Numbers 11:21

_AND MOSES SAID, THE PEOPLE, AMONG WHOM I AM, ARE SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOTMEN; AND THOU HAST SAID, I WILL GIVE THEM FLESH, THAT THEY MAY EAT A WHOLE MONTH._ Moses said ... Shall the flocks and the herds be slain? The great leader, struck with a promise so astonishing as that of suddenly furnishing, in the midst of the desert, more than two million people with flesh for a whole month, betrayed an incredulous spirit, surprising in one who had witnessed so many stupendous miracles. Of course, he thought only of its being accomplished in the natural and ordinary course of things. Their flocks and herds, numerous as they were, would soon be diminished and exhausted by the consumpt of so vast a horde. And the problem which was insoluble to Moses was, from what other natural source the supply was to come. OR SHALL ALL THE FISH OF THE SEA BE GATHERED TOGETHER FOR THEM, TO SUFFICE THEM? This al...

21._And Moses said, The people among whom I am, are six hundred thousand. _Although Moses’ object was right, yet he fell into unbelief, and thus stumbled at the very threshold. His pious solicitude indeed impelled him to doubt; because he feared that God’s holy name would be exposed to derision and contumely, if he should send away empty those to whom he had promised food. But it seemed to him incredible that so mighty a multitude should be sufficiently supplied with flesh. When he calls them “six hundred thousand,” he either does not calculate their numbers exactly, or indicates that some had died since their departure, when he had numbered the people. (Exodus 14:0.) Yet it is probable that he referred to the recent _census, _in which they were found to be 603,550, (Numbers 1:46;) but for the sake of brevity he put the

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 MOSES SAID,.... By way of objection to what God had promised, distrusting his power to perform: THE PEOPLE AMONGST WHOM I [AM]; among whom he dwelt, of whom he was a part, and over whom he was a ruler: [ARE] SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOTMEN; that were able to travel on foot, and were fit for war: this was the number of them when they came out of Egypt, Exodus 12:37; they amounted in their last numbering to 3,550 more, which lesser number is here omitted, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi observe, and only the round number given: some say that all above the six hundred thousand were destroyed by the fire at Taberah, Numbers 11:1; AND THOU HAST SAID, ONE WILL GIVE THEM FLESH, THAT THEY MAY EAT A WHOLE MONTH; this Moses could not tell how to credit....

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...

THEM. Some codices have. reading called _Sever_ (App-34), which reads "unto you"....

AND MOSES SAID, THE PEOPLE AMONGST WHOM I AM— There is a striking similarity between the present passage and the account we have in the Evangelists of our Saviour's feeding the multitude with the five loaves and two fishes. See particularly John 6:5; John 6:71....