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.”
Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.
“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat. You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”
Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”
Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
Moses went out, and told the people Yahweh’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent. Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!”
Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”
Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth. The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp. While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague. The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted.
From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 25, 28, 32, 34 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, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 34 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, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 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.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv16, 24, 31 We have here God's gracious answer to both the…
We have here God's gracious answer to both the foregoing complaints, wherein his goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious.
I. Provision is made for the redress of the grievances Moses complains of. If he find the weight of government lie too heavy upon him, though he was a little too passionate in his remonstrance, yet he shall be eased, not by being discarded from the government himself, as he justly might have been if God had been extreme to mark what he said amiss, but by having assistants appointed him, who should be, as the apostle speaks (Co1 12:28), helps, governments (that is, helps in government), not at all to lesson or eclipse his honour, but to make the work more easy to him, and to bear the burden of the people with him. And that this provision might be both agreeable and really serviceable,
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1. Moses is directed to nominate the persons, Num 11:16. The people were too hot and heady and tumultuous to be entrusted with the election; Moses must please himself in the choice, that he may not afterwards complain. The number he is to choose is seventy men, according to the number of the souls that went down into Egypt. He must choose such as he knew to be elders, that is, wise and experienced men. Those that had acquitted themselves best, as rulers of thousands and hundreds (Exo 18:25), purchase to themselves now this good degree. "Choose such as thou knowest to be elders indeed, and not in name only, officers that execute their office." We read of the same number of elders (Exo 24:1) that went up with Moses to Mount Sinai, but they were distinguished only for that occasion, these for a perpetuity; and, according to this constitution, the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, which in after ages sat at Jerusalem, and was the highest court of judgment among them, consisted of seventy men. Our Saviour seems to have had an eye to it in the choice of seventy disciples, who were to be assistants to the apostles, Lu. 10.
2. God promises to qualify them. If they were not found fit for the employ, they should be made fit, else they might prove more a hindrance than a help to Moses, Num 11:17. Though Moses had talked too boldly with God, yet God does not therefore break off communion with him; he bears a great deal with us, and we must with one another: I will come down (said God) and talk with thee, when thou art more calm and composed; and I will take of the same spirit of wisdom, and piety, and courage, that is upon thee, and put it upon them. Not that Moses had the less of the Spirit for their sharing, nor that they were hereby made equal with him; Moses was still unequalled (Deu 34:10), but they were clothed with a spirit of government proportionable to their place, and with a spirit of prophecy to prove their divine call to it, the government being a Theocracy. Note, (1.) Those whom God employs in any service he qualifies for it, and those that are not in some measure qualified cannot think themselves duly called. (2.) All good qualifications are from God; every perfect gift is from the Father of lights.
II. Even the humour of the discontented people shall be gratified too, that every mouth may be stopped. They are ordered to sanctify themselves (Num 11:18), that is, to put themselves into a posture to receive such a proof of God's power as should be a token both of mercy and judgment. Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, Amo 4:12.
1. God promises (shall I say?) - he threatens rather, that they shall have their fill of flesh, that for a month together they shall not only be fed, but feasted, with flesh, besides their daily manna; and, if they have not a better government of their appetites than now it appears they have they shall be surfeited with it (Num 11:19, Num 11:20): You shall eat till it come out at your nostrils, and become loathsome to you. See here, (1.) The vanity of all the delights of sense; they will cloy, but not satisfy: spiritual pleasures are the contrary. As the world passes away, so do the lusts of it, Jo1 2:17. What was greedily coveted in a little time comes to be nauseated. (2.) What brutish sins (and worse than brutish) gluttony and drunkenness are; they put a force upon nature, and make that the sickness of the body which should be its health; they are sins that are their own punishments, and yet not the worst that attend them. (3.) What a righteous thing it is with God to make that loathsome to men which they have inordinately lusted after. God could make them despise flesh as much as they had despised manna.
2. Moses objects the improbability of making good this word, Num 11:21, Num 11:22. It is an objection like that which the disciples made, Mar 8:4, Whence can a man satisfy these men? Some excuse Moses here, and construe what he says as only a modest enquiry which way the supply must be expected; but it savours too much of diffidence and distrust of God to be justified. He objects the number of the people, as if he that provided bread for them all could not, by the same unlimited power, provide flesh too. He reckons it must be the flesh either of beasts or fishes, because they are the most bulky animals, little thinking that the flesh of birds, little birds, should serve the purpose. God sees not as man sees, but his thoughts are above ours. He objects the greediness of the people's desires in that word, to suffice them. Note, 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. Moses himself could scarcely forbear saying, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? when this had become the common cry. No doubt this was his infirmity.
3. God gives a short but sufficient answer to the objection in that question, Has the Lord's hand waxed short? Num 11:23. If Moses had remembered the years of the right hand of the Most High, he would not have started all these difficulties; therefore God reminds him of them, intimating that this objection reflected upon the divine power, of which he himself had been so often, not only the witness, but the instrument. Had he forgotten what wonders the divine power had wrought for that people, when it inflicted the plagues of Egypt, divided the sea, broached the rock, and rained bread from heaven? Had that power abated? Was God weaker than he used to be? Or was he tired with what he had done? Whatever our unbelieving hearts may suggest to the contrary, it is certain, (1.) That God's hand is not short; his power cannot be restrained in the exerting of itself by any thing but his own will; with him nothing is impossible. That hand is not short which measures the waters, metes out the heavens (Isa 40:12), and grasps the winds, Pro 30:4. (2.) That it has not waxed short. He is as strong as ever he was, fainteth not, neither is weary. And this is sufficient to silence all our distrusts when means fail us, Is any thing too hard for the Lord? God here brings Moses to this first principle, sets him back in his lesson, to learn the ancient name of God, The Lord God Almighty, and puts the proof upon the issue: Thou shalt see whether my word shall come to pass or not. This magnifies God's word above all his name, that his works never come short of it. If he speaks, it is done.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–35 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,
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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, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 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 vv11, 17, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34 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 vv15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 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, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy…
the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders-- (Exo 3:16; Exo 5:6; Exo 24:9; Exo 18:21, Exo 18:24; Lev 4:15). An order of seventy was to be created, either by a selection from the existing staff of elders or by the appointment of new ones, empowered to assist him by their collective wisdom and experience in the onerous cares of government. The Jewish writers say that this was the origin of the Sanhedrin, or supreme appellate court of their nation. But there is every reason to believe that it was only a temporary expedient, adopted to meet a trying exigency.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 35 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, 16, 18, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35 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, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34 (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, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 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.
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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.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv16, 23, 27, 31 Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders.
Num_11:16-20
Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders.
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The answer of God to the appeals of men
I. The Lords answer to the appeal of his much-tried servant.
1. The number of the assistants.
2. Their selection.
3. The qualification imparted to them.
II. The Lords answer to the appeal of his perverse people.
1. Recognises the sinful character of their appeal.
2. Demands preparation for the granting of their appeal.
3. Promises the most abundant bestowment of that which they had so passionately and sinfully desired.
Conclusion: Mark well--
1. The disgusting nature of the sins of gluttony and drunkenness.
2. The necessity of firmly controlling carnal desires. Even those animal appetites which are lawful must be kept subordinate to higher things.
3. The necessity of submissiveness in prayer. (W. Jones.)
The seventy elders
I. The calling of the seventy elders is an instance of the organising action of the spirit of God.
1. A new want needed a remedy.
2. The remedy supplied.
3. The remedy for the want extraordinary.
4. The remedy had its counterpart in--
(1) The mission of the seventy disciples.
(2) The ordination of the seven deacons.
II. The holy spirit still carries on the same work.
1. The Church has new needs. She must pray as Moses prayed, and realising the presence of the Holy Ghost, set herself to meet these new demands on her energies, in scattered hamlet and crowded alley, where Christ Himself would come.
2. Would that all the Lords people were prophets! Each Christian is a Spirit-bearer. Is he conscious of this dignity and responsibility? Each has his special gifts. (W. Walters, M. A.)
Helpers for Moses
A gracious God and most sweet Father is moved with the complaint and grief of His servant, pitying him and yielding presently helpers to bear this burden with him that he may have more comfort. Who would not joy in so sweet a judge, no sooner hearing but helping His servant oppressed with a froward charge. Be we faithful then in our places ever, and if we be too weak for them some way or other the Lord will help. These seventy men He will have furnished with His Spirit, never placing any to do a duty to whom He giveth not some measure of ability to do the same. But when it is said He will take off the Spirit which is upon Moses and put upon them, we may not think that He lessened His grace to Moses; but the meaning is, I will give to them of the same Spirit a portion, whereof I have distributed to him so great a measure; thine I will not diminish, and yet they shall have what shall be fit. (Bp. Babington.)
Dainties for the people
O sweet God! Moses He will comfort by adding helpers unto him, and the people also He will satisfy in giving them flesh which they so lusted for, and that not ordinary flesh, nor gross meat, but quails, which to this day are accounted dainties. And not for a meal or two, or a day or two, but a whole month together, &c. How showeth this the truth of that Psalm which after in his time was made (Psa_1:1-6.). Nay, how showeth this that whatsoever He will, that can He do both in heaven and earth; and therefore blessed is the man that putteth his trust in Him. Remember what you read in the holy gospel (Mat_6:25). What dearth so great, what penury so pinching, wherein the Lord cannot help us either ordinarily or extraordinarily? Can He thus glut His great host with dainty quails, and cannot He send you and yours bread? Fear not, but cleave unto Him fast, and even past hope if the case should be such, yet under hope believe all the Scriptures, and that He will never leave you succourless that openeth His hand and filleth all things with plenteousness. Only consider that many ways He ever exerciseth the faith of His children and their patience, whose duty is to bear with contentment what He sendeth, praying to Him to remember mercy, and to lay no more upon us than we are able to bear, as He hath promised, use such means as you can by just and honest labour or otherwise; and be assured, in goodness He will step in when He seeth time. (Bp. Babington.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v14
Numbers
MOSES DESPONDENT
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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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv25, 31, 35 spirit that was upon him
spirit that was upon him
There was no more power than before--only more machinery. Moses had murmured (Num 5:11) because of the burden that God had laid upon him. God, in distributing the burden, shows that Moses’ power had, all along, been in proportion to his burden.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v31 Quails are sent
Quails are sent
v. 31. And there went forth a wind from the Lord, a miraculous wind from the southeast, Psa 78:26, and brought quails from the sea, from the Elanitic Gulf, the eastern branch of the Red Sea, and let them fall by the camp, caused them to alight in helpless confusion, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, in an area which was about a day’s journey square, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high (about 42 inches) upon the face of the earth. This, of course, exceeded any amount which an ordinary spring migration might have brought up from the south; it was a miracle of the Lord.
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v. 32. And the people stood up all that day and all that night and all the next day, and they gathered the quails; he that gathered least gathered ten homers (more than eighty bushels). And they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp, namely, to dry them in the sun and thus to get their fill of flesh food for which they had been longing.
v. 33. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, before the meal was finished, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague, by an unusual and very severe judgment, which struck down a great multitude.
v. 34. And he (Moses) called the name of that place, not only of one section, but of the entire encampment, Kibroth-hattaavah (graves of lust); because there they buried the people that lusted.
v. 35. And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth, spent some time at this station. To this day it arouses the anger of God if men abuse His gifts merely for the purpose of gratifying their sensual lusts. We should not lust as the Israelites lusted, for the same punishment may come upon us, 1Co 10:6.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, 28, 31, 33 General Information:
General Information:
Moses complains to Yahweh using several rhetorical questions. (See: Rhetorical Question)
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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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 25, 28, 31, 34 11:16-30 When Jethro proposed a judicial hierarchy (Exod 18:13-26),…
11:16-30 When Jethro proposed a judicial hierarchy (Exod 18:13-26), he was concerned with practical matters, as were the tribal leaders who helped Moses with the registration (Num 1:5-15). By contrast, this group of seventy . . . elders would provide Israel with spiritual guidance. They needed a share of God’s Spirit that already rested upon Moses and made him the Lord’s special spokesman. Their capacity as leaders depended on the presence of God’s Spirit (cp. 1 Sam 10:6; 19:20; Joel 2:28; Acts 2:16-18; 1 Cor 12:10; 2 Pet 1:20-21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.