The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 11 -

One day the people complained to Yahweh about their troubles. When Yahweh heard what they were saying, he became angry. So he sent a fire which burned among the people at the edge of their camp.

Then the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to Yahweh. Then the fire stopped burning.

So they called that place Taberah, which means ‘Burning,’ because the fire from Yahweh had burned among them.

Then some troublemakers from other people groups who were traveling with the Israelites began to want better food. And when they started complaining the Israelite people also started to complain. They said, “We wish we had some meat to eat!

We remember the fish that we ate while we were in Egypt, fish that was given to us without cost. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we could eat.

But now we have lost our appetite, because all we have to eat is this manna!”

The manna resembled small white seeds.

Each morning the people would go out and gather some from the surface of the ground. Then they made flour by grinding it or pounding it with stones. Then they added water and boiled it in a pot, or they made flat cakes with it and baked them. The cakes tasted like bread that was baked with olive oil.

Each night the manna came down on the ground where their tents were, like dew from the sky.

The Complaint of Moses

Moses heard all the Israelite people complaining as they were standing in the entrances of their tents. Yahweh became very angry, and Moses was also very perturbed.

He went into the sacred tent and asked Yahweh, “Why have you brought this trouble on me, your servant? Act mercifully to me! What wrong have I done, with the result that you have appointed me to take care of all of these people?

I am not their father. Why have you told me to take care of them like a woman carries around her baby and nurses it? How can I take them to the land that you promised to give to our ancestors?

Where can I get meat to feed all these people? They keep complaining to me, saying, ‘Give us some meat to eat!’

I cannot carry all these people’s burdens by myself! They are like a heavy load to me, and I cannot carry this very heavy load anymore.

If you intend to act like this toward me, kill me now. If you are really concerned about me, be kind to me and kill me to end my misery of trying to take care of them!”

Seventy Elders Anointed

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Summon seventy men whom you know are leaders among the Israelite people. Tell them to stand with you in front of the sacred tent.

I will come down and talk with you there. Then I will take some of the power of my Spirit that you have, and I will put that power on them also. They will help you to take care of some of the things that the people are concerned about, in order that you will not need to do it alone.

Furthermore, say to the people, ’Make yourselves acceptable to me, and tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were complaining, and Yahweh heard you when you were saying, “We want some meat to eat. We had better food in Egypt!” Now Yahweh will give you some meat, and you will eat it.

You will eat meat not only for one or two days, or only for five or ten or twenty days.

You will eat meat every day for one month, and then you will loathe it, and it will cause you to want to vomit. This will happen because you have rejected Yahweh who is here among you, and you have wailed in his presence, saying “We would have had better food to eat if we had not left Egypt.”’”

But Moses replied to Yahweh, “There are six hundred thousand men plus women and children here with me, so why do you say ‘I will give them plenty of meat every day for a month!’?

Even if we killed all the sheep and cattle, that would not be enough to provide meat for all of them! Even if we caught all the fish in the sea and gave it to them, that would not be enough!”

But Yahweh said to Moses, “Do you think that I have no power? You will now see if I can do what I say I will do.”

So Moses went out from the sacred tent and told the people what Yahweh had said. Then he gathered together the seventy leaders and told them to stand around the sacred tent.

Then Yahweh came down in the cloud that was above the tent and spoke to Moses. He took some of the power of the Spirit that he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. By means of the power of the Spirit within them, they prophesied, but they did that only once.

Two of the leaders whom Moses appointed, Eldad and Medad, were not there when the rest of them gathered together. They had not left their tents to go and stand around the sacred tent. But Yahweh’s Spirit came on them also, and they started to prophesy.

So a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying where all their tents are!”

Joshua, who had helped Moses since he was a young man, said, “Sir, tell them to stop doing that!”

But Moses replied, “Are you worried that they might injure my reputation? I wish that all Yahweh’s people could prophesy. I wish that Yahweh would give the power of his Spirit to all of them!”

Then Moses and all the leaders went back to their tents.

The Quail and the Plague

Then Yahweh sent a strong wind from the sea. It blew quail into the area all around the camp, and caused the quail to fall onto the ground. They were piled up on the ground a meter high!

So the people went out and gathered up the quail all that day, and all that night, and all of the following day. It seemed as though each person gathered two cubic meters! They spread the quail out on the ground all around the camp, so that the quail would lose their moisture.

Then they cooked them and started to eat them. But while they were still eating the meat, Yahweh showed that he was very angry with them. He sent a severe plague on them, and many people died.

The people who died and were buried were the ones who had said they wanted to eat meat like they had formerly eaten in Egypt. So they called that place Kibroth Hattaavah, which means ‘graves of those who craved.’

From there, the Israelites continued walking east until they arrived at Hazeroth, where they stopped and stayed for a long time.

The people were complaining in the ears of the LORD. When the LORD heard it, his anger burned; and the LORD’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.

The name of that place was called Taberah,(a) because the LORD’s fire burned among them.

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.(b)

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.

The Complaint of Moses

Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the LORD’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased.

Moses said to the LORD, “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.”

Seventy Elders Anointed

The LORD 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 the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD 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 the LORD 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?”

The LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”

Moses went out, and told the people the LORD’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent.

The LORD 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 the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

The Quail and the Plague

A wind from the LORD 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(c) 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;(d) and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp.

While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the LORD’s anger burned against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.

The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah,(e) because there they buried the people who lusted.

From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.

Footnotes

(a)11:3 Taberah means “burning”

(b)11:7 Bdellium is a resin extracted from certain African trees.

(c)11:31 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

(d)11:32 1 homer is about 220 liters or 6 bushels

(e)11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means “graves of lust”