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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Numbers 11 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/numbers/11.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed <i>them that were</i> in the uttermost parts of the camp.</div>XI.</span><p>(1) <span class= "bld">And when the people complained . . . —</span>Better, <span class= "ital">And the people were as those who complained </span>(or <span class= "ital">murmured</span>)<span class= "ital">, </span>(which was) <span class= "ital">evil in the ears of the Lord</span>. The LXX. has, “And the people murmured sinfully before the Lord.” Comp. <a href="/1_corinthians/10-10.htm" title="Neither murmur you, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.">1Corinthians 10:10</a> : “Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured.”<p><span class= "bld">And consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.-</span>Better, <span class= "ital">and devoured at the extremity of the camp. </span>Most commentators have remarked, and justly, upon the great severity of the Divine judgments which were inflicted after the giving of the Law, as compared with those which were inflicted before it. Reference may be made in illustration of this point to <a href="/context/exodus/14-11.htm" title="And they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? why have you dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?">Exodus 14:11-14</a>; <a href="/context/exodus/15-24.htm" title="And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?">Exodus 15:24-25</a>; <a href="/context/exodus/16-2.htm" title="And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:">Exodus 16:2-8</a>; <a href="/context/exodus/17-3.htm" title="And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is this that you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?">Exodus 17:3-7</a>. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues from the just recompense of reward which every transgression and disobedience received under the Law, the impossibility of the escape of those who neglect the great salvation of the Gospel. See <a href="/context/hebrews/2-2.htm" title="For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;">Hebrews 2:2-3</a>. Comp. also <a href="/context/hebrews/10-28.htm" title="He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:">Hebrews 10:28-29</a>; <a href="/hebrews/12-25.htm" title="See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:">Hebrews 12:25</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-2.htm">Numbers 11:2</a></div><div class="verse">And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">The fire was quenched.—</span>Better, <span class= "ital">subsided </span>or <span class= "ital">sunk down. </span>No precise information is given as to the extent of the fire, or as to the objects which it destroyed. It broke out in the extremity of the encampment, and it was arrested in its progress at the supplication of Moses. It seems, however, more probable that it consumed some of the Israelites themselves, than that it consumed only some of their tents. Some suppose that the reference is to the <span class= "ital">simoom, </span>or fiery south wind, which sometimes blows in the Eastern desert, and which stifles those over whom it sweeps.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-3.htm">Numbers 11:3</a></div><div class="verse">And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Taberah</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e., burning, </span>a word cognate to the verb which is rendered <span class= "ital">burnt </span>in <a href="/numbers/11-1.htm" title="And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.">Numbers 11:1</a> and in this verse.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-4.htm">Numbers 11:4</a></div><div class="verse">And the mixt multitude that <i>was</i> among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?</div>(4) <span class= "bld">And the mixt multitude.—</span>The Authorised Version follows the LXX. and the Vulgate in rendering the word <span class= "ital">asaph-suph, </span>which occurs only in this place, and which is derived from a verb which means to collect, in the same way as the <span class= "ital">ereb </span>of <a href="/exodus/12-38.htm" title="And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.">Exodus 12:38</a>, <span class= "ital">a mixed multitude, vulgus promiscuum</span>—in many cases, probably, the children of Hebrew women by Egyptian fathers. This mixed multitude appears to have been very considerable, and they may have become, as the Gibeonites at a later period, servants to the Israelites, as hewers of wood and drawers of water (<a href="/deuteronomy/29-11.htm" title="Your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water:">Deuteronomy 29:11</a>). It is probable that this mixed multitude may have partaken even more largely than the Israelites of the fish and vegetables of Egypt, and they appear to have instigated the Israelites to repine at the deprivations to which they were exposed in the wilderness. There is no mention in <a href="/exodus/16-3.htm" title="And the children of Israel said to them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.">Exodus 16:3</a> of weeping, but the same craving after the flesh-pots of Egypt was probably manifested in the same manner in both cases.<p><span class= "bld">Who shall give us flesh to eat?</span>—The word <span class= "ital">basar, </span>which is rendered <span class= "ital">flesh, </span>seems here to include—it may be to have primary reference <span class= "ital">to—fish. </span>It is used of fish in <a href="/leviticus/11-11.htm" title="They shall be even an abomination to you; you shall not eat of their flesh, but you shall have their carcasses in abomination.">Leviticus 11:11</a>, and it is obvious from <a href="/numbers/11-22.htm" title="Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?">Numbers 11:22</a> that it was understood by Moses in this general signification. Cp. the use of flesh (<a href="/1_corinthians/15-39.htm" title="All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.">1Corinthians 15:39</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-5.htm">Numbers 11:5</a></div><div class="verse">We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:</div>(5) <span class= "bld">We remember the fish . . . —</span>Classical writers and modern travellers agree in bearing testimony to the abundance of the fish in the Nile and in the neighbouring canals and reservoirs. The cucumbers in Egypt are of great size and finely flavoured. The watermelons serve to moderate the internal heat which the climate produces. (See <span class= "ital">The Land and the Book, </span>p. 508.) The word rendered <span class= "ital">leeks </span>(in <a href="/psalms/104-14.htm" title="He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;">Psalm 104:14</a>, <span class= "ital">grass </span>for cattle) is supposed by some to denote a species of clover which is peculiar to Egypt, and of which the young and fresh shoots are said to be used as food and to be an excellent stomachic. The onions of Egypt are said to be the sweetest in the world, and they constitute the common food of the lowest class of the people. Garlic is still much used by the modern Arabs. It is only the fish, which was probably equally within the reach of all, of which the Israelites are said to have eaten <span class= "ital">freely, i.e., </span>not <span class= "ital">abundantly, </span>but <span class= "ital">gratuitously. </span>It is probable, however, that many of them cultivated the land to a greater or lesser degree, and so procured vegetables for themselves.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-6.htm">Numbers 11:6</a></div><div class="verse">But now our soul <i>is</i> dried away: <i>there is</i> nothing at all, beside this manna, <i>before</i> our eyes.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">There is nothing at all . . . —</span>Better, <span class= "ital">there is nothing, except that our eyes </span>(<span class= "ital">look</span>)<span class= "ital"> upon, the manna.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-7.htm">Numbers 11:7</a></div><div class="verse">And the manna <i>was</i> as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">And the manna was . . . —</span>The design of the description of the manna in this place (comp. <a href="/exodus/16-14.htm" title="And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, on the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.">Exodus 16:14</a>; <a href="/exodus/16-31.htm" title="And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.">Exodus 16:31</a>, and Notes <span class= "ital">in loc.; </span>also Article M<span class= "ital">anna, </span>in “Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible”) was probably to exhibit in its just light the sinfulness of the Israelites in repining at the merciful provision which God had made for the supply of their wants. The dissatisfaction of the Israelites with the sweet bread of heaven, and their craving after the more savoury and more stimulating food of Egypt may be regarded as typical of man’s natural repugnance to the spiritual food which is provided in the Gospel, and his restless cravings after the pleasures of the world.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-8.htm">Numbers 11:8</a></div><div class="verse"><i>And</i> the people went about, and gathered <i>it</i>, and ground <i>it</i> in mills, or beat <i>it</i> in a mortar, and baked <i>it</i> in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">As the taste of fresh oil.—</span>Or, <span class= "ital">of a fat cake of oil. </span>In <a href="/exodus/16-31.htm" title="And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.">Exodus 16:31</a> the taste of the manna is said to have been “like wafers made with honey.” The ancients used flour cakes mixed with oil and honey.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-10.htm">Numbers 11:10</a></div><div class="verse">Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Moses also was displeased.—</span>Or, <span class= "ital">And it was evil </span>(or, <span class= "ital">displeasing</span>)<span class= "ital"> in the eyes of Moses. </span>Moses was displeased with the people on account of their murmuring, and he was oppressed with the heavy burden of responsibility to which he felt himself unequal.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-11.htm">Numbers 11:11</a></div><div class="verse">And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Wherefore hast thou afflicted.—</span>Literally, <span class= "ital">done evil to: </span>the same verb, in a different conjugation, which is rendered “displeased” in <a href="/numbers/11-10.htm" title="Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.">Numbers 11:10</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-12.htm">Numbers 11:12</a></div><div class="verse">Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?</div>(12) <span class= "bld">Have I conceived . .?</span>—The personal pronoun is emphatic in this and the following clause: Is <span class= "ital">it I who have conceived all this people? Is it I who have brought them forth? </span>(or, <span class= "ital">begotten them</span>)<span class= "ital">, </span>as in <a href="/genesis/4-18.htm" title="And to Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.">Genesis 4:18</a>; <a href="/genesis/10-8.htm" title="And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.">Genesis 10:8</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-13.htm">Numbers 11:13</a></div><div class="verse">Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Whence should I have flesh . . .?—</span>Moses does not justify the murmuring of the people, and was doubtless conscious of their sinfulness. At the same time, he displays a spirit of discontent, and almost of despair, at God’s dealings with himself; and he appears to treat the demand of the Israelites. for flesh as one which was not altogether unreasonable.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-14.htm">Numbers 11:14</a></div><div class="verse">I am not able to bear all this people alone, because <i>it is</i> too heavy for me.</div>(14) <span class= "bld">To bear all this people alone.—</span>In accordance with the advice of Jethro, able men had been chosen out of all Israel who heard and determined the small matters which arose among them (<a href="/context/exodus/18-25.htm" title="And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.">Exodus 18:25-26</a>), but they were of no avail on occasions such as the present.<p><span class= "bld">My wretchedness.—</span>Or, <span class= "ital">my evil. </span>This is one of the eighteen places in which the scribes are said to have altered the text, and to have substituted <span class= "ital">my </span>for <span class= "ital">Thy.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-15.htm">Numbers 11:15</a></div><div class="verse">And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">Kill me, I pray thee, out of hand.—</span>Or, <span class= "ital">Make an utter end of me.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-16.htm">Numbers 11:16</a></div><div class="verse">And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Seventy men of the elders of Israel . . . —</span>We find mention made of <span class= "ital">elders </span>of the people in <a href="/exodus/3-16.htm" title="Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:">Exodus 3:16</a>, and of officers (<span class= "ital">shoterim</span>) in <a href="/exodus/5-16.htm" title="There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.">Exodus 5:16</a>;<p>also of seventy elders in <a href="/exodus/24-1.htm" title="And he said to Moses, Come up to the LORD, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship you afar off.">Exodus 24:1</a>. Frequent mention is made in Scripture of the number <span class= "ital">seventy—</span>a number which is composed of the two sacred numbers <span class= "ital">seven </span>and <span class= "ital">ten</span>—the former being the seal of the covenant, and the latter probably denoting perfection. The seventy who were chosen on the present occasion may have consisted of some of those who were appointed as judges at the suggestion of Jethro, but there is no evidence of their identity with any persons previously selected.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-17.htm">Numbers 11:17</a></div><div class="verse">And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which <i>is</i> upon thee, and will put <i>it</i> upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear <i>it</i> not thyself alone.</div>(17) <span class= "bld">And I will come down . . . —</span>The cloud which hovered over the Tabernacle appears to have descended to the entrance of it (<a href="/numbers/11-25.htm" title="And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was on him, and gave it to the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested on them, they prophesied, and did not cease.">Numbers 11:25</a>). (Comp. <a href="/exodus/33-9.htm" title="And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.">Exodus 33:9</a>; <a href="/numbers/12-5.htm" title="And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.">Numbers 12:5</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/31-15.htm" title="And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.">Deuteronomy 31:15</a>).<p><span class= "bld">I will take of the spirit which is upon thee . . . —</span>These words do not imply that there was any diminution of the gifts bestowed upon Moses, but that a portion of those spiritual gifts was bestowed upon the seventy. Rashi compares the mode of bestowal with the manner in which the other lamps of the Sanctuary were lighted at the golden candlestick without diminishing the light from which theirs was taken.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-18.htm">Numbers 11:18</a></div><div class="verse">And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for <i>it was</i> well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow.</span>—(Comp. <a href="/exodus/19-10.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, Go to the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,">Exodus 19:10</a>.) The Israelites were required to sanctify themselves by purification for the more immediate manifestation of the Divine presence, although their request was a sinful one, and was granted in judgment as well as—or even more than—in mercy. Comp. <a href="/psalms/106-15.htm" title="And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.">Psalm 106:15</a> : “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-19.htm">Numbers 11:19</a></div><div class="verse">Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;</div>(19) <span class= "bld">Ye shall not eat one day . . . —</span>The quails which had been sent the preceding year appear to have covered the camp only during one day (<a href="/exodus/16-13.htm" title="And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.">Exodus 16:13</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-21.htm">Numbers 11:21</a></div><div class="verse">And Moses said, The people, among whom I <i>am</i>, <i>are</i> six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.</div>(21) <span class= "bld">Six hundred thousand footmen.—</span>In <a href="/numbers/1-46.htm" title="Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.">Numbers 1:46</a> the number is stated to be 603,550; but here, as elsewhere, a round number is mentioned.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-22.htm">Numbers 11:22</a></div><div class="verse">Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?</div>(22) <span class= "bld">Shall the flocks and the herds </span>. .?—Rather, <span class= "ital">Shall flocks and herds </span>. .? The definite article is not used here, nor the possessive pronoun, as elsewhere, where the flocks and herds of the Israelites are denoted. (Comp. <a href="/exodus/10-9.htm" title="And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast to the LORD.">Exodus 10:9</a>; <a href="/exodus/34-3.htm" title="And no man shall come up with you, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.">Exodus 34:3</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/12-6.htm" title="And thither you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and of your flocks:">Deuteronomy 12:6</a>.) There is no evidence, therefore, that Moses alluded exclusively, or even primarily, to the flocks and herds which the Israelites had brought out of Egypt. Moreover, a large number of the sheep and goats must have been recently slain at the Passover. Whether the encampment was, or was not within an easy distance of the Ælanitic Gulf, the gathering together of the fish of the sea in sufficient quantities to satisfy such a multitude for so long a time would require a miraculous agency; and the same agency could also bring together from unknown sources flocks and herds. The expression may be regarded as a form of natural hyperbole.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-24.htm">Numbers 11:24</a></div><div class="verse">And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">And Moses went out . . . —</span>i.e., as it should seem, from the tabernacle of the congregation, where he had been conversing with God.<p><span class= "bld">Round about the tabernacle.—</span>This does not necessarily imply that the seventy men were placed so that they surrounded the whole of the tent of meeting. Comp. <a href="/exodus/7-24.htm" title="And all the Egyptians dig round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.">Exodus 7:24</a>, where the word means <span class= "ital">on both sides of the river; </span>also <a href="/job/29-5.htm" title="When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;">Job 29:5</a>, where the same word is rendered <span class= "ital">about.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-25.htm">Numbers 11:25</a></div><div class="verse">And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that <i>was</i> upon him, and gave <i>it</i> unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, <i>that</i>, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.</div>(25) <span class= "bld">In a cloud.—</span>Hebrew, <span class= "ital">In the cloud.</span><p><span class= "bld">And gave it unto . . . —</span>Better, <span class= "ital">and put it upon, </span>as in <a href="/leviticus/2-15.htm" title="And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.">Leviticus 2:15</a>.<p><span class= "bld">They prophesied, and did not cease.—</span>Better, <span class= "ital">they prophesied, but did so no more. </span>Comp. <a href="/genesis/8-12.htm" title="And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again to him any more.">Genesis 8:12</a>; <a href="/exodus/11-6.htm" title="And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.">Exodus 11:6</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/2-28.htm" title="So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.">2Samuel 2:28</a>; so the LXX. The word <span class= "ital">prophesy </span>does not necessarily denote the prediction of future events. It is elsewhere employed to denote the celebration of the praises of God, either with the voice or with instruments of music. (Comp. <a href="/1_samuel/10-6.htm" title="And the Spirit of the LORD will come on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.">1Samuel 10:6</a>; <a href="/1_kings/18-29.htm" title="And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.">1Kings 18:29</a>; <a href="/context/1_chronicles/25-1.htm" title="Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:">1Chronicles 25:1-3</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/29-26.htm" title="The LORD has made you priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that you should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison, and in the stocks.">Jeremiah 29:26</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-28.htm">Numbers 11:28</a></div><div class="verse">And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, <i>one</i> of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.</div>(28) <span class= "bld">My lord Moses, forbid them.—</span>The motive which prompted Joshua in making this request appears to have been similar to that which led St. John to forbid the man to cast out devils who did not follow with the Apostles (<a href="/context/mark/9-38.htm" title="And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in your name, and he follows not us: and we forbade him, because he follows not us.">Mark 9:38-39</a>; <a href="/context/luke/9-49.htm" title="And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in your name; and we forbade him, because he follows not with us.">Luke 9:49-50</a>). But as the man did not cast out devils in his own name, but in that of Christ, so in this case Eldad and Medad prophesied in virtue of the spirit which rested upon them from above, of which the Holy Ghost, not Moses, was the giver. The motives which deterred Eldad and Medad from going to the tent of meeting are unknown. The history teaches the freeness and the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit’s influences, as afterwards did that of Cornelius, when the Holy Ghost fell upon him and upon those who were with him, previously to the reception of baptism, and they spoke with tongues and magnified God (<a href="/context/acts/10-44.htm" title="While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.">Acts 10:44-48</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-29.htm">Numbers 11:29</a></div><div class="verse">And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, <i>and</i> that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!</div>(29) <span class= "bld">Enviest thou for my sake?-</span>Better, <span class= "ital">Art thou zealous for me? </span>or, <span class= "ital">Art thou displeased on my account? </span>(Comp. <a href="/numbers/25-13.htm" title="And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.">Numbers 25:13</a>; <a href="/1_kings/19-10.htm" title="And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.">1Kings 19:10</a>; <a href="/1_kings/19-14.htm" title="And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.">1Kings 19:14</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-31.htm">Numbers 11:31</a></div><div class="verse">And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let <i>them</i> fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits <i>high</i> upon the face of the earth.</div>(31) <span class= "bld">And there went forth a wind.—</span>In <a href="/psalms/78-26.htm" title="He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.">Psalm 78:26</a> we read thus: “He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.” A south-east wind would bring the quails from the neighbourhood of the Red Sea, where they abound.<p><span class= "bld">And let them fall.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">and scattered them </span>(or, <span class= "ital">spread them out</span>)<span class= "ital">. </span>Comp. <a href="/1_samuel/30-16.htm" title="And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad on all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.">1Samuel 30:16</a> : “They were spread abroad upon all the earth,” or, over all the ground.<p><span class= "bld">Round about.—</span>See Note on <a href="/numbers/11-24.htm" title="And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.">Numbers 11:24</a>.<p><span class= "bld">As it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">about two cubits over </span>(or, <span class= "ital">above</span>)<span class= "ital"> the ground. </span>Had the quails lain upon the earth in a heap for any considerable time, life could only have been preserved by miraculous interference with the ordinary laws of nature, and the Israelites were not allowed to eat of that which had died of itself. Quails commonly fly low, and when wearied with a long flight might fly only about breast-high. On the other hand, the more obvious interpretation of the words is that the quails were spread over the ground, and covered it in some places to the height of two cubits. They were probably taken and killed immediately on their descent, as the following verse seems to indicate, and then spread out and dried and hardened in the sun. Some think that the word which is here rendered <span class= "ital">quails </span>denotes <span class= "ital">cranes.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-32.htm">Numbers 11:32</a></div><div class="verse">And the people stood up all that day, and all <i>that</i> night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread <i>them</i> all abroad for themselves round about the camp.</div>(32) <span class= "bld">Ten homers.</span>—The <span class= "ital">homer, </span>which was equal to ten ephahs, or a hundred omers, appears to have contained between five and six bushels, according to the Rabbinists, but according to Josephus about double that quantity.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-33.htm">Numbers 11:33</a></div><div class="verse">And while the flesh <i>was</i> yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.</div>(33) <span class= "bld">With a very great plague.</span>—The noun, <span class= "ital">maccah. </span>plague, is cognate to the verb which is rendered <span class= "ital">smote. </span>It is frequently used of a stroke inflicted by God, as, <span class= "ital">e.g., </span>pestilence or any epidemic sickness. A surfeit, such as that in which the Israelites had indulged, especially under the circumstances in which they were placed, would naturally produce a considerable amount of sickness. Here, then, as in the account of the plagues of Egypt and in other parts of the sacred history, the natural and the supernatural are closely combined.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/numbers/11-34.htm">Numbers 11:34</a></div><div class="verse">And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.</div>(34) <span class= "bld">Kibroth-hattaavah</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e., the graves of lust </span>‘or, <span class= "ital">desire</span>)<span class= "ital">. </span>In <a href="/numbers/33-16.htm" title="And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah.">Numbers 33:16</a>, Kibroth-hattaavah is mentioned as the first station after the departure from Sinai, whereas it is obvious that there must have been an encampment at Taberah. Taberah may have been the name given to a part of Kibroth-hattaavah, or the two names may have belonged to the same place.<p><span class= "bld"> <div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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