Numbers 11:8

_BUT NOW OUR SOUL IS DRIED AWAY: THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL, BESIDE THIS MANNA, BEFORE OUR EYES._ But now ... there is nothing ... besides this manna. Daily familiarity had disgusted them with the sight and taste of the monotonous food; and, ungrateful for the heavenly gift, they longed for a change of fare. It may be noticed that the resemblance of the manna to coriander seed was not in the colour, but in the size and figure; and from its comparison to bdellium, which is either a drop of white gum or a white pearl, we are enabled to form a better idea of it. [The Septuagint renders 'colour of bdellium,' eidos krustallou, a term which the Greeks applied not only to rock-crystal, but to any transparent mineral.] Moreover, it is evident, from the process of baking into cakes, that it could not have been the natural manna of the Arabian desert, for that is too gummy or unctuous to permit bein...

4-9 Man, having forsaken his proper rest, feels uneasy and wretched, though prosperous. They were weary of the provision God had made for them, although wholesome food and nourishing. It cost no money or care, and the labour of gathering it was very little indeed; yet they talked of Egypt's cheapness, and the fish they ate there freely; as if that cost them nothing, when they paid dearly for it with hard service! While they lived on manna, they seemed exempt from the curse sin has brought on man, that in the sweat of his face he should eat bread; yet they speak of it with scorn. Peevish, discontented minds will find fault with that which has no fault in it, but that it is too good for them. Those who might be happy, often make themselves miserable by discontent. They could not be satisfied unless they had flesh to eat. It is evidence of the dominion of the carnal mind, when we want to h...

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] THE PEOPLE WENT ABOUT AND GATHERED [IT],.... Went about the camp on all sides, where it fell in plenty; this they did every morning, and this was all the trouble they were at; they had it for gathering, without any expense to them: AND GROUND [IT] IN MILLS: in hand mills, as Aben Ezra; for though it melted through the heat of the sun, and became a liquid, yet, when gathered in the morning, it was hard like grains of corn, or other seeds, and required to be ground in mills: OR BEAT [IT] IN A MORTAR; with a pestle, as spices are beaten and bruised: AND BAKED [IT] IN PANS; or rather boiled it in a pot, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, since it follows: AND MADE CAKES OF IT; which were baked on the hearth; all which may denote the sufferings of Christ, who was beaten, and bruised, and broken, that he might become fit food for faith,...

Numbers 11:1. _And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD:_ Interpreters cannot make out what they had to complain of. The curse of labour had been removed; they did not earn their bread with the sweat of their face, for it fell from heaven every day. They were at no expense for clothing; and though they journeyed, their feet did not swell. I suppose that they complained of the weather. It was too cold; it was too hot; it was too wet; it was too dry. They complained when they stood still; they were much too long in a place. They complained when they marched; they moved too often. In fact, they were very like ourselves; they often complained most when they had least to complain of. Discontent is chronic to our humanity; and I do not believe that the poorest are the most discontented. It is often the very reverse. When a man is put in a place where be has nothing to compla

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...

E. BITTER EXPERIENCE AT THE GRAVES OF LUST (KIBROTH-HATTAAVAH), vv. 4-35 TEXT Numbers 11:4. And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5. We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6. But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes. 7. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium. 8. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. 9. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. 10. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the ange

11:8 oil-cakes. (a-38) Others, 'fresh oil.'...