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!”

[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.”