Numbers 11:32-35

11:32 And the people stayed up ¹  all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, ²  and they spread them out ³  for themselves all around the camp. 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before they chewed it, ⁴  the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.

11:34 So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, ⁵  because there they buried the people that craved different food. ⁶  11:35 The people traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.

[11:32]  ¹ tn Heb “rose up, stood up.”

[11:32]  ² sn This is about two thousand liters.

[11:32]  ³ tn The verb (a preterite) is followed by the infinitive absolute of the same root, to emphasize the action of spreading out the quail. Although it is hard to translate the expression, it indicates that they spread these quail out all over the area. The vision of them spread all over was evidence of God’s abundant provision for their needs.

[11:33]  ⁴ tn The verb is a prefixed conjugation, normally an imperfect tense. But coming after the adverb טֶּרֶם (terem) it is treated as a preterite.

[11:34]  ⁵ 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.

[11:34]  ⁶ tn The words “different food” are implied, and are supplied in the translation for clarity.