Numbers 11:18

_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 IT WAS WELL WITH US IN EGYPT: THEREFORE THE LORD WILL GIVE YOU FLESH, AND YE SHALL EAT._ Say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves - i:e., 'prepare yourselves,' by repentance and submission, to receive tomorrow the flesh you clamour for. But it is evident that the tenor of the language implied a severe rebuke, and that the blessing promised would prove a curse (cf. Psalms 106:15, where the words, "He sent leanness into their soul," implies that the decay which was sent was not bodily, but spiritual....

18._And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves. _This is another part of the answer, which is given respecting the matter in consideration, viz., that the people should prepare themselves to satiate their greediness. Although the word קדש (26) _kadesh, _signifies to _prepare, _yet its literal meaning seems to be most appropriate here; I have therefore retained the word _sanctify, _which is, however, here used ironically, for Moses does not exhort: them to purge themselves from all defilement’s, and piously and sincerely to receive the grace of God, but he chastises their profane and brutal gluttony. Others translate it simply, as if it were said, Whet your teeth, and make ready your bellies: but, in my judgment, there is a reproof implied, because they are polluted by a foul and wicked desire, so as to be incapable of receiving God’s paternal favor: for

16-23 Moses is to choose such as he knew to be elders, that is, wise and experienced men. God promises to qualify them. If they were not found fit for the employ, they should be made fit. Even the discontented people shall be gratified too, that every mouth may be stopped. See here, I. The vanity of all the delights of sense; they will cloy, but they will not satisfy. Spiritual pleasures alone will satisfy and last. As the world passes away, so do the lusts of it. 2. What brutish sins gluttony and drunkenness are! they make that to hurt the body which should be its health. Moses objects. Even true and great believers sometimes find it hard to trust God under the discouragements of second causes, and against hope to believe in hope. God here brings Moses to this point, The Lord God is Almighty; and puts the proof upon the issue, Thou shalt see whether my word shall come to pass or not. If...

Occurrences at Kibroth-hattavah. Numbers 11:4 THE MIXT MULTITUDE - The word in the original resembles our “riff-raff,” and denotes a mob of people scraped together. It refers here to the multitude of strangers (see Exodus 12:38) who had followed the Israelites from Egypt. Numbers 11:5 The natural dainties of Egypt are set forth in this passage with the fullness and relish which bespeak personal experience. Numbers 11:6 THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL ... - literally, “Nought at all hav

EXPOSITION KIBROTH HATTAAVAH (Numbers 11:4). NUMBERS 11:4 THE MIXED MULTITUDE. Hebrew, _ha_-_saphsuph, _the gathered; the rift-raft, or rabble, which had followed the fortunes of Israel out of Egypt, where they had probably been strangers and slaves themselves. What the nature and the number and the fate of this rabble were is a matter of mere conjecture and of some perplexity. There does not seem any room for them in the regulations laid down for Israel, nor are they mentioned in any other place except at Exodus 12:38. In Le Exodus 24:10

AND SAY THOU UNTO THE PEOPLE,.... For what follows respects them, as what goes before regarded himself: SANCTIFY YOURSELVES AGAINST TOMORROW; or prepare yourselves, as the Targums of Onkelos, and Jonathan, either to receive mercies, or to meet the Lord in the way of his judgments; so Jarchi interprets it, "prepare for punishments,'' for what is said should be, and what they had, was not as a blessing, but in a way of punishment: AND YE SHALL EAT FLESH; which they lusted after, wept for, and could not be easy without: FOR YE HAVE WEPT IN THE EARS OF THE LORD; complaining of him, and which he has taken notice of: SAYING, WHO SHALL GIVE US FLESH TO EAT? for though they so earnestly desired it, they despaired of it, and even called in question the power of God to give it: FOR [IT WAS] WELL WITH US IN EGYPT; where they had their fleshpots, as well as their

II. THE JOURNEY STARTED: ISRAEL'S UNBELIEF, FAILURE AND PUNISHMENT 1. The Departure and the First Failure CHAPTER 10:11-36 _ 1. The cloud moves (Numbers 10:11)_ 2. The standard of the camp of Judah (Numbers 10:14) 3. The standard of the camp of Reuben (Numbers 10:18) 4. The standard of the camp of Ephraim (Numbers 10:22) 5. The standard of the camp of Dan (Numbers 10:25) 6.The first failure (N

NUMBERS 11:4 (JE). THE PEOPLE'S LUST FOR FLESH AND MOSES-' COMPLAINT OF HIS EXCESSIVE BURDEN. This section is a combination of two narratives (from J and E), relating (1) a demand of the people for flesh (instead of manna), which was satisfied by a flight of quails; (2) a complaint of Moses that the responsibility of leadership was too great for him, which was met by the appointment of 70 elders to assist him. But the separation of the two stories cannot be effected with perfect confidence, and some verses may originally have stood in a different context. NUMBERS 11:4. THE DISCONTENT WITH THE MANNA, AND THE DESIRE FOR FLESH. The complaint about the lack of flesh is inconsistent with the possession by Israel of the flocks and herds implied in...

SANCTIFY. separate. See note on "holy". Exodus 3:5....

SAY THOU UNTO THE PEOPLE, SANCTIFY YOURSELVES— Houbigant well observes, that the original word here might, with propriety, be rendered, _be ye ready:_ the word is so used Jeremiah 6:4; Jeremiah 12:3; Jeremiah 51:28. Having answered the request of Moses in the former verses, the Lord now proceeds to answer that of the people....