John 12:37(v32)But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they didn’t believe in him,
Psalms 78:22(v32)because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation.
Exodus 16:12-13(v27)“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…
Numbers 11:18-19(v27)“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh,…
Numbers 11:33-34(v30)While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people…
Show all 18 cross-references
Numbers 14:1-45(v32)All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. All the children of Israel murmured against Moses…
Psalms 78:11(v32)They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
Ezekiel 20:13(v32)“ ‘ “But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which…
Luke 16:31(v32)“He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’ ”
Numbers 11:19-20(v29)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…
Numbers 11:32(v27)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…
Numbers 16:1-17(v32)Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons…
Numbers 21:1-6(v32)The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took…
Numbers 25:1-18(v32)Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; for they called the people to the…
Psalms 106:15(v29)He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
Numbers 22:20-22(v30)God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to…
Proverbs 1:32(v30)For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
Luke 16:19-23(v30)“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A certain beggar, named…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv30, 32The Psalmist expresses this still more clearly, by adding…
The Psalmist expresses this still more clearly, by adding immediately after, (verses 30, 31,) that this pampering proved fatal to them, as if with the meat they had swallowed the flame of the divine wrath. When he says that they were not estranged from their lust, this implies, that they were still burning with their lust. If it is objected that this does not agree with the preceding sentence, where it is said, that “they did eat, and were thoroughly filled,” I would answer, that if, as is well known, the minds of men are not kept within the bounds of reason and temperance, they become insatiable; and, therefore, a great abundance will not extinguish the fire of a depraved appetite. Some translate the clause, They were not disappointed, and others, They did not yet loathe their meat. This last translation brings out the meaning very well; but it is too far removed from the signification of the Hebrew word זור, zur, which I have rendered estranged. The prophet intended to express in two words a present felt pleasure; for when God executed vengeance upon the people, they still indulged in the excessive gratification of the palate. The wrath of God is said metaphorically to ascend, when he suddenly rises up to execute judgment; for when he apparently shuts his eyes and takes no notice of our sins, he seems, so to speak, to be asleep. The punishment was felt by persons of every condition among the Israelites; but the fat ones and the chosen are expressly named, in order to exhibit the judgment of God in a light still more conspicuous. It did not happen by chance that the most robust and vigorous were attacked and cut off by the plague. As the strong are commonly deceived by their strength, and proudly exalt themselves against God, forgetting their own weakness, and thinking that they may do whatever they please, it is not surprising to find that the wrath of God burned more fiercely against such persons than against others.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv30–32Such is the nature of concupiscence, that the more…
Such is the nature of concupiscence, that the more it hath, the more it lusteth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv27–32Psa 78:27 He rained flesh also upon them as…
Psa 78:27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:
Ver. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust] Dapibus illos compluit. This he had done once before for them; see Exo 16:12-13, with Num 11:18-21; Num 11:31-33; their unbelief, therefore, and impatience this second time was the more heinous.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv27–31Feathered fowls, Heb. winged fowl; which is noted to…
Feathered fowls, Heb. winged fowl; which is noted to show that it was a supernatural work, whereby God took away from them the use of their wings, and made them to fall into the hands of the Israelites.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv27–32And he let it fall in the midst of…
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,.... Or, "his camps" (l); the four camps of Israel; for so many there were, Num 2:1 or the camp of God, where he dwelt, and before which he went as the General, Leader, and Commander of them; in the midst of this, or by it, by the side of it, Num 11:31, the flesh or feathered fowl fell, so that they had no trouble to fetch it in; and here it fell by the order and direction of the Lord himself; he caused it to fall, without whose knowledge and will a sparrow does not fall to the ground, Mat 10:29. These creatures fell either, as some think, being wearied with their flight over the Red sea; or through their wings being broken by the vehemency of the wind that brought them, as others; or by the moistness of the south wind, which wetted their wings, and made them flag and fall; but, by whatever means this was done, it was so ordered by the Lord that they should fall, and fall just in the place where they did:
round about their habitations; for the space of a day's journey on every side, where they lay in heaps, here and there, two cubits high, Num 11:31, so that they could gather them with great ease, and had no need of arrows to shoot at them, nor nets to spread for them; they were ready at hand, and in great plenty.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv27, 31Fowl - But God took away from them the…
Fowl - But God took away from them the use of their wings, and made them to fall into the hands of the Israelites.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn v32Verse 32. For all this they sinned still] How…
Verse 32. For all this they sinned still] How astonishing is this! They were neither drawn by mercies, nor awed by judgments! But we shall cease to wonder at this, if we have a thorough acquaintance with our own hearts.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v30Psa 78:30-31. They were not estranged from their lust,…
Psa 78:30-31. They were not estranged from their lust, &c. — Green translates the verse, But before they were averse to what they had desired, and while their meat was still in their mouths, the wrath of God, &c. The sense is, either, 1st, While their greedy appetite yet continued, and was not fully satisfied; before they began to loathe the meat, as they did afterward, Num 11:20. Or, 2d, Before they were deprived of their desired food; while they enjoyed it, and were still feeding upon it, as the next clause explains this, the wrath of God came upon them — His patience did not wait till that food was spent, but he instantly let loose his wrath to punish them; and slew the fattest of them — The Hebrew word is rendered by Green, the wealthiest of them. Or, it may mean, the most healthy and strong, who probably were most desirous of this food, fed most eagerly upon it, and least suspected their own danger. And smote down — By a very great pestilence, the chosen men of Israel — The strongest and goodliest persons that were in Israel.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv27–32He rained flesh also upon them as dust -…
He rained flesh also upon them as dust - The flesh of quails, Num 11:31. The word “rained” means that they seemed to come upon them like a copious shower. The word dust denotes their great abundance.
And feathered fowls - Margin, as in Hebrew, “fowl of wing.” This is a poetic expression, designed to give beauty to the description by the image of their fluttering wings.
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Like as the sand of the sea - An expression also designed to denote their great numbers, Gen 22:17; Gen 32:12; Gen 41:49; Jos 11:4; 1Sa 13:5; Rev 20:8.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv27, 29, 30, 31, 3227. He rained flesh… as dust—That is, in profusion.…
27. He rained flesh… as dust—That is, in profusion. The allusion is to the “dust” of the sirocco. In this same desert, further north, Dr. Robinson says: “At eleven o’clock the wind changed to the south, and blew a perfect tempest. The atmosphere was filled with fine particles of sand, forming a bluish haze; the sun was scarcely visible, his disk exhibiting only a dim and sickly hue. Often we could not see ten rods around us, and our eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were filled with sand.”
Feathered fowls—Hebrew, Birds of wing; which refutes the theory that locusts, not quails, are intended.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv27–3227. And he rained flesh upon them as the…
27. And he rained flesh upon them as the dust,
And winged fowl as the sand of the seas.
Read full note →
The sending of quails is connected, as in Exodus 16, with the sending of the manna; but the language of the Psalm follows the description of the second sending of quails in Numbers 11.
The verbs in Psa_78:26 are the same as those in Psa_78:52. Cp. Exo_10:13; Num_11:31. East and South are separated for the sake of rhythm. A S.E. wind brought up the quails from ‘the sea,’ i.e. the Red Sea. “The period when they were brought to the camp of Israel was in spring, when on their northward migration from Africa. According to their well-known instinct, they would follow up the coast of the Red Sea until they came to its bifurcation by the Sinaitic Peninsula, and then would cross at the narrow part.” Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 231.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv27, 29, 30, 31, 32(27) No doubt there is poetical hyperbole here, but…
(27) No doubt there is poetical hyperbole here, but for the enormous numbers of quails that are now caught, see the article quoted above.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv27–32He rained flesh also upon them. With the expression,…
He rained flesh also upon them. With the expression, "rained flesh," comp. Exo_16:4, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven;" and see also Gen_19:24 and Exo_9:23. As dust; i.e. "as thick as dust" (Prayer book Version). The quails lay "as it were two cubits high" for the distance of a day"s journey round about each encampment. (see Num_11:31) And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. The commonest image of multiplicity. (Gen_22:17 Deu_33:19 Jos_11:4 Jud_1:7:12, etc.)
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. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv27–32Ver. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as…
Ver. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust. First he rained bread and then flesh, when he might have rained fire and brimstone. The words indicate the speed, and the abundance of the descending quails.
And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea; there was no counting them. By a remarkable providence, if not by miracle, enormous numbers of migratory birds were caused to alight around the tents of the tribes. It was, however, a doubtful blessing, as easily acquired and super abounding riches generally are. The Lord save us from meat which is seasoned with divine wrath.
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Ver. 27. As dust. The amazing clouds of fine dust or sand, which a violent wind raises in the deserts of the East, constitute the point of comparison. William Keatinge Clay.
Ver. 27. Feathered fowls. Hebrew, "fowl of wing; "i.e., flying fowls, in distinction from domestic poultry. Williams, in Notes to Calvin in loc.
Ver. 27, 31. If the cemetery on Sarbut el Khadem be, what all the antecedent evidences combine to indicate, the workmanship of the Israelites, (a chief burial ground of their fatal encampment at Kibroth Hattaayah), it may most reasonably be expected that its monuments shall contain symbolic representations of the miracle of the "feathered fowls, "and of the awful plague which followed it. Now Niebuhr happily enables us to meet this just expectation, by his copies of the hieroglyphics on three of those tombstones, published in the 45th and 46th plates of his first volume, and prefaced plate 44, by a plan of the cemetery itself, which is of more value than any or all subsequent descriptions. It was discovered by the present writer (as stated in a former work), ("The Voice of Israel") on the evidence of no less than four Sinaitic inscriptions, that the birds of the miracle, named by Moses, generically, wlv, salu, and by the psalmist, still more generally, Pgk Pwe, winged fowls, or more correctly, "long winged fowls, "were not (as rendered by all our versions, ancient and modern) quails, but a crane like red bird resembling a goose, named in the Arabic nuham. The discovery received subsequently a singular and signal corroboration from the further discovery, by Dean Stanley, and previously by Schubert, of immense flocks of these very nuhams on the reputed scene of the miracle at Kibroth Hattaavah. With these antecedents in his mind, the reader will now turn to the three monuments copied by Niebuhr in the cemetery of Sarbut el Khadem. He will at once see that a crane like bird resembling a goose, with slender body and long legs, is the leading hieroglyphic symbol in all three tablets. No fewer than twenty-five of these symbolic birds occur in the first, ten in the second, and fifteen in the third tablet. The goose appears occasionally, but the principal specimens have the air of the goose, but the form of the crane. In a word, they are the very species of birds seen by Dean Stanley, both at this point of Sinai, and at the first cataract of the Nile; and which constantly occur also in Egyptian monuments: as though the very food of Egypt, after which the Israelites lusted, was sent to be at once their prey and their plague. "And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots." Ex 16:3. The reader has here before him the irrefragable fact that the very birds which by every kind of evidence stand identified with the salus, or long legged and long winged fowls of the miracle, are the very birds depicted on the tombstones of Sarbut el Khadem, both standing, flying, and apparently even trussed and cooked... The inevitable inference is... that these tombstones record the miracle of the "feathered fowls, "and stand over the graves of the gluttons who consumed them. Charles Forster, in "Israel in the Wilderness." 1865. Mr. Forster thus deciphers by his alphabet some of the mixed legends and devices: --
"From the sea the cranes congregate to one spot;
The archers shoot at the cranes passing over the plain.
Evil stomached they rush after the prey--
The sepulchre their doom--their marrow corrupted by God,
The sleepy owl, emblem of death, God sends destruction
among them."
"The mother of sepulchres--the black and white geese,
A sudden death, greedily lusting after flesh, die the
gluttons.
The mountain top ascend the Hebrews,
They eat, devour, consume, till nothing is left, exceeding
all bounds,
Their bodies corrupted, by gluttony they die."
None.
Psalms 78:28*
Ver. 27,31. See Psalms on "Ps 78:27" for further information.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv30, 32They were not estranged from their lust.
Psa_78:30-31
They were not estranged from their lust.
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Dissatisfaction with plenty
God gave them plenty, and they ate and were filled. He gave them what they sought, flesh; feathered birds came in abundance. Notwithstanding, they were not satisfied, were not estranged from their lust; they had still a craving for something more. Here is dissatisfaction with plenty.
I. This is a very prevalent experience. Men in plenty are everywhere in dissatisfaction. Where there is
(1) Plenty of food,
(2) Plenty of money,
(3) Plenty of books,
(4) Plenty of popularity,
(5) Plenty of amusements, men cry everywhere, Who will show us any good?
II. This is a very suggestive experience. It implies--
1. Something bad that is existing. Conflicting passions, compunctive consciences, moral forebodings within, prevent the possibility of satisfaction.
2. Something good that is lacking. What is the deep hunger of the soul? God. (Homilist.)
But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them.
Kibroth Hattaavah
Fleshly lust not only wars against but kills men.
I. Slays physically. An inordinate gratification of animal appetites saps the constitution and brings the body to a premature grave.
II. Slays intellectually. It slays the elasticity, the freedom, the vigour of the intellect. How often, in the case of the gourmand and the voluptuary, does the brain run into fat, and the whole intellect into greasy mud.
III. Slays morally. It slays--
1. Purity of love.
2. Tenderness of conscience.
3. Force of moral purpose. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv29, 31strongly desired
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv30, 32 The Psalmist expresses this still more clearly, by adding…
The Psalmist expresses this still more clearly, by adding immediately after, (verses 30, 31,) that this pampering proved fatal to them, as if with the meat they had swallowed the flame of the divine wrath. When he says that they were not estranged from their lust, this implies, that they were still burning with their lust. If it is objected that this does not agree with the preceding sentence, where it is said, that “they did eat, and were thoroughly filled,” I would answer, that if, as is well known, the minds of men are not kept within the bounds of reason and temperance, they become insatiable; and, therefore, a great abundance will not extinguish the fire of a depraved appetite. Some translate the clause, They were not disappointed, and others, They did not yet loathe their meat. This last translation brings out the meaning very well; but it is too far removed from the signification of the Hebrew word זור, zur, which I have rendered estranged. The prophet intended to express in two words a present felt pleasure; for when God executed vengeance upon the people, they still indulged in the excessive gratification of the palate. The wrath of God is said metaphorically to ascend, when he suddenly rises up to execute judgment; for when he apparently shuts his eyes and takes no notice of our sins, he seems, so to speak, to be asleep. The punishment was felt by persons of every condition among the Israelites; but the fat ones and the chosen are expressly named, in order to exhibit the judgment of God in a light still more conspicuous. It did not happen by chance that the most robust and vigorous were attacked and cut off by the plague. As the strong are commonly deceived by their strength, and proudly exalt themselves against God, forgetting their own weakness, and thinking that they may do whatever they please, it is not surprising to find that the wrath of God burned more fiercely against such persons than against others.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv30–32 Such is the nature of concupiscence, that the more…
Such is the nature of concupiscence, that the more it hath, the more it lusteth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv27–32 Psa 78:27 He rained flesh also upon them as…
Psa 78:27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:
Ver. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust] Dapibus illos compluit. This he had done once before for them; see Exo 16:12-13, with Num 11:18-21; Num 11:31-33; their unbelief, therefore, and impatience this second time was the more heinous.
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 vv27–31 Feathered fowls, Heb. winged fowl; which is noted to…
Feathered fowls, Heb. winged fowl; which is noted to show that it was a supernatural work, whereby God took away from them the use of their wings, and made them to fall into the hands of the Israelites.
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 vv27–32 And he let it fall in the midst of…
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,.... Or, "his camps" (l); the four camps of Israel; for so many there were, Num 2:1 or the camp of God, where he dwelt, and before which he went as the General, Leader, and Commander of them; in the midst of this, or by it, by the side of it, Num 11:31, the flesh or feathered fowl fell, so that they had no trouble to fetch it in; and here it fell by the order and direction of the Lord himself; he caused it to fall, without whose knowledge and will a sparrow does not fall to the ground, Mat 10:29. These creatures fell either, as some think, being wearied with their flight over the Red sea; or through their wings being broken by the vehemency of the wind that brought them, as others; or by the moistness of the south wind, which wetted their wings, and made them flag and fall; but, by whatever means this was done, it was so ordered by the Lord that they should fall, and fall just in the place where they did:
round about their habitations; for the space of a day's journey on every side, where they lay in heaps, here and there, two cubits high, Num 11:31, so that they could gather them with great ease, and had no need of arrows to shoot at them, nor nets to spread for them; they were ready at hand, and in great plenty.
Read full note →
(l) "castrorum ejus", Pagninus, Vatablus, Gejerus.
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 vv27, 31 Fowl - But God took away from them the…
Fowl - But God took away from them the use of their wings, and made them to fall into the hands of the Israelites.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v32 Verse 32. For all this they sinned still] How…
Verse 32. For all this they sinned still] How astonishing is this! They were neither drawn by mercies, nor awed by judgments! But we shall cease to wonder at this, if we have a thorough acquaintance with our own hearts.
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 v30 Psa 78:30-31. They were not estranged from their lust,…
Psa 78:30-31. They were not estranged from their lust, &c. — Green translates the verse, But before they were averse to what they had desired, and while their meat was still in their mouths, the wrath of God, &c. The sense is, either, 1st, While their greedy appetite yet continued, and was not fully satisfied; before they began to loathe the meat, as they did afterward, Num 11:20. Or, 2d, Before they were deprived of their desired food; while they enjoyed it, and were still feeding upon it, as the next clause explains this, the wrath of God came upon them — His patience did not wait till that food was spent, but he instantly let loose his wrath to punish them; and slew the fattest of them — The Hebrew word is rendered by Green, the wealthiest of them. Or, it may mean, the most healthy and strong, who probably were most desirous of this food, fed most eagerly upon it, and least suspected their own danger. And smote down — By a very great pestilence, the chosen men of Israel — The strongest and goodliest persons that were in Israel.
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 On vv27–32 He rained flesh also upon them as dust -…
He rained flesh also upon them as dust - The flesh of quails, Num 11:31. The word “rained” means that they seemed to come upon them like a copious shower. The word dust denotes their great abundance.
And feathered fowls - Margin, as in Hebrew, “fowl of wing.” This is a poetic expression, designed to give beauty to the description by the image of their fluttering wings.
Read full note →
Like as the sand of the sea - An expression also designed to denote their great numbers, Gen 22:17; Gen 32:12; Gen 41:49; Jos 11:4; 1Sa 13:5; Rev 20:8.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv27, 29, 30, 31, 32 27. He rained flesh… as dust—That is, in profusion.…
27. He rained flesh… as dust—That is, in profusion. The allusion is to the “dust” of the sirocco. In this same desert, further north, Dr. Robinson says: “At eleven o’clock the wind changed to the south, and blew a perfect tempest. The atmosphere was filled with fine particles of sand, forming a bluish haze; the sun was scarcely visible, his disk exhibiting only a dim and sickly hue. Often we could not see ten rods around us, and our eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were filled with sand.”
Feathered fowls—Hebrew, Birds of wing; which refutes the theory that locusts, not quails, are intended.
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 vv27–32 27. And he rained flesh upon them as the…
27. And he rained flesh upon them as the dust,
And winged fowl as the sand of the seas.
Read full note →
The sending of quails is connected, as in Exodus 16, with the sending of the manna; but the language of the Psalm follows the description of the second sending of quails in Numbers 11.
The verbs in Psa_78:26 are the same as those in Psa_78:52. Cp. Exo_10:13; Num_11:31. East and South are separated for the sake of rhythm. A S.E. wind brought up the quails from ‘the sea,’ i.e. the Red Sea. “The period when they were brought to the camp of Israel was in spring, when on their northward migration from Africa. According to their well-known instinct, they would follow up the coast of the Red Sea until they came to its bifurcation by the Sinaitic Peninsula, and then would cross at the narrow part.” Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 231.
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 vv27, 29, 30, 31, 32 (27) No doubt there is poetical hyperbole here, but…
(27) No doubt there is poetical hyperbole here, but for the enormous numbers of quails that are now caught, see the article quoted above.
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The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv27–32 He rained flesh also upon them. With the expression,…
He rained flesh also upon them. With the expression, "rained flesh," comp. Exo_16:4, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven;" and see also Gen_19:24 and Exo_9:23. As dust; i.e. "as thick as dust" (Prayer book Version). The quails lay "as it were two cubits high" for the distance of a day"s journey round about each encampment. (see Num_11:31) And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. The commonest image of multiplicity. (Gen_22:17 Deu_33:19 Jos_11:4 Jud_1:7:12, etc.)
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Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv27–32 Ver. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as…
Ver. 27. He rained flesh also upon them as dust. First he rained bread and then flesh, when he might have rained fire and brimstone. The words indicate the speed, and the abundance of the descending quails.
And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea; there was no counting them. By a remarkable providence, if not by miracle, enormous numbers of migratory birds were caused to alight around the tents of the tribes. It was, however, a doubtful blessing, as easily acquired and super abounding riches generally are. The Lord save us from meat which is seasoned with divine wrath.
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Ver. 27. As dust. The amazing clouds of fine dust or sand, which a violent wind raises in the deserts of the East, constitute the point of comparison. William Keatinge Clay.
Ver. 27. Feathered fowls. Hebrew, "fowl of wing; "i.e., flying fowls, in distinction from domestic poultry. Williams, in Notes to Calvin in loc.
Ver. 27, 31. If the cemetery on Sarbut el Khadem be, what all the antecedent evidences combine to indicate, the workmanship of the Israelites, (a chief burial ground of their fatal encampment at Kibroth Hattaayah), it may most reasonably be expected that its monuments shall contain symbolic representations of the miracle of the "feathered fowls, "and of the awful plague which followed it. Now Niebuhr happily enables us to meet this just expectation, by his copies of the hieroglyphics on three of those tombstones, published in the 45th and 46th plates of his first volume, and prefaced plate 44, by a plan of the cemetery itself, which is of more value than any or all subsequent descriptions. It was discovered by the present writer (as stated in a former work), ("The Voice of Israel") on the evidence of no less than four Sinaitic inscriptions, that the birds of the miracle, named by Moses, generically, wlv, salu, and by the psalmist, still more generally, Pgk Pwe, winged fowls, or more correctly, "long winged fowls, "were not (as rendered by all our versions, ancient and modern) quails, but a crane like red bird resembling a goose, named in the Arabic nuham. The discovery received subsequently a singular and signal corroboration from the further discovery, by Dean Stanley, and previously by Schubert, of immense flocks of these very nuhams on the reputed scene of the miracle at Kibroth Hattaavah. With these antecedents in his mind, the reader will now turn to the three monuments copied by Niebuhr in the cemetery of Sarbut el Khadem. He will at once see that a crane like bird resembling a goose, with slender body and long legs, is the leading hieroglyphic symbol in all three tablets. No fewer than twenty-five of these symbolic birds occur in the first, ten in the second, and fifteen in the third tablet. The goose appears occasionally, but the principal specimens have the air of the goose, but the form of the crane. In a word, they are the very species of birds seen by Dean Stanley, both at this point of Sinai, and at the first cataract of the Nile; and which constantly occur also in Egyptian monuments: as though the very food of Egypt, after which the Israelites lusted, was sent to be at once their prey and their plague. "And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots." Ex 16:3. The reader has here before him the irrefragable fact that the very birds which by every kind of evidence stand identified with the salus, or long legged and long winged fowls of the miracle, are the very birds depicted on the tombstones of Sarbut el Khadem, both standing, flying, and apparently even trussed and cooked... The inevitable inference is... that these tombstones record the miracle of the "feathered fowls, "and stand over the graves of the gluttons who consumed them. Charles Forster, in "Israel in the Wilderness." 1865. Mr. Forster thus deciphers by his alphabet some of the mixed legends and devices: --
"From the sea the cranes congregate to one spot;
The archers shoot at the cranes passing over the plain.
Evil stomached they rush after the prey--
The sepulchre their doom--their marrow corrupted by God,
The sleepy owl, emblem of death, God sends destruction
among them."
"The mother of sepulchres--the black and white geese,
A sudden death, greedily lusting after flesh, die the
gluttons.
The mountain top ascend the Hebrews,
They eat, devour, consume, till nothing is left, exceeding
all bounds,
Their bodies corrupted, by gluttony they die."
None.
Psalms 78:28*
Ver. 27,31. See Psalms on "Ps 78:27" for further information.
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The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv30, 32 They were not estranged from their lust.
Psa_78:30-31
They were not estranged from their lust.
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Dissatisfaction with plenty
God gave them plenty, and they ate and were filled. He gave them what they sought, flesh; feathered birds came in abundance. Notwithstanding, they were not satisfied, were not estranged from their lust; they had still a craving for something more. Here is dissatisfaction with plenty.
I. This is a very prevalent experience. Men in plenty are everywhere in dissatisfaction. Where there is
(1) Plenty of food,
(2) Plenty of money,
(3) Plenty of books,
(4) Plenty of popularity,
(5) Plenty of amusements, men cry everywhere, Who will show us any good?
II. This is a very suggestive experience. It implies--
1. Something bad that is existing. Conflicting passions, compunctive consciences, moral forebodings within, prevent the possibility of satisfaction.
2. Something good that is lacking. What is the deep hunger of the soul? God. (Homilist.)
But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them.
Kibroth Hattaavah
Fleshly lust not only wars against but kills men.
I. Slays physically. An inordinate gratification of animal appetites saps the constitution and brings the body to a premature grave.
II. Slays intellectually. It slays the elasticity, the freedom, the vigour of the intellect. How often, in the case of the gourmand and the voluptuary, does the brain run into fat, and the whole intellect into greasy mud.
III. Slays morally. It slays--
1. Purity of love.
2. Tenderness of conscience.
3. Force of moral purpose. (Homilist.)
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unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv29, 31 strongly desired
craved
strongly desired
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 v32 78:32-39 Israel’s rebellion resulted in God’s judgment, but even…
78:32-39 Israel’s rebellion resulted in God’s judgment, but even their short-lived and insincere repentance motivated God to exercise forbearance.
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