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Numbers

About this book
Chapter 11

1 When the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.⁠ 2 When the people cried to Moses, he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. 3 So he called the name of that place Taberah because there the fire of the Lord burned among them. 4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now we are dried up, and there is nothing at all before us except this manna!” 7 (Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. 8 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it with mills or pounded it in mortars; they baked it in pans and made cakes of it. It tasted like fresh olive oil. 9 And when the dew came down on the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.)⁠ 10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased. 11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of this entire people on me? 12 Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a foster father bears a nursing child,’⁠ to the land that you swore to their fathers? 13 From where shall I get meat to give to this entire people, for they cry to me, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat!’ 14 I am not able to bear this entire people alone, because it is too heavy for me! 15 But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately.⁠ If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.”⁠ 16 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 over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 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 all by yourself.⁠ 18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the ears* of the Lord,⁠ saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.⁠ 19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, because you have despised the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we ever come out of Egypt?”’” 21 Moses said, “The people around me are 600,000 on foot; but you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’⁠ 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?” 23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you will see whether my word to you will come true or not!” 24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He then gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tabernacle. 25 And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do so again.⁠ 26 But two men remained in the camp; one’s name was Eldad, and the other’s name was Medad. And the Spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” 28 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his choice young men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel. 31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and brought quail from the sea,⁠ and let them fall near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet high on the surface of the ground. 32 And the people stayed up all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before they chewed it, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people that craved different food. 35 The people traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 15:23 and Numbers 11:1

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Exodus describes the people grumbling when they found bitter water at Marah, language used in Numbers, which begins with the people complaining about the difficulty. Both present murmuring as a recurring feature of Israel’s wilderness experience.

Passages

Exodus 15:23

Hebrew Bible
21 Miriam sang in response to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.” 22 Then Moses led Israel to journey away from the Red Sea. They went out to the wilderness of Shur, walked for three days into the wilderness, and found no water. 23 Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.) 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” 25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Numbers 11:1

Hebrew Bible
1 When the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp. 2 When the people cried to Moses, he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. 3 So he called the name of that place Taberah because there the fire of the Lord burned among them. 4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again and said, “If only we had meat to eat!
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

References

"... Outside the Pentateuch the most extensive account of the stay in the desert is found in Psalm 78. The poet emphasizes Israel’s rebellion against YHWH (see also Ezekiel 20:13, 16, 21; Psalm 106:6, 13; Nehemiah 9:16; see further Jeremiah 7:24; Daniel 9:4; Ezra 9:6. and especially also Deuteronomy 9:7; compare 1:26; 9:24 and Numbers 14:11, 22). The grumbling of the people is mentioned in 15:24; 16:2; 17:2; Numbers 11:1, 4; 20:2; 21:5 (and also 20:24; 27:14). True, it is directed against Moses (and Aaron), but it can also be characterized as a grumbling against YHWH (16:7; 17:2, 7). The grumbling at Bitterness (15:22) is not found outside Exodus (for the healing of water see 2 Kings 2:19-22). Different from Exodus, Psalm 78 mentions the manna and the quail after the water from the rock. Though 16:2 says that the grumbling was due to hunger, according to Psalm 78 the Israelites tested God (compare verse 40) by asking if the God who could make water gush out of the rock could also spread a table in the wilderness (verses 18-20) ... according to 16:4; Deuteronomy 8:16 YHWH gave the manna to ‘test’ Israel ..."
C. Houtman, Historical Commentary on the Old Testament: Exodus (Kok, 1993), 202.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 15:23 and Numbers 11:1

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