Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers?’ Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
Show the surrounding paragraph
Numbers 11:11-15 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased. Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers?’ Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
Parallel Translations
-
Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?
Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers?’
Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’
I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
-
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?
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?
Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
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.
Show all 3 translations
-
And Moses said unto the LORD: 'Wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with Thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in Thy sight, that Thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that Thou shouldest say unto me: Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which Thou didst swear unto their fathers?
Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they trouble me with their weeping, saying: Give us flesh, that we may eat.
I am not able to bear all this people myself alone, because it is too heavy for me.
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 look upon my wretchedness.'
Cross-references (49)
- Exodus 18:18 (v14) You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it…
- Isaiah 40:11 (v12) He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who…
- Isaiah 49:23 (v12) Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and…
- Exodus 13:5 (v12) It shall be, when Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,…
- Jonah 4:3 (v15) Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Show all 48 cross-references
- 1 Thessalonians 2:7 (v12) But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children.
- Deuteronomy 1:9-12 (v14) I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today…
- Deuteronomy 1:12 (v11) How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife?
- 1 Kings 19:4 (v15) But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he…
- Jeremiah 20:18 (v15) Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
- Jonah 4:8-9 (v15) When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that…
- Matthew 15:33 (v13) The disciples said to him, “Where should we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?”
- Mark 8:4 (v13) His disciples answered him, “From where could one satisfy these people with bread here in a deserted place?”
- Philippians 1:20-24 (v15) according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will…
- Genesis 26:3 (v12) Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will…
- Genesis 50:24 (v12) Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to…
- Exodus 5:22 (v11) Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me?
- Exodus 32:32 (v15) Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”
- Zephaniah 3:15 (v15) Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of…
- Jeremiah 15:18 (vv11, 15) Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will you indeed be to me as a deceitful brook, like waters…
- Genesis 22:16-17 (v12) and said, “ ‘I have sworn by myself,’ says Yahweh, ‘because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, that I…
- Exodus 17:4 (v11) Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
- Numbers 11:15 (v11) If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
- Job 3:20-22 (v15) “Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul, Who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than…
- Job 6:8-10 (v15) “Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for, even that it would please God to crush me; that he would…
- Job 7:15 (v15) so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.
- Job 10:2 (v11) I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.
- Psalms 130:3 (v11) If you, Yah, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
- Psalms 143:2 (v11) Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous.
- Isaiah 49:15 (v12) “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not…
- Jeremiah 15:10 (v11) Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have…
- Jeremiah 20:7-9 (v11) Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day.…
- Jeremiah 20:14-18 (v11) Cursed is the day in which I was born. Don’t let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed. Cursed is the man who brought news to my…
- Lamentations 3:39-40 (v11) Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 34:23 (v12) I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
- Zechariah 6:13 (v14) even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his…
- Malachi 3:14 (v11) You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully…
- Mark 9:23 (v13) Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
- John 6:5-9 (v13) Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that…
- John 10:11 (v12) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
- 2 Corinthians 2:16 (v14) to the one a stench from death to death, to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
- 2 Corinthians 11:28 (v11) Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily: anxiety for all the assemblies.
- Galatians 4:19 (v12) My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you—
- James 1:4 (v15) Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
- Genesis 13:15 (v12) for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever.
- Psalms 89:19 (v14) Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, “I have given strength to the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people.
- Isaiah 9:6 (v14) For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor,…
- Lamentations 3:22-23 (v11) It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning.…
48 distinct cross-references across this passage (49 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 15 Or, evil intreated.
Or, evil intreated.
Or, wherein have I displeased thee?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–15 Num 11:11 And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore…
Num 11:11 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?
Ver. 11. Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant.] Antoninus the Emperor said often, Imperium oceanum esse malorum, that to be a governor of others is to be plunged into an ocean of miseries. Pope Adrian caused to be engraven upon his own tomb, Faelix si non imperitasset. Melancthon said, the three sorest labours of all were, Docentis, imperantis, parturientis, the labours of ministers, magistrates, and of travailing women.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14, 15 Why didst thou not hear my prayer, when I…
Why didst thou not hear my prayer, when I desired thou wouldst excuse me, and commit the care and government of this unruly people to some other person? See Exo 3:11; 4:10.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–15 And Moses said unto the Lord, wherefore hast thou…
And Moses said unto the Lord, wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?.... Or "done evil" (m) to him, that which was distressing to him, and gave him trouble; namely, setting him at the head of the people of Israel, and laying the government of them on his shoulders; which surely was doing him honour, though that is not to be expected without care and trouble; Moses does not seem to be in a good frame of spirit throughout the whole of this discourse with the Lord: the best of men are not always alike in their frames, and sometimes act contrary to that for which they are the most eminent, as Moses was for his, meekness and humility:
and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight; he had found much favour in the sight of God, to have so many wonderful things done by him in Egypt, to be the instrument of the deliverance of Israel from thence, to be the leader of them through the Red sea, to be taken up to the mount with God, and receive the law from him to give to that people; but the favour he complains of that was denied him, is, his not being excused, when he desired it, from taking on him the office he was called unto, of being the deliverer and ruler of the people, Exo 4:10,
Read full note →
that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? with respect to matters heavier and more difficult; for as to lighter and lesser things, be was assisted and relieved by the officers placed over the various divisions of the people at the advice of Jethro, Exo 18:21; government is a burdensome thing, and especially when a people are prone to mutiny and rebellion, as the people of Israel were.
(m) "malefecisti", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14, 15 Not found favour - Why didst thou not hear…
Not found favour - Why didst thou not hear my prayer, when I desired thou wouldest excuse me, and commit the care of this unruly people to some other person.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v11 Verse 11. - 15. The complaint and remonstrance of…
Verse 11. - 15. The complaint and remonstrance of Moses in these verses serve at once to show the deeply distressed state of his mind, and the degradation of the minds of the people. We have already seen that the slavery they had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every generous act.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v15 Num 11:15. If thou deal thus with me, kill…
Num 11:15. If thou deal thus with me, kill me — He begs that God would be pleased either to ease him of the burdensome charge, or take him out of the world, and rid him of a life so troublesome and insupportable. See my wretchedness — Hebrew, my evil, my torment, arising from the difficulty of my office, and work of ruling this people, and from the dread of their utter extirpation, and the dishonour which will thence accrue to thee and religion; as if not only I, but thou also wast a deceiver. He speaks like an affectionate father of a people who makes their sufferings his own. And, indeed, what could make a ruler of such paternal tenderness more distressed than to see the people he was appointed to govern so untoward, not only toward himself, but God? and to see them, by their perverseness, drawing down upon themselves such dire calamities, and the enemies of God rejoicing in their ruin?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15 Nurse. We often read of men nursing or watching…
Nurse. We often read of men nursing or watching over others. (4 Kings x. 5; Esther ii. 11.) Thus kings shall nurse the Church, Isaias xlix. 23. (Calmet) --- All who have authority should treat their subjects with love. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 13, 15 11. Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant — In…
11. Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant — In a moment of weak faith the most honoured person on earth — honoured in bearing the largest part in the elevation of the race — deems himself the subject of special afflictions. But this was only momentary and exceptional in the history of Moses. He usually “endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. evil entreated] An archaism, for ‘treated evil,’ ‘caused…
11. evil entreated] An archaism, for ‘treated evil,’ ‘caused trouble to.’
found favour in thy sight] Cf. Exo_33:12-13; Exo_33:16-17; Exo_34:9.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–15 (11) Wherefore hast thou afflicted.—Literally, done evil to: the…
(11) Wherefore hast thou afflicted.—Literally, done evil to: the same verb, in a different conjugation, which is rendered “displeased” in Num_11:10.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14, 15 Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? These passionate complaints…
Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? These passionate complaints were clearly wrong, because exaggerated. God had not thrown upon Moses the responsibility of getting the people safely into Canaan, or of providing flesh for them; and apart from these exaggerations, it was a selfish and cowardly thing thus to dwell upon his own grievance, and to leave out of sight the grave dishonour done to God, and the awful danger incurred by the people. It was the more blameworthy in Moses because upon a former occasion he had taken upon him, with almost perilous boldness, to remonstrate with God, and to protest against the vengeance he threatened to inflict. (Exo_32:11-13) In a word, Moses forgot himself and his duty as mediator, and in his indignation at the sin of the people committed the same sin himself. It is a strong note of genuineness that so grave (and yet so natural) a fault should be recorded with such obvious simplicity. Compare the eases of Elijah (1Ki 19) and of Jonah. (Jon 4)
Vers. 11-15. The sin of despondency, in a servant of God.
Read full note →
Moses is infected by the people s sin of discontent, though in the milder form of despondency. The signs and effects of it are as follows:
I MOSES FORGETS THAT THE BURDENS OF RESPONSIBILITY AND THE AFFLICTIONS THEY BRING WITH THEM, INSTEAD OF BEING A SIGN THAT HE HAS "NOT FOUND FAVOUR" IN GOD"S SIGHT, ARE A PROOF OF THE HONOUR PUT UPON HIM. Illustration: a diplomatist or a general (e.g., Sir Garnet Wolseley) selected out of all the Queen"s servants for some arduous enterprise. Christian wife honoured by God with the responsibilities and burdens of motherhood.
II HE FORGETS THAT OUR DUTIES ARE NOT LIMITED BY OUR NATURAL RELATIONSHIPS (verse 12). We are all "members of one another". (Rom_14:7 Php_2:4) All are in danger of a selfish disregard of those afar oft (savage Caffres, idolatrous Hindoos), or even of those at our doors, not our own kindred, respecting whose spiritual welfare we may be selfishly indifferent or despondent.
III HE SPEAKS AS THOUGH THE BURDEN WAS THROWN ENTIRELY ON HIMSELF. The questions in verses 12, 13 are very unworthy of him. The cold fog of despondency chills him and obscures the light of God"s presence which was promised to him. (Exo_33:14)
IV HIS DESPONDENCY LEADS TO UNWORTHY REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND EXAGGERATED STATEMENTS ABOUT HIMSELF (verses 13, 14). A smaller burden would have been too great for him "alone;" a heavier not too great with God. (cf. Joh_15:5 Php_4:13)
V IT PROMPTS HIM TO A SINFUL PRAYER (verse 15). Imagine that the prayer had been answered, and Moses had died on the spot; what a humiliating end! (cf. 1Ki_19:4)
Let us learn the lesson Psa_56:3, and thus climb to the level of a still higher experience: "I will trust, and not be afraid". P. (Isa_12:2 Isa_26:3)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v14
Numbers
MOSES DESPONDENT
Read full note →
Num 11:14.
Detail the circumstances.
The leader speaks the truth in his despondency. He is pressed with the feeling of his incapacity for his work. We may take his words here as teaching us what men need in him who is to be their guide, and how impossible it is to find what they need in mere men.
I. What men need in their guide.
These Israelites were wandering in the wilderness; they were without natural supplies for their daily necessities; they had a long hard journey before them, an unknown road, at the terminus of which was a land where they should rest. We have precisely the same necessities as those which Moses despairingly said that they had.
Like them, we wander hungry, and need a Leader who can satisfy our desires and evermore give us bread for our souls even more than for our bodies. We need One to whom we can ‘weep,’ as the Israelites did to Moses, and not weep in vain. We need One who can do for us what Moses felt that the Israelites needed, and that he could not give them, when he almost indignantly put to God the despairing question, ‘Can I carry them in my bosom as a nursing father beareth the sucking child?’ Our weakness, our ignorance, our heart-hunger, cry out for One who can ‘bear all this people alone.’ who in his single Self has resources of strength, wisdom, and sufficiency to meet not only the wants of one soul but those of the world. For He who can satisfy the poorest single soul must be able to satisfy all men.
II. The impossibility of finding this in men.
Moses’ experience here is that of all leaders and great men. He is overwhelmed with the work; feels his own utter impotence; has himself to be strengthened; loathes his work; longs for release from it. See how he confesses
His human dependence.
His incapacity to do and be what is needed.
His impatience with the people
His longing to be rid of it all.
That is a true picture of the experience of the best of men-a true picture of the limitations of the noblest leaders.
But it is not only the leaders who confess their inadequacy, but the followers feel it, for even the most enthusiastic of them come sooner or later to find that their Oracle had not learned all wisdom, nor was fit to be taken as sole guide, much less as sole defence or satisfaction. He who looks to find all that he needs in men must take many men to find it, and no multiplicity of men will bring him what he seeks. The Milky Way is no substitute for the sun. Our hearts cry out for One great light, for One spacious home. Endless strings of pearls do not reach the preciousness of One pearl of price.
III. The failures of human leaders prophesy the true Leader.
Moses was prophetic of Christ by his failures as by his successes. He could not do what the people clamoured to have done, and what he in the mood of despair in which the text shows him, sadly owned that he could not. In that very confession he becomes an unconscious prophet. For that he should have so vividly set forth the qualifications of a leader of men, as defined by the people’s cries, and should have so bitterly felt his incapacity to supply them, is a witness, if there is a God at all, that somewhere the needed Ideal will be realised in ‘a Leader and Commander of the people,’ God-sent and ‘worthy of more glory than Moses.’
The best service that all human leaders, helpers or lovers, can do us, is to confess their own insufficiency, and to point us to Jesus.
All that men need is found in Him and in Him alone. All that men have failed, and must always fail, to be, He is. Those eyes are blessed that ‘see no man any more save Jesus only.’ We need One who can satisfy our desires and fill our hungry souls, and Jesus speaks a promise, confirmed by the experience of all who have tested it when He declares: ‘He that cometh unto Me shall never hunger.’ We need One who will dry our tears, and Jesus, when He says ‘Weep not,’ wipes them away and stanches their sources, giving ‘the oil of joy for mourning.’ We need One who can hold us up in our journey, and minister strength to fainting hearts and vigour to weary feet, and Jesus ‘strengthens us with might in the inner man.’ We need One who will bring us to the promised land of rest, and Jesus brings many sons to glory, and wills that they be ‘with Him where He is.’ So let us turn away from the multiplicity of human insufficiencies to Him who is our one only help and hope, because He is all-sufficient and eternal.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13 General Information:
General Information:
Moses complains to Yahweh using several rhetorical questions. (See: Rhetorical Question)
Read full note →
Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why are you not pleased with me?
Moses used these questions to complain about the way God was treating him. They can be expressed as statements. Moses speaks of himself in the third person. AT: "You should not treat me, your servant, so badly. You should not be angry with me!" or "I, your servant, have done nothing wrong for you to treat me so badly!" (See: Rhetorical Question and First, Second, or Third Person)
You make me carry the load of all these people
Moses complains and speaks of leading the people and providing for them as if he were carrying a heavy load. AT: "You make me responsible for all these people, but it's too hard for me" (See: Metaphor)
Did I conceive all these people?
Moses used this question to remind God that Moses was not their father. AT: "I am not the father of all these people." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Have I given them birth so that you should say to me, 'Carry ... baby?'
Moses wants God to remember that God told him to take care of the Israelites even though Moses was not their father. AT: "I have not given them birth, so you have no right to say to me, 'Carry ... baby'!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Carry them closely to your chest
To take care of the Israelites is spoken of as if it were to carry a helpless newborn baby. (See: Metaphor)
Should I carry them ... to give them?
This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You should not expect me to carry them ... to give them!" or "I am not able to carry them ... to give them!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
servant
conceive
oath
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.