Aaron who prostrate themselves; they have the good of the people at heart.

[16:22]  ¹² tn The expression “the God of the spirits of all humanity [flesh]” is somewhat difficult. The Hebrew text says אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר (’elohey harukhot lÿkhol-basar). This expression occurs in Num 27:16 again. It also occurs in some postbiblical texts, a fact which has prompted some scholars to conclude that it is a late addition. The words clearly show that Moses is interceding for the congregation. The appeal in the verse is that it is better for one man to die for the whole nation than the whole nation for one man (see also John 11:50).

[16:22]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Qal imperfect יֶחֱטָא (yekheta’); it refers to the sinful rebellion of Korah, but Moses is stating something of a principle: “One man sins, and will you be angry….” A past tense translation would assume that this is a preterite use of the imperfect (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[18:15]  ¹³ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of the verb “to redeem” in order to stress the point – they were to be redeemed. N. H. Snaith suggests that the verb means to get by payment what was not originally yours, whereas the other root גָאַל (ga’al) means to get back what was originally yours (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 268).