They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
Parallel Translations
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They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
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The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
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They asked, and He brought quails, and gave them in plenty the bread of heaven.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Psalms 105:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 78:18 They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire.
- Numbers 11:31-33 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.
- Deuteronomy 8:3 He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth.
- Joshua 5:12 The manna ceased on the next day, after they had eaten of the produce of the land. The children of Israel didn’t have manna any more, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
- Nehemiah 9:20 You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.
- Psalms 78:23-28 Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky. Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full. He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind. He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas. He let them fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations.
- John 6:31-33 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
- John 6:48-58 I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
- Exodus 16:12-35 “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.’ ” In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground. When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat. “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: ‘Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.’ ” The children of Israel did so, and some gathered more, some less. When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They each gathered according to his eating. Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.” Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, so it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’ ” They laid it up until the morning, as Moses ordered, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.” On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day. The house of Israel called its name “Manna”, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations.” As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.
- Numbers 11:4-9 The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Not for necessity, but for satisfying of their lust.
Not for necessity, but for satisfying of their lust.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 105:40 [The people] asked, and he brought quails,…
Psa 105:40 [The people] asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
Ver. 40. The people asked] Not as suppliants, but as malcontents, and therefore had what they asked, with a vengeance.
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And satisfied them with the bread of heaven] Never was any prince in his greatest state so served as these miscreants were; and yet we fare better than they in God’s holy ordinances.
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 He speaks of the first giving of quails, Exo…
He speaks of the first giving of quails, Exo 16:13, which God gave them as a refreshment, notwithstanding their sin in desiring them, which he graciously pardoned; and not of that second giving of quails, which God gave them in judgment, Num 11, and therefore would not have been numbered here amongst God’s favours vouchsafed to them. With the bread of heaven; with manna which came out of the air, which is commonly called heaven.
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 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out,....…
He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out,.... That is, God opened the rock, who before is said to spread the cloud, and bring the quails, for it was a miraculous affair; or Moses, by divine orders, which was done by smiting it, when waters flowed out in great abundance, sufficient to give drink to men and beasts, and which continued, Exo 17:6. This was typical of Christ the Rock, Co1 10:4, and of the opening of his side, from whence flowed blood and water, Joh 19:34 and of his being smitten with the rod of justice, and by the law of Moses, from whom flow abundance of grace, and the blessings of it, freely to all his people; See Gill on Psa 78:15. See Gill on Psa 78:16.
They ran in the dry places like a river; and did not sink and soak into them, but continued their flow, and followed the Israelites, wherever they went; see Co1 10:4.
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 Quails - He speaks of the first giving of…
Quails - He speaks of the first giving of quails, Exod. xvi, 13, which God gave them as a refreshment, notwithstanding their sin in desiring them, which he graciously pardoned. Bread - With manna which came out of the air, commonly called heaven.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 105:40-41. The people asked, and he brought quails…
Psa 105:40-41. The people asked, and he brought quails — He speaks of the first instance of his giving quails, mentioned Exo 16:13, which God sent them as a refreshment, graciously pardoning their sin in desiring them; and not of that second instance, recorded Num 11:31, when God gave them quails in judgment, which would not have been mentioned here among God’s favours vouchsafed to them. And satisfied them with the bread of heaven — With manna, which came down from the air, commonly called heaven: see on Psa 78:24-29. He opened the rock — God, in his common providence, fetches water from heaven, and bread out of the earth; but for Israel, the divine power brought bread from the clouds and water from the rocks: so far is the God of nature from being tied to the laws and course of nature! And the waters gushed out — And that not only once, but ran like a river, plentifully and constantly; and, it is thought by many, attended their camp in all their removes, as seems to be implied 1Co 10:4, where they are said to have drunk of the rock that followed them. Hence they complained no more of want of water till they came to Kadesh, Num 20:2, &c. To this instance of the divine goodness that promise alludes, I will give rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen, Isa 43:19-20 : see on Psa 78:15.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The people asked, and he brought quails - See…
The people asked, and he brought quails - See the notes at Psa 78:26-29.
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven - manna, sent down, as it were, from heaven. In Psa 78:25, it is called “angels’ food.” See the notes at that verse.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 40. Quails—This would seem, by the order of events…
40. Quails—This would seem, by the order of events named, to refer to the first supply of quails, Exo_16:12-13. For second supply, see on Psa_78:26.
Bread of heaven—Same as “angels’ food,” “corn of heaven,” manna. Psa_78:24-25, where see note.
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 40. The people asked] The Heb. verb is in…
40. The people asked] The Heb. verb is in the sing., but with LXX Jer. Syr. Targ. we should read the plural, They asked. See Exodus 16, and cp. Psa_78:18 ff. The murmuring of the Israelites is not mentioned, because the Psalmist’s object is to point to God’s goodness, not to Israel’s faithlessness.
the bread of heaven] The manna: cp. Psa_78:24-25; Neh_9:15.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The people asked, and he brought quails; literally, they…
The people asked, and he brought quails; literally, they asked. (comp. Exo_16:3, 13 Num_11:31) And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. The "bread of heaven" is the manna, which was given to the Israelites continuously from their first encampment in the wilderness of Sin (Exo_16:14, Exo_16:15) to their first Passover in Canaan. (Jos_5:12) The quails seem to have been given only twice.
Vers. 40, 41. The sin of trying to make terms with God.
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"The people asked, and he brought quails." The sin of this does not immediately strike the reader. It is not said that the people asked for quails. What we are to understand is, that God was graciously and wonderfully providing their staple food for the people: manna food from the skies, spring waters from the rocks. But the people were discontented with what God, in his infinite wisdom and love, provided, and wanted to arrange with God what he should provide. They wanted to make terms with God; and that meant taking the arrangement of their affairs out of the hands of God, and managing them for themselves; or, rather, making God manage them at their dictation. From this point of view we see their sin plainly enough. God met their desires, but brought upon them a most humbling judgment through the very obtaining of what they wished. He showed them how utterly incapable they were of managing for themselves, and ordering their own lives, by giving them the meat they desired, in plenty, and letting them do what they would with it. See the consequence. Quails were wholesome enough when eaten in moderation. The people devoured them unrestrainedly; they showed no sort of moderation; and the consequence was a disease which became epidemic, and swept away multitudes. On the monument for those dead men this inscription might well have been put, "Never try to make terms with God.
I SEE THIS SIN IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT GOD IS. Take the attributes, and show that God must both know, and be able to do, what is every way wisest and best. Who understands our real needs as God does? Who controls all things as God does? Take the Father name which we are permitted to use for God, and show how wrong children are who attempt to dictate to their father as to what he shall provide.
II SEE THIS SIN IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT GOD HAD DONE. All Jehovah"s relations with his people had been gracious and considerate. They had never wanted any good thing. Defence had been close alongside danger, and provision ready for all need. Signs of distrust and murmuring were most unbecoming.
III SEE THIS SIN IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT THE PEOPLE WERE. Had they any right to the confidence that they knew what was good for them butter than God did? Their past should have taught them submissiveness and humility. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 40. The people asked. But how badly, how…
Ver. 40. The people asked. But how badly, how wickedly! And yet his grace forgave the sin of their murmuring and heard its meaning: or perhaps we may consider that while the multitude murmured there were a few, who were really gracious people, who prayed, and therefore the blessing came.
He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He gave them what they asked amiss as well as what was good for them, mingling judgment with goodness, for their discipline. The quails were more a curse than a blessing in the end, because of their greed and lust, but in themselves they were a peculiar indulgence, and favour: it was their own fault, that the dainty meat brought death with it. As for the manna it was unmingled good to them, and really satisfied them, which the quails never did. It was bread from heaven, and the bread of heaven, sent by heaven; it was a pity that they were not led to look up to heaven whence it came, and fear and love the God who out of heaven rained it upon them. Thus they were housed beneath the Lord's canopy and fed with food from his own table; never people were so lodged and boarded. O house of Israel, praise ye the Lord.
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Ver. 40. Quails. The quail is met with abundantly in Syria and Judaea, and there seems to be little doubt of its identity with the quails so frequently mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. "We have, "says Tristram, "a clear proof of the identity of the common quail with the Hebrew selac, in its Arabic name, salwa, from a root signifying `to be fat' very descriptive of the round, plump form and fat flesh of the quail... It migrates in vast flocks, and regularly crosses the Arabian desert, flying for the most part at night, and when the birds settle they are so utterly exhausted that they may be captured in any numbers by the hand. Notwithstanding their migratory habits, they instinctively select the shortest sea passages, and avail themselves of any island as a halting place. Thus in Spring and Autumn they are slaughtered in numbers on Malta and many of the Greek islands, very few being seen till the period of migration comes round. They also fly with the wind, never facing it like many other birds." "The Israelites `spread them out' when they had taken them before they were sufficiently refreshed to escape; exactly as Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians were in the habit of doing with quailsdrying them in the sun." Brehm mentions having been a witness to the arrival of a huge flock of quails upon the coast of North Africa, and tells us that the weary birds fell at once to the ground completely exhausted by their toilsome journey, and remained therefore some minutes as though stupefied. Cassell's "Book of Birds."
Ver. 40.
Brought from his store, at sute of Israel,
Quails, in whole beavies each remove pursue;
Himself from skies their hunger to repel
Candies the grass with sweet congealed dew.
He wounds the rock, the rock doth wounded, swell;
Swelling affords new streams to channels new,
All for God's mindful will can not be dryven,
From sacred word once to his Abraham given. Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586.
Ver. 40.
1. God often gives in love what is not asked. So the bread from heaven which was beyond all they could ask or think.
2. He sometimes gives in anger what is asked. They asked for flesh to eat"and he brought quails." G.R.
Psalms 105:41*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 he brought quail
he brought quail
It may be helpful to make clear that quail are small birds Yahweh sent for them to eat. AT: "Yahweh sent small birds to eat" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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with bread from heaven
Yahweh caused manna, a type of bread, to fall from the sky. AT: "with bread that fell from the sky" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
they flowed
"the waters flowed"
called to mind
This means to remember. AT: "remembered" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
bread
heaven
water
desert
mind
holy
promise
Abraham
servant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.